Naslov
Anaphora Resolution in Croatian: Evidence from People with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

Autori
Stipeć, Tanja

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Ocjenski radovi, diplomski rad, diplomski

Fakultet
Filozofski fakultet

Mjesto
Rijeka

Datum
18.05

Godina
2012

Stranica
64

Mentor
Kraš, Tihana

Ključne riječi
anaphora resolution; null subject pronouns; overt subject pronouns; Croatian; Down syndrome

Sažetak
This thesis reports the findings of an experimental study into the interpretation of ambiguous intrasentential forward anaphora containing a null and an overt subject pronoun in Croatian in people with Down syndrome, typically developing children and typically developing adults. The task chosen to test their interpretation of anaphora was a picture selection task, in which the participants had to choose between two pictures, one of which corresponded to the meaning of the sentence presented orally. The sentences consisted of a main and a subordinate temporal clause which contained either a null or an overt pronoun. The results showed that all three groups had no antecedent preference in the null pronoun context, while in the overt pronoun context they preferred the object of the main clause as the antecedent. Typically developing children responded in the same way as people with Down syndrome. Both groups, however, differed from adults, whose preference for the object as the antecedent of the overt pronoun was significantly stronger. These findings suggest that when it comes to ambiguous intrasentential forward anaphora resolution, people with Down syndrome are developing in the same way as typically developing children and are able to process phenomena which involve different domains, namely syntax and pragmatics. However, the difference in the degree of preference in the overt pronoun context in adults on the one hand, and typically developing children and people with Down syndrome on the other, suggests a delay in the development of pragmatics in people with Down syndrome and their typically developing mentally matched peers.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Psihologija, Filologija

POVEZANOST RADA