1. Pragmatic Development
Lecture Six
Pragmatic Development

2. Pragmatics …
Pragmatics = the part played by language in social situations and relationships.
Del Hymes: ‘communicative competence’
When to speak
How to respond to others
Appropriate registers

3. Language functions …
Bottom line: children are motivated to acquire language because it serves certain purposes/functions for them.
Halliday (1975): seven functions …

4. Halliday’s taxonomy … INSTRUMENTAL REGULATORY INTERACTIONAL PERSONAL
HEURISTIC
IMAGINATIVE
REPRESENTATIONAL

5. Be careful … !
As with other elements of language acquisition, remember that pragmatic development begins before a child starts to speak.

6. Early years …
Children are introduced to important role of language in everyday life.
Adults speak to them a great deal.
Routine events are accompanied by regularly repeated utterances.

7. Conversation preparation …
Child-parent/carer interactions prepare the child for later participation in conversation.

8. Bancroft (1996) … ‘Peek-a-boo’ parallels: Turn-taking Response
Common purpose and understand the sequence
Pleasure

9. Other interactions …
Despite the fact that the child has not yet begun to speak, adults will:
Ask questions
Express agreement
Give approving/disapproving responses

10. First conversations …
First utterances: statements (rather than questions) and not always directed at anyone!
Child will often seem to ignore other speaker.

11. First conversations … Typical conversation: Initiated by adult
Dependent on continued adult input to progress

12. Later development …
Age 2-4: significant development in conversational skills:
Turn taking
Response to questions
Greetings
Politeness forms

13. Speech Convergence and Accommodation Theory
Yousef (1991)
Group of children in Trinidad
Children responded to different social situations by using different varieties of English

14. Speech Convergence and Accommodation Theory
Janet (3, 9): Past tense verb forms:
Conversation with mother: 100% SE
Family helper (a Trinidadian English speaker): decreasing amounts
Brother/same age children: decreasing amounts

15. After starting school …
Children develop increased sensitivity to the needs of their listener.
Greater understanding of language more appropriate to formal situations (register).

16. Vocabulary test … COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE LANGUAGE FUNCTION
INSTRUMENTAL
REGULATORY
INTERACTIONAL
PERSONAL
HEURISTIC
IMAGINATIVE
REPRESENTATIONAL

17. Vocabulary test …
SPEECH CONVERGENCE
ACCOMMODATION THEORY
REGISTER