Children's understanding of pronouns that differ in scope of reference
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20367474 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hakima Megherbi (Université Paris Cité, corresponding author), Alix Seigneuric (0000-0001-5721-0461, Université Paris Cité), Jane Oakhill (0000-0001-8810-3714, University of Sussex), Steve BUENO (Université Paris Cité) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1012-1024 |
| Publication date | 2019-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Child Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-0009 • E-ISSN: 1469-7602 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0305000919000254 |
| OpenAlex | W2967192495 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 12 |
Some pronouns can refer to entities that vary widely in scope. In some cases, the referent might be a noun phrase, and in other cases it might be a whole proposition. In the cases of pronouns with a noun phrase antecedent, an already existing referent is reactivated from the preceding context. In the case of pronouns with a propositional antecedent, the referent must be reformulated. The interpretation and use of such pronouns was investigated in 150 eight-year-old children in a reading comprehension task. Experiment 1 used a referent specification task and Experiment 2 used a completion task. It was more difficult for children to process a pronoun when its antecedent was a proposition compared to a noun phrase. These results are in line with the linguistic approaches (e.g., Gundel et al. , 2005) according to which processing of pronouns with a propositional antecedent is more complex and requires greater cognitive effort
Comprehension · Linguistics · Noun · Noun phrase · Personal pronoun · Pronoun · Proposition · Referent · Child and Animal Learning Development · Language Development and Disorders · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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