Two studies investigating the linguistic representations underlying English-speaking 2 1/2-year-olds' production of transitive utterances are reported. The first study was a training study in which half the children heard utterances with full nouns as agent and patient, and half the children heard utterances with both pronouns (i.e., He's [verb]-ing it) and also full nouns. In subsequent testing, only children who had been trained with pronouns and nouns were able to produce a transitive utterance creatively with a nonce verb. The second study reported an analogous set of findings, but in comprehension. Together, the results of these 2 studies suggest that English-speaking children build many of their early linguistic constructions around certain specific lexical or morphological items and patterns, perhaps especially around particular pronoun configurations.
Article
The Role of Pronouns in Young Children’s Acquisition of the English Transitive Construction
Developmental Psychology
Document Type
Post-Print
Publication Date
1-1-2001
Disciplines
Abstract
Identifier
10.1037/0012-1649.37.6.739
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Citation Information
Childers, J. B. & Tomasello, M. (2001). The role of pronouns in young children’s acquisition of the English transitive construction. Developmental Psychology, 37(6), 739-48. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.37.6.739