ERIC Number: EJ970154
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Aug
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0965
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Available Date: N/A
Children's Understanding of Ambiguous Idioms and Conversational Perspective-Taking
Le Sourn-Bissaoui, Sandrine; Caillies, Stephanie; Bernard, Stephane; Deleau, Michel; Brule, Lauriane
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, v112 n4 p437-451 Aug 2012
The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that conversational perspective-taking is a determinant of unfamiliar ambiguous idiom comprehension. We investigated two types of ambiguous idiom, decomposable and nondecomposable expressions, which differ in the degree to which the literal meanings of the individual words contribute to the overall idiomatic meaning. We designed an experiment to assess the relationship between the acquisition of figurative comprehension and conversational perspective-taking. Our sample of children aged 5-7 years performed three conversational perspective-taking tasks (language acts, shared/unshared information, and conversational maxims). They then listened to decomposable and nondecomposable idiomatic expressions presented in context before performing a multiple-choice task (figurative, literal, and contextual responses). Results indicated that decomposable idiom comprehension was predicted by conversational perspective-taking scores and language skills, whereas nondecomposable idiom comprehension was predicted solely by language skills. We discuss our findings with respect to verbal and pragmatic skills. (Contains 4 tables.)
Descriptors: Language Patterns, Tests, Language Skills, Research, Experiments, Correlation, Children, Task Analysis, Prediction, Verbal Ability, Experimental Psychology, Child Psychology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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