Metaphors and similes have been treated as the same comparable types of figurative speech since Aristotle. In early theories, metaphors are interpreted as corresponding similes by paraphrasing. Based on this theoretical framework, some experimental studies interpret simile understanding as evidence for metaphor understanding. However, according to…

The aim of this study is to set out to explore how children living in Polish-English transnational families in the UK develop "symbolic competence" and "symbolic power" in home settings. By focusing on the children's use of metaphor in family discourse when talking about the Moon, from a cognitive discursive perspective, this…

Understanding nonliteral language requires inferencing ability and is an important but complex aspect of social interaction, involving cognitive (e.g., theory of mind, executive function) as well as language skill, areas in which many deaf individuals struggle. This study examined comprehension of metaphor and sarcasm, assessing the contributions…

Mentalising has long been suggested to play an important role in irony interpretation. We hypothesised that another important cognitive underpinning of irony interpretation is likely to be children's capacity for mental set switching -- the ability to switch flexibly between different approaches to the same task. We experimentally manipulated…

Promoting social mobility seems to be simple common sense. However, the solutions proposed in the UK under successive governments reflect a problematic individualism that is not about helping all of the poorest children, but about encouraging the poor to become as ruthless and competitive as the middle and upper classes. This article shows how the…

Since June, 2014 when the U.S. government began to document an increase in unaccompanied/separated children arriving in the United States from Central America, these children have become a frequent topic in media discourse. Because rhetoric about immigration issues have been shown to affect schooling of these children, the present article aims to…

Children vary in their ability to use language in social contexts and this has important consequences for wellbeing. We review studies that test whether individual differences in pragmatic skill are associated with formal language ability, mentalizing, and executive functions in both typical and atypical development. The strongest and most…

Previous research has demonstrated that children with autism often have difficulty using and understanding non-literal language ("e.g.," irony, sarcasm, deception, humor, and metaphors). Irony and sarcasm may be especially difficult for children with autism because the meaning of an utterance is the opposite of what is stated. The current study…

Pitch is often described metaphorically: for example, Farsi and Turkish speakers use a "thickness" metaphor (low sounds are "thick" and high sounds are "thin"), while German and English speakers use a height metaphor ("low", "high"). This study examines how child and adult speakers of Farsi,…

The aim of the present article is to critically review the experimental research in the domain of metaphor and metonymy competencies in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) children. After providing some basic definitions of metaphor and metonymy, we consider some major points emerging from studies on metaphorical and metonymical competencies in…

One of the most noticeable problems in autism involves the social use of language such as metaphor and metonymy, both of which are very common in daily language use. The present study is the first to investigate the development of metaphor and metonymy comprehension in autism. Eleven children with autism were compared to 17 typically developing…

Data from referential communication studies with children four, five, and seven years old were examined with respect to metaphorical productions. Speakers in the task were 24 "primed" four-year-old children and 72 "nonprimed" four-, five-, and seven-year-old children equally divided by age. Priming consisted of asking questions that would elicit…

Examines the effects of age on hearing children's oral rather than written story production and whether there are age-related changes in the signed productions of deaf children comparable to those observed in hearing age-mates. (HOD)