This study’s aim is to understand how children learn first- and second-person singular pronouns. Many researchers tried to find possible connection between Theory of Mind (ToM) and the acquisition of pronouns. The ability to produce and comprehend first- and second-person singular pronouns seems closely linked with the ability to appreciate other people’s mental states: a lack or non-mature development of ToM may thus affect their competence in using pronouns. To strengthen this hypothesis we focused on the phenomenon of pronoun reversal, which mainly consists in the substitution of I for you, and you for I, testing a group of 17 typically developing children - 38 to 70 months of age. Due to its pro-drop classification, Italian is the focus language of this study. The outcome showed a correlation between the phenomena of ToM and pronoun reversal. Further research should focus on the directionality of this correlation and better our understanding of its meaning.

The theory of mind’s role in pronoun acquisition: the phenomenon of pronoun reversal in typically developing children / Mazzaggio, Greta. - (2016). (Intervento presentato al convegno 8th Annual Meeting of the Illinois Language and Linguistics Society tenutosi a University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign nel 21- 24, Aprile 2016).

The theory of mind’s role in pronoun acquisition: the phenomenon of pronoun reversal in typically developing children.

Greta Mazzaggio
2016-01-01

Abstract

This study’s aim is to understand how children learn first- and second-person singular pronouns. Many researchers tried to find possible connection between Theory of Mind (ToM) and the acquisition of pronouns. The ability to produce and comprehend first- and second-person singular pronouns seems closely linked with the ability to appreciate other people’s mental states: a lack or non-mature development of ToM may thus affect their competence in using pronouns. To strengthen this hypothesis we focused on the phenomenon of pronoun reversal, which mainly consists in the substitution of I for you, and you for I, testing a group of 17 typically developing children - 38 to 70 months of age. Due to its pro-drop classification, Italian is the focus language of this study. The outcome showed a correlation between the phenomena of ToM and pronoun reversal. Further research should focus on the directionality of this correlation and better our understanding of its meaning.
2016
Studies in the linguistic sciences: Illinois working papers
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Studies in the Linguistic Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Mazzaggio, Greta
The theory of mind’s role in pronoun acquisition: the phenomenon of pronoun reversal in typically developing children / Mazzaggio, Greta. - (2016). (Intervento presentato al convegno 8th Annual Meeting of the Illinois Language and Linguistics Society tenutosi a University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign nel 21- 24, Aprile 2016).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11572/213826
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