Grammatical Competence Development of Nursery School Children Acquiring Persian
الموضوعات :Farhad Tayebipour 1 , محمد جواد ریاستی 2
1 - Department of English, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
2 - Department of English, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
الکلمات المفتاحية: First Language, child directed speech, mean length of utterance, grammatical competence development, grammatical judgment test,
ملخص المقالة :
This qualitative study is conducted to answer four questions: First, whether there is a difference between the grammatical competence development of a group of children aged 2.6 (two years and six months) and a group of children aged 3.6 (three years and six months). Second, whether there is a significant difference between the two age groups concerning their Mean Length of Utterance (MLU). Third, whether there is a relationship between the children’s MLU and that of the caretakers. Fourth, whether the normal limit proposed by Brown (1973) is observed in the acquisition of Persian. To this end, language samples of six children and their caretakers’ were recorded during a six-week period and studied afterwards. The results indicated neither an unequivocal yes nor a definitive no answer to the question of age difference and grammatical competence development, that is to say, in some cases there was a difference whereas in some other cases there was no difference at all. As for the difference between the two age groups concerning their MLU, there was a significant difference between the two. However, no significant relationship was found between the children’s MLU and their caretakers’. Finally, the limit proposed by Brown (1973) was observed in the acquisition of Persian.
Brown, R. (1973). A first language: the early stages. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press.
Chomsky, N. (1987). Transformational grammar: past, present and future. In Studies in English language and literature, (pp.33-80), Kyoto University.
Cook, V. J., &Newson, M. (1996). Chomsky's universal grammar: An introduction. (2nd edition), Oxford: Blackwell.
Dale, S. Ph. (1976). Language development: Structure and function. Holt, Reinhart and Winston.
Fletcher P. & Garman M. (1997).Language acquisition. (2nd edition), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ingram D. (1999).First language acquisition: Method, description and explanation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Johnson, R. J. (2001). An alternate MLU calculation: Magnitude and variability of the effects. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 44 (1), 156-164.
Johnson J., S., and Newport, E. (1989). Critical period effects in second language learning: The influence of maturational state on the acquisition of English as a second language. Cognitive psychology, 21 (1), 60-99.
Johnson J., S., and Newport, E. (1991). Critical period effects on universal properties of language. The status of subjacency on the acquisition of second language.Cognitive psychology, 39, 215-258.
Lieven, E. (1978). Conversations between Mothers and Young Children: Individual Differences and Their Possible Implication for the Study of Language Learning. In K.Trott, S. Dubbinson and P.Griffiths (Eds.) The child language reader (pp.11-20), New York: Routledge.
Lightbown, P. M. &Spada, N. (2003).How languages are learned. (2nd edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lust, B. (2006).Child language acquisition and growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Peccei, J. S. (2006). Child language: A resource book for students, London: Routledge.
Sachs, J. &devin, J. (1976). Young children's use of age-appropriate speech styles in social interaction and role playing. Journal of Child Language, 3 (1), 83-97.
Snow, C. (1986). Conversations with children. In P. Fletcher & M. Garman (Eds.), Language Acquisition, (pp. 69-89), 2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wells, G. (1986). Variation in child language, In P. Fletcher & M. Garman (Eds.) Language Acquisition, (pp. 109-139), 2nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
