Pragmatic Domains Communicative functions Intents Frequency Discourse management

Pragmatic Domains • Communicative functions – Intents – Frequency • Discourse management – Turns – topics • Register variation – Politeness – Social roles • Presupposition – Grice’s maxim of Quantity – ‘mind-reading’

Communication Development: Preverbal Use • Perlocutionary: 0 -8 mo. – No intentions – Intentions attributed • Illocutionary: 8 -12 mo. – Early intents expressed: • Proto-imperative – Expressed with • Gaze • Gestures • vocalizations • Locutionary: 12 -18 mo. – Same intents expressed – Words and jargon co-exist

Pragmatic Development: 18 -24 mo. • New discourse-related communicative functions: – Answer – Acknowledge – Add new information • Discourse management – Turns: increasing awareness of conversational obligation – Topics: 1 -2 turns/topic • Register variation – Politeness: please, whining – Talk differently to mom than dad • Presupposition – Very little

Communication Development: 2436 mo. Use • Child is more reliable at responding to conversational obligations • New discourse intents include pretending, narrating, • More flexible forms are used to achieve politeness, indirect requests • Topics can be maintained for longer • Turn-taking and topic shifting become

Pragmatic Development: School Age • Communicative functions • Increase in range of functions v. Narration v. Persuasion/negotiation • Increase in decontextualized talk • Discourse management • Requires less support from adults; still needs some • Longer turns; more turns/topic • Increased topic maintenance, fewer unrelated utterances • Smooth transitions • Decline in abrupt shifts • Greater coherence

Pragmatic Development: School Age, con’t. • Register variation • New polite forms: • permission requests, permission directives, some indirect requests • 4 -7: hints • Ability to use ‘motherese’ • Language of power, social negotiation • Presupposition • attending to listener needs • informativeness

Pragmatic Development in Later Childhood and Adolescence • Discourse Genres – Narration – Persuasion/negotiation – Exposition – Ambiguity/sarcasm • Register variation – Slang – Figurative language • Presupposition – Cohesive devices

Pragmatic Development in Adolescence: Discourse Management • Stay on topic longer • Has extended dialogues • Makes greater number of relevant, factual, new contributions to topic • Shifts gracefully from one topic to another • Adjusts the content and style of speech to thoughts and feelings of others.

Pragmatic Development in Adolescence: Persuasion • Adjusts to listener characteristics (e. g. , social status, familiarity • States advantages to the listener as a reason to comply • Anticipates and replies to counterarguments • Uses positive strategies such as politeness and bargaining • Gives up negative strategies such as whining and begging • Generates a number and variety of arguments • Controls discourse assertively