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Sources of Variation in First Language Acquisition: Languages, contexts, and learners
Edited by Maya Hickmann †, Edy Veneziano and Harriet Jisa
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 22] 2018
► pp. 219–242

Chapter 11
Referential features, speech genres and activity types

| Laboratoire Langage, Systèmes, Discours, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3
| Laboratoire Langage, Systèmes, Discours, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3
| Laboratoire Langage, Systèmes, Discours, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3
| Laboratoire Développement, Adaptation et Handicap, Université de Lorraine, Nancy

Based on a dialogic theoretical framework, this chapter explores the influence of speech genres and activities on the use of referring expressions. The study examines a corpus of 25 dialogues of French speaking children aged between 1;10 and 2;04 in various activities. Results show that referring expressions are not homogenously used throughout activities and genres. Everyday activities increase the use of nouns and strong demonstrative pronouns, games with toys positively affect the use of strong demonstrative pronouns and iconic material entails a more frequent use of clitic demonstratives and to a lesser extent of 3rd person pronouns. However, discourse in activities is made of various speech genres which strongly affect the use of clitic pronouns. Clitic demonstratives are preferred for labeling and evaluation but 3rd person pronouns are used for description and narratives. The discussion deals with the way these associations could be factors accounting for children’s early choice of referring expressions.

Keywords: referring expressions, pronouns, activities, speech, genres, dialogic perspective, language acquisition
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Referring expressions in a French corpus
    • 2.1The distribution of referring expressions
    • 2.2Uses of referring expressions
  • 3.Referring expressions, activities and speech genres in family dialogues
    • 3.1Activities and referring expressions
    • 3.2Speech genres and referring expressions
  • 4.How can speech genres affect the acquisition and use of referring expressions?
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 22 February 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.22.12sal
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