Publications
Publication details [#15802]
Sealey, Alison. 1999. 'Don't be cheeky': Requests, directives and being a child. Journal of Sociolinguistics 3 (1) : 24–40. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Keywords
Place, Publisher
Blackwell Publishers
ISBN
1360-6441
Journal WWW
Annotation
The study described in this article collected naturalistic data from six children aged eight to nine talking with their relatives and friends. The article focuses on directives and requests used by the children and their interlocutors in informal conversations. It proposes that – as previous research has found – some requests and directives are distinctive because of the children’s social status as children, but also suggests that, since ‘being a child’ is a relational and socially negotiated role, its significance varies across different interactions.