This study investigated self/other reference in Mandarin child language by testing the hypothesis that children's overt self/other reference is related to the pragmatic notion of social control (Budwig, 1989, 1990, 1995). The participants were two Mandarin-speaking children and their mothers. Natural mother-child conversations were video-recorded when the children were between the ages of 2;2 and 3;1. The results suggest that social control appears to be a salient notion to Mandarin-speaking children, and that the children organize their use of self/other reference forms around the pragmatic notion of social control.