Research Article
Communicative Response to Demand in Child Language
한양대학교
Published: January 2008 · No. 33 · pp. 597-628
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20880/kler.2008..33.597
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Abstract
This study aims to observe the styles of child response to demand and find out if there are any characteristics in child response. Subjects were 8 normal children who were 24-34 months of age at the time of first assessment. We classified response styles according to the degree of interaction-interactional response, semi-interactional response, non- interactional response. Analysis of response styles showed that semi-interactional response and non-interactional response are common in young children's utterances. Interactional response increased with the growth of age. And response styles can be classified as acceptance and refusal whether the speaker accept the demand or not. Regarding acceptance, it was observed that children often use unique style. For example, some children describe their own conduct, or describe the result of their having performed the demand. With regard to refusal, young children show high percentage of negative sentences such as 'It's not -.'. We can also classify response styles as behavioral response, perceptional response and emotional response according to the speaker's point. The whole young children focused on behavior when they receave the demand. And as they grow in months, the focus has shifted to perception. The emotional response was found frequently in acceptance but was hardly found in refusal.
