TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding indirect requests
T2 - An investigation of children's comprehension of pragmatic meanings
AU - Leonard, L. B.
AU - Wilcox, M. J.
AU - Fulmer, K. C.
AU - Albyn Davis, G.
PY - 1978
Y1 - 1978
N2 - Two experiments examined four-, five-, and six-year-old children's understanding of indirect requests. The experimental tasks required the children to judge the appropriateness of a listener's response to indirect requests involving an affirmative syntactic construction (Can you shut the door?), requests containing a negative element (Can't you answer the phone?), and requests for the state of affairs mentioned in the predicate to be changed (Must you play the piano?). Even the youngest age group exhibited an understanding of the first two types of indirect requests. However, only the six year olds showed any understanding of requests for a change in the state of affairs mentioned in the predicate. Possible factors responsible for children's difficulty with these requests are discussed.
AB - Two experiments examined four-, five-, and six-year-old children's understanding of indirect requests. The experimental tasks required the children to judge the appropriateness of a listener's response to indirect requests involving an affirmative syntactic construction (Can you shut the door?), requests containing a negative element (Can't you answer the phone?), and requests for the state of affairs mentioned in the predicate to be changed (Must you play the piano?). Even the youngest age group exhibited an understanding of the first two types of indirect requests. However, only the six year olds showed any understanding of requests for a change in the state of affairs mentioned in the predicate. Possible factors responsible for children's difficulty with these requests are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1044/jshr.2103.528
DO - 10.1044/jshr.2103.528
M3 - Article
C2 - 713521
AN - SCOPUS:0018143743
VL - 21
SP - 528
EP - 537
JO - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
JF - Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
SN - 1092-4388
IS - 3
ER -