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Analysis of pronominal errors: a case-study
1Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, P.Q., Canada.
Journal of Child Language
|February 1, 1992
Summary
This case study shows a young child
Area of Science:
- Child language acquisition
- Developmental linguistics
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Pronominal errors are common in early child language.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of pronoun acquisition is crucial.
Observation:
- A normally developing boy exhibited consistent pronominal errors between 1;11 and 2;4.
- Longitudinal analysis of first- and second-person pronoun comprehension and production was conducted from 1;7 to 2;10.
Findings:
- The child mastered pronoun usage by 2;10.
- Pronominal errors were primarily attributed to semantic confusion, not imitation.
- The child confused first-person pronouns (referring to the conversational partner) and second-person pronouns (referring to himself).
Implications:
- Semantic confusion is a significant factor in early pronominal errors.
- This case provides insight into the cognitive processes underlying pronoun development.
- Findings contribute to theories of child language acquisition and self-referential language development.
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