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Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language
Published on: October 13, 2018
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Pragmatic inferences in context: learning to interpret contrastive prosody.
Chigusa Kurumada1, Eve V Clark2
1University of Rochester,USA.
Journal of Child Language
|May 27, 2016
Summary
Four-year-olds can understand implied meanings from speech intonation, contrary to previous beliefs. This is achieved by comparing the spoken sentence with stronger alternatives available in the context.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Preschoolers' understanding of pragmatic inferences from intonation has been limited.
- Prior research indicated children under six struggle with contrastive intonation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if four-year-olds can make pragmatic inferences from utterance intonation.
- To explore the role of semantic alternatives in understanding intonational cues.
Main Methods:
- Children were presented with utterances like "It LOOKS like a zebra".
- The study assessed their ability to derive conversational implicatures based on intonation.
- Contextual alternatives, such as "It's a zebra", were provided.
Main Results:
- Four-year-olds successfully interpreted contrastive intonation to derive implicatures.
- Children leveraged semantically stronger alternatives to understand the intended meaning.
- This suggests an early ability to bootstrap intonational interpretation.
Conclusions:
- Preschoolers can infer meaning from intonation when context provides stronger alternatives.
- Contextually leveraged inferences are crucial for acquiring intonational meanings.
- Four-year-olds and adults utilize alternative utterances to interpret contrastive intonation.
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