German-Speaking Preschoolers' Comprehension and Production of Case Assigned by Local One-Case and Two-Case...

The study explored monolingual German-speaking preschoolers' skills in accusative and dative case marking with local prepositions, the types of errors they made, and whether age can explain their performance. To test the ability of preschoolers (n = 59, age range 4;5-6;5) to mark case assigned by one-case and two-case prepositions, a comprehension and a production task were designed. The children in general performed more accurately on accusative than on dative and on case marking with one-case prepositions than with two-case prepositions. A general production/comprehension asymmetry was not attested. However, the participants revealed the most difficulty in producing dative case and overgeneralized accusative to dative case contexts. Age affected the children's case marking skills, with older children performing more accurately on one-case prepositions than younger children. Thus, the ability to mark case assigned by prepositions in German, especially dative case, is not completed by school entry.