From pronoun reversals to correct pronoun usage: a case study of a normally developing child

Personal pronoun confusion ("I/me" for "you" and "you" for "me/I") was studied longitudinally in the language of a highly imitative preschool child with normally developing language. The proportion of pronoun confusion was compared with proportion of imitative utterances and with level of linguistic complexity. Over a 5-month period, pronoun confusion decreased as imitation decreased and linguistic complexity increased. The developmental changes that occurred were qualitative as well as quantitative. Several categories of pronoun confusion were observed. These were similar to pronoun confusions reported in older language-disordered children. Pronoun confusion was related to (a) a tendency to imitate utterances of others, (b) early production of "you" as a productive linguistic form, and (c) a tendency to use a pronoun rather than a noun for self-reference. Clinical implications are presented.