Children's Comprehension of Deictic Categories in Oral and Written Language

Abstract

THIS STUDY examined children's ability to understand the use of deictic terms in oral and written language. Three categories of words with deictic content were investigated: pronouns (e.g., I, you), locatives (e.g., this, here), and motion verbs (e.g., come, go). Three groups of second-grade students performed three types of tasks: oral-language tasks, written-language tasks, and picture-selection tasks. Planned comparisons indicated that written-language tasks were more difficult than comparable oral-language tasks, that motion verbs were more difficult for children to interpret, and that children found it more difficult to interpret deictic terms when they were observers than when they were participants in a conversation. Children had as much difficulty interpreting deictic terms in written texts addressed to the reader as in written texts representing quoted dialogue. Factors that contributed to the difficulty children had in interpreting words with deictic content are discussed.