Abstract
SZAGUN, GISELA. On the Frequency of Use of Tenses in English and German Children's Spontaneous Speech. CHmLD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 898-901. This cross-cultural study examined the frequency of use of tenses by English and German children between 2-6 and 4-6. Developmental changes in frequency of use of tenses were observed: frequency of use of present tenses decreased significantly with age, at the same rate and level in both languages, and frequency of past and future tenses increased correspondingly, with past tenses increasing more rapidly. Children's frequencies did not correlate with adult frequencies of use of tenses. The children's frequencies of use of present, past, and future tenses were interpreted as indicative of their cognitive organization of temporal experience.
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