Pragmatics of Directive Choice Among Children

Abstract

This chapter discusses pragmatics of directives choice among children. In English, and probably in most languages, directives may take a number of forms ranging from simple commands boldly stated to hints that require inference based on shared knowledge for their proper identification as directives. On the basis of the directives exhibited in the role-play data, and in their spontaneous speech, one can say that the children in our sample have acquired all of the conventional forms that directives may take in American English. The communicative competence of the children in regard to the use of directives then includes at least two of the functional aspects of directive use: the identification and comprehension as directives of utterances that have some other surface form; and the selection of particular directive forms on the basis of situational appropriateness. From the perspective of the addressee, there are interpretive problems involved in the use of the imperative by a peer. These problems arise from the status meaning that adheres to the imperative, and are accentuated by the importance of imperatives in status manipulation ploys.