The impact of extralinguistic factors upon the subject matter of children's discourse

Abstract

This article analyzes different perspectives on the problem of definition of the concept of “children's discourse”, reveals its theoretical framework, as well as clarifies the impact of extralinguistic factors upon the subject matter. Children’s everyday speech. recorded by their parents and posted on the website “Children Speak” www.det.org.ru, is the subject of this research. The goal consists in identification and analysis of the thematic peculiarities of children's discourse and the contributing factors. The scientific novelty of this work lies in revelation of thematic peculiarities of children's discourse on the example of children’s everyday speech; analysis of the key factors influencing their speech activity depending on the frequency of utilization of the studied topics. Theoretical significance of this work consists in elucidation of the concept of “children's discourse”, its dependence on the child’s linguistic identity, and difference from children's speech. Practical significance consists in the acquired results that can be applied in the university courses of psycholinguistics, linguoculturology, ontolinguistics, as well as in compiling textbooks on the Russian language for children. The author distinguishes between the concepts of “children's discourse” and “children's speech”; establishes correlation between the children's discourse and child’s linguistic identity; highlights the frequently used thematic groups, as well as underlines the impact of such factors as visual objects, sociology, and culture upon the children’s discourse. The conclusions may become the foundation for further research dedicated to to children's discourse, children's speech, ontolinguistics, etc.