CHILDREN DO ASK, BUT DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO ASKING: EPI-PRAGMATIC VS. META-PRAGMATIC SKILL

Abstract

Old fi ndings on children’s comprehension of ask and tell were subject todifferent interpretations refl ecting progress in the fi eld of language acquisition.We want to show that acquiring a particular skill does not necessarily includecompetence of its intentional control and use. Development of linguistic skillstakes place at different levels starting from early spontaneous, implicit abilitiesto the level of meta-pragmatic refl exive knowledge that enables deliberatemonitoring, planning, and practice. The present study was aimed at exploringtwo extreme points in development: early epi-pragmatic and late refl exive metapragmaticcompetence. The fi rst part aims at fi nding the earliest instancesof children spontaneous ability to pass ask-instructions, and the evidence isprovided for the ages as early as 22 to 40 months (much earlier than recorded inthe previous studies). The second part is experimental and focuses on children’sability to respond to ask- and tell-instructions in the context of a cancelledconversational rule (Gricean Maxim of Quantity) which requires deliberatemonitoring and use. The results show that this meta-pragmatic refl exive abilitybecomes stable only at the age of 6 years.

Keywords

• ask-instruction
• conversational awareness
• pragmatic development
• meta-pragmatics
• speech act