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Children's understanding of the speech act of promising*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Janet W. Astington
Janet W. Astington*
Affiliation:
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
*
Centre for Applied Cognitive Science, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1V6, Canada.
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Abstract

This study determined what types of speech act 5– to 13-year-olds, and adults, would call Promising by asking questions following stories in which a speaker sometimes violated Searle's (1969) rules, by promising an event outside the speaker's control (PREDICTING) or by promising that a past action had been performed (ASSERTING). By 9 years of age children could distinguish between promising and predicting in terms of the speaker's responsibility for the outcome. 11- and 13-year-olds correctly said the speaker did not promise in cases of predicting, but only a few of them were correct for asserting. Even older children said the speaker did not promise when the promise was unfulfilled. Children do not think of promising as simply a speech act. The adult conception is closer to, but not the same, as Searle's.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , February 1988 , pp. 157 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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Footnotes

*

The author would like to thank David Olson, Lynd Forguson and Bill Postl for their advice during the progress of this research, and to acknowledge the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, through Doctoral Fellowship 453–84–0013, held at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

References

REFERENCES

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