Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T10:58:27.543Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Children's acquisition of language routines: The end-of-meal routine in Cakchiquel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Margaret Wilhite
Margaret Wilhite
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Louisville
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In acquiring language, children must acquire not only the structure of the language, but also the rules for using language appropriately in a wide variety of situations. Routines, or rituals, which occur in language provide a special opportunity for studying children's acquisition of this aspect of language because routines emphasize the rules of use over the lexical meaning. Furthermore, routines are limited in terms of the structures which are acceptable, thus naturally controlling for this variable. With the aim of expanding our knowledge of the process of acquisition of routines, this study reports the acquisition by children of a routine used at the end of meals by Cakchiquel-speaking Indians in Guatemala. (Routines, politeness formulas, linguistic socialization, linguistic input to children; Cakchiquel.)

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 1983 , pp. 47 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, E. (1977). Young children's knowledge of role-related speech differences: A mommy is not a daddy is not a baby. Papers and Reports on Child Language Development 13: 83–90.Google Scholar
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bateson, M. (1975). Mother-infant exchanges: The epigenesis of conversational interaction. In Aaronson, D. & Rieber, R. W. (eds.), Developmental Psycholinguistics and Communication Disorders. (Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 263.) 101–13.Google Scholar
Brown, R. & Frazer, C. (1964). The acquisition of syntax. In Bellugi, U. & Brown, R.(eds.), The acquisition of language. Monographs of the society for research in child development. 29: 43–79.Google ScholarPubMed
Cazden, C. (1965). Environmental assistance to the child's acquisition of grammar. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Graduate School of Education, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Cazden, C. (1970). The neglected situation in child language research and education. In Williams, F. (ed.), Language and poverty. Chicago: Markham. 81–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corsaro, W. A. (1979). “We're friends, right?”: Children's use of access rituals in a nursery school. Language in Society 8: 315–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelsky, C. (1977). Acquisition of an aspect of communicative competence: Leaming what it means to talk like a lady. In Ervin-Tripp, S. & Mitchell-Keman, C. (eds.), Child discourse. New York: Academic Press. 225–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gleason, J. B. & Weintraub, S. (1976). The acquisition of routines in child language. Language in Society 5: 129–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greif, E. B. & Gleason, J. B. (1980). Hi, thanks, and goodbye: More routine information. Language in Society 9: 159–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jakobson, R. (1968). Child language, aphasia, and phonological universals. Translated by Keiler, A.. The Hague: Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malinowski, B. (1935). The language of magic and gardening: Coral Gardens and their magic. Vol. II. London: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
McDowell, J. H. (1979). Children's riddling. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Philips, S. U. (1972). Participant structures and communicative competence: Warm Springs children in community and classroom. In Cazden, C. B., John, V. P., & Hymes, D. (eds.), Functions of language in the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press. 370–94.Google Scholar
Sachs, J. & Devin, J. (1976). Young children's use of age-appropriate speech styles in social interaction and role-playing. Journal of Child Language 3: 81–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shatz, M. & Gelman, R. (1973). The development of communication skills:Modifications in the speech of young children as a function of listener. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 38(5). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar