Child's talk: learning to use language

Child's Talk Learning to Use Language

�------�-JEROME BRUNER Witlr tire cusistmtcc

of Uitn Watsott

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

•

1983

Oxford University Pws,

Wtdto11 St,tl,

Oiford OX2

Lontlim Glusgow N1111 Ytml Turo11to

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lHU1i BoMbay Caltad14 Mudrus Karachi Kuala Lumpur SingaJIDre HoJig K011g ToAJU Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Me/bourn� ltuclzltmd

Beirut

a'lld o.ssocialll.s in B��rli11 lbadtnl Mexico

Oxford is a

trade 1114rlz

Ciry Nicosia

of Oxford U11iv1nity

@}lf"lnlll Bruner

1983

Press

r�pnxl

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JSBNO 198J76JJ 7 ISBN 0 19 857JII 4 (pblz)

••

CONTENTS

Preface or.: t:

I

T w u I T u 1t.: •:

•·o l' K

I

Introduction F.-om Communicating to Talking Play, Games, and Language

I The Growth of·Reference

3

21 43 65 89

•. 1 ,, t:

I

The_ Developmem of Request

s 1 x

I

Lean1ing How to Talk

117

Notes

135

Index

1�Jl

.I

ms

T

PREFACE

was originally intended to be a collection of written in the decade after 1972. The original pl;m was to r ewor k and to rewrite t hem individ­ VOLUME

selected

,

papers,

ually, to create a book of.essays. In the process those earlier

papen were absorbed into traces

of th e m can still be

a

more general framework, though

found. They beca me a singl e book. Its

•n·e how the young child acquires the wes of his native language and how by u s ing l a nguage first for limited ends the child comes finally to recognize its more powerful, productive themes

uses. Its emphasis is on pragmatk5--{)n learning "how to do

things with words," in Austin's happy phrase , particularly how to achieve joint attention by the use of language. I did not

I moved

d conduct j oint action with another

an

begin to study language intensively untill972, w he n

of the de cade before that had interested me to be sure, but onl y as a spectator. Dominated by an interest in syntax and its m ast e ry it was largely formalistic in spirit. It did not te m pt me into the water. It seemed to me lacking in fu nct io nal force. The focus ori grammatical structure found in this style of developmentai li nguistics seemed to keep it from exploring the fu nc tions language served in dif­ ferent contexts and how these functions were developed. But by r he 1970s the study of language acquisition had begun to shift toward a more functional empha s i s It was then t h a t my interest l!hi n.ed f rom that of a spectator to that of a participant. A word e sen sitive t o t h e requirements of predic­ t ion and , if P;_tpousek's i n t e r p ret a tion of t h e s m i le of predictive pleasure" is t o be t a ken seriou sly, to get active pleasu re from successfu l pred ict ion . A n yone who has bothe red to ponder the plcasm·e i n f:mL'i derh•e fmm achieving repetitive, Sli refi re predict ion wi ll a ppreci a t e thi� poi n t . To say t hat i n l�mt� a r·e also "social" is to l>e ban a l . 111ey are geared to •·cspond to t.he human voke , to the human face , to human :tcl lmi and gcsl u t·e. Their means-end read i nes� is easi ly a m i C J t t ickly b ro u g h t into cc x ml i na t.ion w i th the -the social world a s well � s the ph ysica l . H e must also master t h e com·en tions for making h i s inte nt ions

dear b y language .

Support for Languagtt Acqui1ition The development of langu age, then , i n vo l ves two people

negotiating. Language is not encountered willy-nilly by .the chi ld ;

it is sh aped to make co m m u nicati ve i n te rac t i o n effective-fi ne­ a La ngu age Acqu i � i tion Device , the . i n pu t t o i t i s n o t a s hower of spoken Jan u a e but a hi h l y interact i ve a ffair sha p ed , as w e h a ve alrea y noted , b y s o m e sort of a n ad u lt La n­ t u n ed . I f t he �e is

guage Acq u is i tion

Su pport S ystem.

After a ll , al 1 s well known l rom a generation of research on anothe r "i nnate" s ys1 em, sexucesses a re hrouglu i n to play t h a t gen eral ize from one format to a nother. N a m ing, fo r ex a m pl e . a p pea rs fi rst i n indicat ing formats and t h en t ra n s fers to rc<Ji lCsti n g formats. I ndeed , the vct:y notion of fi nd i n g l i n gu istic para l lels for conce ptual d isti nctions generalizes from one format to a nother. So too do such "abstract" id e<Js as segmentation, i nt e rc h a n geable roles, s u bstitutive means-bot h i n act ion a nd i n speech . These a re t h e m u ndane proced u res a n d events t h a t consti­ tute a L<mguage Acquisition Support Sys t e m , along w i th the

clements o f fine tu n i n g t hat com prise "baby talk" excha nges That m uch said . we can t u r n to the d etai l s .

.

T H R E E

-------�-

Play, Games, and Language

EVERAL S

ev ol u t i o n of the various p..imate species. A IDa.JOr co ndu sto n of that su rvey was that "one concom i t ant o f t he [evol utiona ry] change is the decline of fixed patterns of i nd u ct io n into t he rou The re is much less o f what mig t cal e training by t h reat from ad u h s o r punish ment by a d u lt s of a j u venile w ho has v iola ted a species ty p ical pat t e rn .

YEAKS AGO

I u n d e rto o k

a st u d y o f t h e

the natu 1·e and uses of ammat u ruy

m

.

The prolonged i n fimt-mot her i nt eract ion i ncl udes now

a

much

la rge r element of play between them, often i n i t iated by the mot he r

and

often used to d ivert an i n fa n t from a frust ration­

arousi ng si t uation . " I commen ted at that time on t he various

i mp ort a n t fu nctions that play se n•es among i m mat u re memben;

of higher primate species: m i n i m izing the seve rity o f the conse­ quences of action ; o ffe r i n g an opport u n i ty for trying out "com­

binations of behavior that wou ld , under fu nct ion a l p ress u re,

never be tried "; a n d i n general loosening u p or "dissociating"

fixed •·elations thm might have existed between means and ends

i n i nst rumental behavior. A p rinci pal concl u sion of t h a t s t u d y w a s that the increased dom inance of p lay d u ring immatu a·ity

G reat Apes and Hominids sen·ed as a pre panttion for tee mtca -socaa 1 e t at consututes uuna n cu t u re . ' '" But nowhe re below Man does o ne find t he "games" o f child­ h ood and infanc y t hat are the sta p le and delight of h u man i mmaturity-the peekaboo variants, Ride-a-Cock-Horse, This-is­ the-Way- t he-Ladies- Ride , and t h e rest . Fur all of t hem depend in some measu re u pon the use and exchange of language . They are games that are constituted by language a nd (:a n exist only w h e re language is present. Such games make seve ral othe r d istinctive �.:ont rib u t im1s w human immaturity. They often prov ide the f i a·st occasion lo•· the ch i l d s syster� atic use of la nguage with an a d u l t . Th ey o ffer t he amon t e

'

_

Chi ld's Talk fi rst opport u nity to ex plore how to get thi ngs done· with words. For t he word s of pl be well formed. it is. moreover, com ple tely convent iona l and "nonna t u ral.'1 Even 1f peekaboo depended for rts Ioree upon the child's u n ce r t a i n t y abou t ol�ect pe rmanence (which it may wel l do) , it is nonetheless com posed of com p letely made u p . facti­ tiou !i const i t uents and t ied toge t h e r by a set of only slightly nego­ tiable rules. A nd , of cou rse , it is made up, prec isely, of a · set of constituent acl'l that a re formed in se<Juence ira a pa rticu lar·order a nd transfor11,1ed with re a ni to the rules as well. Game formats, " morcon�r. may >e conce l \·e of as mvmg a "deep stn1cture ;md a set of rea l i 1.ation n t les by which the surface of the game is m a naged . The deep structu re of peekaboo is the controlled dis­ appe;mmce and rea pp earance of an object or a person. The su r­ face structu re ( p ics was com posed of two com ponen ts . The com pon ents of the ,

A ntecedent Topic

w ere

P R E PAR A T I O N and D I S A PP E A R ­

A N C E ; those of t h e Subseq u e n t Topic were R E A PPEA RA N CE

and REESTA B L I S H M E N T . Each compon e n t consisted of two

or mor� co nstituents by which

a

com ponent co uld be "1·ea l i zed"

of t he ga me is presen ted in Ta bl e 3 . 1 , along with exa m ples of each of the ten constituents that make u p this "su r face structu re" to which the in actual behavior or utte rance. T h e over-all st nacture

child w a s exposed .

Each constituent w a s segmented- by

a

pa u se or some ot her

appropriate means for m a rk i n g it off from the n e x t co nst i t u e n t .

T h e pa uses or other markings between the fou r com ponents were longer or more salient . A nd the pause between A ntecedent and Subsequent Topics was pa rticu l a rl y lon g and p r e gna nt w ith suspense. Those are t h e st ructu ra l bones o f the game. Let me il�ustrate them less abstractl y-in t h e spirit of the illust rat ions given 'at the bottom of the "game ta·ee ." PREPARATION involves an i nitial constituent in which the mother first cal ls the ch ild's auemion to the dow n by jiggling it around or using some such Atttntional vocativ� as Who's this ' w i th •The expression 0;5 refers to five mom hs; 1 ;2 . 1 0 to one yea•·. days, etc. �e follow this convemion throughout.

ten

t wo

mont hs, and

/ topic "

A ntecedent ,....--

/ topic "

PREPARATION

AIUnti� .1

roem-n

}onathtln , looi Who's thil?

�:

.i

A g1ncJ ISIDbHshmt!rtt

' ,

. ·

-�

Sta�arch .·:�1

Mu,i;,,

�

�

;·�1

.•;

hitk him? ShaU Jonathan do it. HI'S going .

n

:·; Compl1tion 7\

,,.

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r. ::!

�

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.-.

,

1\

7

Start ·. ,

� �1 f: j :.i

n

·

;

•

t:

�

�. Wh1nis ��

Ht!� going ;. go-o-il; ;: � Gon1! H1'1 ron

,

Subsequent

REESTABLISHMENT

REAPPEARANCE

DISAPPEARANCE

:jhall'-n ,ai-�,1. ·s

._

A

Arousal ·; '

CompllliOrt

. . .A.F�r�uh Start

�-� �j

•·.,

�

·�

}:: '

M

�·;

a

,; ·i'

iJ.

gon��

I

H1n h1 comts. H1'1 coming to 111 Jori. Boo! HeUo,

j

.:j

?j... .... ,· 'l

:

. ..;: ;

:�

:�� -�

i

·. . .::

�.!

. .. ,

1.'4t

�! :o i.

:.-2

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i

� ��·

"'

Jolltllhalt� �·� _. ,

�·

Then ht! il.

,iJ

�

J

Constraint .·

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· ' ,

.

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i

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!#t

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Ji I it

;

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BabaiMboo! { lllOY i ft& clown to ... belly).

j

Don't 1a1 him •

.

Play, Games, and Language

SI

a marked i n terrogative contour. O n ce attention is ga ined the mother settles the question o f who is to be a ge n t and who expe-:­ ri�ncer: Agency e.Jtabli.Jh�nt. ,Then D I SAPPEARANCE begins. I t has three constituents. The Start, the Completion, a n d the Search: Here he goes! He�J gone! Where is he'f Then there is a long pause, followed by the Start of REAPPEARANCE, w h i ch can be han­ d led either s low l y or ex p lm;ively , followed then by Completion: He:f coming. Boo, Jonathan! Here he if. Then, after another pause, the REESfABLISH MENT component begins with ATOUSal when the mother attempt� to excite Jonathan w i t h the down, followed by Constraint wh e n she succeeds: Bababoo (moving · the down toward him) ! Oh, don't eat him! All of the constituents can be but are not always accom p ani ed by words. What is i nvariant i n the game is its deep structu re-disap­ pearance and r ea p p e a ra nce of an obj e c t I t remains so across a wide range of surface reahzat1ons. I here IS no su rprise in the ,

.

baSic game. Su rprise is always achieved by

varyi ng the

constitu­

These co n st i te nts then become real­ ized and marked by moderately predictable (but only m od� ra tely ) variations il'i u tterance and prosod y . For exam ple, the va rious constituents were rarely all. a cco m pa n ied by mother's vocal u tterances. Sometimes only one was so marked� And when the games followed one ri gh t after the other, the mother usually accompa nied different constituents by their appropriate, famil­ iar ''ocal accom panime n t . It was as if she were pu rposely creat­

ents by which it is

realized .

ing vocal place holders i n

the sequence of constituents. The same

held for her prosodic marking of the utterances she actuall y used. The y were cunningly varied to produce ch a n ge and suspense. On REA PPEARANCE, for exam ple, the Start would over time be very slow, Here he co�s. and the next time delivered with breakneck speed . So too with the emtrgence of t h e down. .

.

.

.

.

.

Th us wh ile the overall game became routinized , the constituents that made it u p were forever being varied : utterances, prosody , pause lengths, whatever. J onathan's "entry" into the game was gradual. From 0;5 to 0;9 he paid increasingly more active attention. His mother altered

.S l . her role accordingly. The ten constituents that she could mark with a vocalization became increasingly elaborated;. Take, for example. Where's he gone1, the Search constituent. She used this standard question forty-three times between Jonathan's fifth and ninth month . At 0;7, she added to this standard p h rase Where i.f

he1; at 0;8 , /s he in there, Can you see him1; and at 0;9, Where's the cloum 1 (introducing the nom ina l)-al l supplemental forms. I t was "

evident that as these new features became

"expectable," Jona­

�ait for his mother to utter the m-looki n g up at her either in amidpation or after she spoke. Her richer l a n gua ge was becoming a part of the

t h a n wou ld

from the clown-and-cone and s mili ng

game. I ncreasingly, he , too, would vocalize d u ring these j u nc­ t u res between the constituents.

The om ission of expected u t terances was handled in a n

i n te res ti ng w a y

by Jonathan's

mother. Early on, she voca l l y

accompanied nearly every co n stitu e n t o f t h e ga me. A t 0 ; 5 , for

ex am ple

,

she marke� as many as nine of them in

one

roun d ,

seven i n another. By 0 ; 9 , her utterances had d ropped t o a max­

imum of fou r per game. Three constituents in particular were

sacrificed · to sua.tain

Jonathan's interest:

the

start

p h a se of the

disappearance (IUs going); the start ehase of the reappearance

(Htre he comes); and the completion of the rea p pea ranse -(T/aere he is). What remained were the quick withd [a\Yat (Gone!) and explosive reentry (/Joo!) and a far greater use ofconsJ raints (Don't eat him or No, I don't tlainl& you'd better put that in your mo1tth )­ u tt e ra nces that by their nature were much more closely ti ed to the child's actions and presu med i n tentions and fa r less ritual­

ized in ch a racte r The .deletions were paced in such a way that .

t h ey coincided with Jonathan's mas te ry of th e game. When a

constituent, in e ffect, could

J

ization was deleted.

It was

v_ention o f presu pposition .

be

a

pres u p posed , the mother's vocal­

striking

way of

establishin g

a con­

onathan's responsiveness to his mother's voc a lizatio n s also re v ealed an interesting trend At 0;5, attempting to grab the

clown do mi na ted the scene.

.

By 0;6, he accompanied

his attempts

to re ac h or grab the clown with undiffe rentiated vocalizations.

Play, Games, and Lonpoge

These were dist ri buted

53

throughout the game . B u t by 0 ; 7 , J ona­

'

than began responding to the game s pred ictable rhyth m . He

lost interest in grabbin g a nd now reacted at appmpriate points by s m il i n g a nd la ughter. Duri ng the Search phase ri g h t after

the

DISAPPEA R A N CE, for exam p le, h is smiling and vocalizations were "sha red" w ith

mother

as

they establ is hed eye comact

while she talked the down back i n to R E A PPEA R A N C E .

Soon after,

Jonathan

began taking a more a ge n t l i ke role ,

t rying cl u m si ly to prod uce the disappearance and reappearance himse l f. No longer pleased to be merely su rprised by t h e dow n , b y 0 ; 8 h e was ready to get t h e clown u p out of t h e cone by h i m ­ self. When h i s mot her l i m i ted h i s efforts, his attention lagged . I n effect, she was forced to let h i m take the lead i n order to hold his interest . When she fa iled to y i e l d (as observed on thi rteen occasions at 0;8), Jonathan a ban d o n e d t he game on half the occasions. She gave in and let h i m take Jl9Ssession of the clown wheneve r he demanded it. To help h i m mana-ge this,

e

she

con­

densed the surface struct u re of the ga m e to t wo essent ial con­

stituents

(gone!

at DISA PPEARA NCE a nd boo!

A NCE). B u t by 0;9, h

ue l).t-o �� r y. gam�.

il t REA PPEAR­

was permi tted to touch and hold the

clown d uring some constituents of nearl y eve ry round. By th e n he was .vocalizing a lo ng w ith his mothe•· on at least one constit-

,

�

� K11?Wlh of Jonathan s motor pa rllcJpauon t he pme · i $,��d in Table 3 . 2 . At the start, it was most l y u nre-

_ ,_

··'�..

•

.

.

acuve,.

.

.

ta1Jll �.2 • PERCENTA G E O F G A M ES I N W H I C H ... JONATJ-".N .�ELD; TOUCHED, OR M O UT H E D T H E Cl.OWN �.....,

\ ··j•") . From this small begi n ni ng , an expanded pattern began to ela borate. A mon t h later his mother h i d herself behind a chair and J onath a n waited on the othe r side , wa tching, vocalizing, and

laugh i n g in a � tici pation o f her rea p pea rance . H is \'ocalizatioo.o; we re s i m p l y exnhera n t cal l s as she disa ppeared and reappeared.

But note

that

he

regu la rly looked o.ul(ly immedi;uely a fter h e r

t·c;t ppea nmce , h u t l'i t·t u a l l y always joi ned gaze w i th h e r

before

her next disa ppearance . I n ;mot her two months (m idway th rough his t wel ft h mon t h ) , Jonat han hid h;m.feif be h i n d the same chair. l-I e nut onl)' i n i tiat ed the h id i n g but t e mt i nated i t on reappear­ a nce with a near-sta nda rd ooo ! . During the sc1m e episode , when the expe ri menterjoi ned i n a nd disappeared , Jonath;m cried gum! He now could initiate t he game as agent, with another in the role of expe ri e nce r, and was e'·en ahle to take on a new expe­ rie ncer-the expet· i menter! Two months lcner, at I ;2, the down-and-cone game retu rned to f'
,

tuated by pauses du ring wh i c h the child checks on u pt�e by the mother or by other adults. Acou s t ica ll y as well, ¥his cries also become more "conventional," h is i nitial "flat" sou nd s pec trum

· being

replaced

by cries

w i th

a more

pronou nced fu n d a me n tal ,.

frequency . The child's signaling of request progresses s teadily

toward com•entionalization in this ma n ner even before he can what he wants. The illocUlionary aspects of request gro w 1-before the referential element is present. So long as the mot h e r can provide an interpretation of a n appropriate referem from context, the child ada pts his cries to suc.h felicity condi tions as the mothe r i m poses-p rohibitions on "sc•·eami ng," waiting foa·

lsignal

somethi �Ji· bft t what it is that he wants, conventionalizatiol} moves at a mt:uilfi!IOre rapid pace. The mothe � accuracy and speed in interpreti ng w h a t her

u ptake, etc. B u t

wants

once

the child is able

to

signal not only tJaoJ he

93

The Development of Requelt

)

child wants obviously depends on h is s k i l l s as wel l . But t h i s prog­ ress is interesting. The poi n t at w h ich ou r two mot hers began successfully to i n te r p re t refe rent ial i n tent in their sons' signaling was just abou t when we, as "onlookers ," we re a ble to do so . I t has ent i re l y to d o with the child's fi rst "request ive re ferential" m aneuver : a nn extension toward a desi red object, occurring at abou t eight months in both child ren. At fi rst , t h is reach is as if "real": it is e ffortful, the body is incli ned with t he reach, and the child makes "effortful" noises w hile opening and closing his extended hand . In a few mo n t h s , this reach h as beco m e stylized and conventional. Th e reach is now open-handed , noneffortfu l , a nd its accompanying vocalization (as we shall see) becomes dis­ tinctive. I t i s , in e ffect, an "ostensi ve reach" that se e ms to be in tended to i n d i cat e an obj e c t of desi a·e . B u t it is not a poi nt. It is onl y much later t ha t the chi l d combi nes a "pu .-e point" with a request lO i ndicate what he wants. Rather, it is a st riking instance of a mode Qf indexing that is s pecifically tied to req uest. We distin u ish three main types of req uest in the two c h i l J and �he s i m lest rocedu rally , is re uest or a�& d r� n . Th� : ol!jtct. Ob,¢�� � st 1s e a rated rom an ea.- y p hase w h en 1 t is d i re,ted extl'-'�iv'Cfy:��� present, c l ose, and visi ble ol �ect often in pos��o}\·�(al\ '!4t�i�:�.l)_Q _ may be offe ring i t to t he child ; to ·· later fonrit.4iie'cted . to .re·ffime·p�t visible objects out of rea,h; . a n d finally to a f()nn desig ned to-�q�est objects that a re out of

· .� ·t

view .

., :: · · · .

·.·

:.;::

I h ave called a second

"'\

. .'_ ·

·

"-:

;:/ad ult to share a role relatioruhip tR.

c

·: . ' ;; :. .-

games

lay o r

o v10usl y , a re contex tualized 10 h1g

obj ect e x ha n ge and the

ly

.

· -inviJation, for it is a request to an 10

a game .

uc

req uests,

amihar rou tines like

d iscussed

in

a

preced ing

cha pter. A third t is a re est o r s u ortive action in which the child ries to recru i t an adult's ski l l or stren t o hel h i m ac h i e \' e a desir goal . These requests often requil·e t h e child to have some knowled ge of the structu re of the task at hand , but t h,is may not be so at the start. But supportive requests, as t h e y become more specialized , d � pend as much u pon the child's representa tion

i)

Child's Talk

94

of tasks as they do u pon h is com m u n icative com petence. I nvi­ tations can ta ke adva n tage of establ is hed game procedu res; requests for su pportive ac t i o n req uire the c h i l d to combine his k nowledge of a task with ·his knowledge of how to signal. The mother's role di ffers i n each type of req uest. In one, she must figu re out what ol�ect the child wants ; in a nother what the i n \'itation is f(,r ; �md in the thi rd , what kind of help h e needs. But in all t h r·ee types of request, she has a common "teaching" fu nction as well, however i n formal it may be. She is the "agent of the cu ltu re," so t o speak, and it is she who e n forces the felicity condit ions on requesti ng-and , as we shall see , by a great deal

o f negotiation .

The incidence of the th ree type s o f request at d i fferent ages..

is set forth in Table 5. 1 . Table J. J

• PE RCENTAGE O F REQU ESTS O F

MADE BY J O N A T H A N

8 -1 0

AND

RICHARD AT

Child's Age in Month1 l l -12 1 J -1 4 15-1 6 1 7 -18

Requests for:

Near and visible

object

Remote or absen t

mcnt

action

Total number of requests

Minutes of record ing

20 --24 •

(perctnlagt) 65

1 00

object Joint role enactSupportive

DI FFERENT TYPES

VA RIOUS AGES

35 t 26

23

63

49

23

I L - ,

11

23

II

24

19

14

25

39

7

14

41

26

27

22

54

38

210

1 50

1 50

1 50

1 50

1 50

1 .2

1 .5

1 .8

1 .5

3.6

2.5

N u m be r of requesl'l made evet-y I 0

m i n u t es

• Richard on ly t Jonalhan only

9S

j

06jttct Rttquttst The child's first requests for o b e ct s are usually rec i p roca l s

e e rby ol�ects reque!ited by the two chilch·en, fort y­ seven (82 pe ce n t ) were in another'_s possession . The reach ing was often accompanied by a fret or effort sound . Fi rst o bj e ct of adult o ffe rs : the mother holds out a toy i n v i t i n gly , and the

child reaches tQward it, extend ing his arm as noted earlier, and

the adult h a nds it over. Fmm eight to fo u rt en months, of the

fi fty-seven n

a

r

counterpart of "taking posses­ sion" of so meth i n g possessed by another. Up to about n i ne months, the chi ld's gaze is di rected exclusi vely to the object he is requestm g . I ndeed, the two chddren only looked at thetr moth ­ ers' faces when they failed to take possession of the objects sought. Susan Sugarman has described the "object schema" of the child as initially be i n g i ndependent of his " mother schema." But it requ esting, then , appears to be a

could not be completely so. Else w hy would he

request objects princi pally in

be

p

tem ted to

obj ec t and pa u sing . Only one instance of an ou tright (at eleven months) and that was when a desired her possession? Nor does he seize

the held object straightaway. He gestures first, extending his hand

toward the

in this early

grab was recorded

object was held by anothe r i n fant. This surely suggests that the

period,

way of

by n i ne months that the two ch il d re n glance at thei r mothers concurrently with reaching for the object. Whether initially independent or not, the "object schema" and t h e "mother child , even

recognizes request as a

altering possession by indi rect means.

But it is true that it is on ly

schema" do seem to become better coord i nated with time . Two things

happen

next. The first is that the child's reach

for the o�ect becomes converted into what I referred

�

to earlier

as a stylized or ostensive reach , without signs of effort or fret­

ting.

The

accompanying

effort sounds

were

concurrently ,...._

replaced · by stylized requ est calls: huhmm for jonathan and heaah for. Richard . The children , however, wer e still deficient

in

acknowl edging receipt of the object when it was handed to them.

Child's Talk Glancin g to wa rd the mother on receipt occu rred o n l y one time in five u ntil the sixteenth mon th . B y that age, the children were

qu ite regula rly looking toward the mother's face both w hen they

vocally accom panied ostensive reach and on receipt­ as t heir "eagerness" was not excessive. More usually, they

made their

s o long

reco g n ized the role of the m o t h e r as i n pos se s s i o n a n d as d u e

a

request. l f t h e y were o ve reage r they regressed back to fretting ,

In any case, the fo rm a t of this more variant of object-request was well establ ished by eig h­ teen months. And at that Po int it bega n to serve as a "canie r"

and effortful re a c h i n g

.

social ized

for m o re s peechl ike forms .

A t s i x t ee n month s , for example, Richard re pl ace d h i s re­

questive

heaah

vocalization with an extraordinarily wel l a rticu­

l at ed ghee of wh ich mention was mad e i n the preced i ng chapter.

.

J \.;__ - J

That i n tu rn was replaced by sentencelike babble strings in the

same pri vileged position , accom pa nying the ostensive, e ffortless rea c h , a fa vo r i t e being n-gah-gho-ah-di. Shortly a fter e ig h te e n

months, these d elightfu l , rather interrogatively contoured str i ngs

d rop ped out to be replaced in the same pos itio n by idiosyncratic lexemes like bauble (apple), accompa n ying a reach toward a book on the shel f containin g a fa vo r i te p ict u re of an apple. And i n d eed by twenty months the ostensive reach was begmning to d isa p pe a r repl a ced by a new i n tonation pattern: lleaah or ghee now became the head word in an u t te ra n c e containin g an idio­ s y ncratic l e x e me in terminal position . The lexeme rather than ,

,

the "req u est marker" re ce ived the stress-as in Heaah

�-louse

(" Want the mouse") w ith the first syllable, moo, st ressed . And not

long a fter, at twenty-two mo n t hs heaah is d roppe d altogether ,

a nd two-word combinations signifying Recu rrence (mtn·e mouse ) and Po ss ession (Richtird cau) make t h e ir a ppeara nce in the request format. In a wo rd rammatical forms and semantic relations a re used in the same format to rep ace t e mvent form s used initially to signal both requestive intent and the object desia·ed. The format was very much the st ead y vehicle of the ,

development.

The

DewloptMnt of Re q uest

There seemed

to be

97

no evidence of any deli berate m od e l i n g

by the mother of the grammatical f(>rms t hat emerged in the

child ren's speech . Correct gramma tical forms , ra t h e r were o ffe red as disa m biguating interpretations of the child's rerms; (b) co n ti n u i t between t he fu nctions se rved by p rel in­ gu ist ic and late•· li ngu istic com m u m cat1on ; c) t 1e constnu t1ve role of Jan ua e m fornun real world knowledge ; and (d) si m­ i larit y in the cog n i t i v e processes by wh ich ru les o any sort, m­ guistic or otherwise, are formed at vanous a es. What can "6e sa1 o eac 1 o t 1ese i n the •ght of the evidence a sse m bled in the prece d i n g chapters? Concernin g sensi tization to gramma tical forms that corre­ spond to ca te go ri es of rea l world knowledge , the precedi n g dis­ cu ssion has li ttle to say . This is basically an issue in the relation between semantics and syntax and points to the possible "form­

to the la tter. such issues.

i ng" role of the former w i th respect marginally bee n concerned with

We have only

As to conti n u i t y of com m u n ica tive functions from prelin­ lingu istic exchanges, there can be li ttle question of i ts im portance. Cont i n u i ty of fu nction provides an im portant sca ffold for the development of both re fe rential and request ive proced u res. I n ce rtmn respects, mdeed, the contmu 1ty of fu nc­ tion pro\'ide s a basis for "progress by substitu tion . " Take the guistic to ea rl y

1 27

I...arn i"' How to · Tallc

development of re fe re n ce The mother for months on end .

maintains an extraordinarily constant pattern of interacting with

the child over the

naming ,o f things. The stead y format, in effect,

h o l d s the fu nction constant. As the ch i l d progresses in the mas­

tery of new forms, he su bstitutes them

in

the old format to per­

requests), failure in the u se of the new form provokes regression to the older o ne Even t h o u gh the new form may have th e effect of transforming and expanding the old functio n , the continuity remains. I ndeed , I rather assume that it is this contin uity of fu n c t io n that ma kes it possible for an ad u lt to "understand'' the more primitive forms form the old fu nction. A nd i ndeed (as with

.

b

which an infant real i zes var ious communfcati ve fu nctions. I n

rovt e s a SIS or a u t fine luning and or the operatton of the La nguage Acquisition Sup-

this sense, functtona contmmt

.

port System.

. As for the constituti ve role of la n gu a ge its role in "creating" ,

the world into which the child enters, surely the game formats we examined are constitutive in the deepest sense. Games are li terally p roducts o f what and how one says things in what con­ texts. I charactenzed them earher as becoming, wi th develop­ ment, more systematic and abstract and also as being like "m9veable feasts" that can be imposed by speech acts on new situations by invoking the appropriate illocutionary force. Referri ng, requesting, th reatening, promising, etc . , are early on

the scene as states of the world created in major pa rt by appro­ priate l an gu age use. The source of continuity from constitutive­

ness was, of cou rse , in the formal structures of language games ,

which (as I tried to show in Chapter 3) have so many elements in

common, from their earliest introduction right on through childhood. I t is e uall evident, however; that there are ma"or discontinuities in develo ment that are crea ted the constitutive powers o an uage. We o not treat the child quite as a child any lon ger w en we think him capable of u nderstanding such

�

. constitutively

based

obligations as promising, explaini ng, being

loyal, etc. But even so, the a rg u m e n t still holds that from the

very start--and particularly in gam es-we give the child a run-

u8

Child's Talk

ning start by introdu cin him to the constitutive fu nction of lan­ guage t roug the use o per ormauves. . Of conceptual processes common to m i n d generally and lan­ guage particu larly that give con t i n u i t y to development, there are few things we can conclude. Our emphasis, rather, has been upon social processes tha t are shared by prelingu istic and linguistic communication . Certainly these processes (turn taking, role interchange , etc.) do remai n invariant across the cha n ge into la n­ guage a nd provide a centrally important sou rce of continuity. I ndeed, I have even urged that the principal "motive" in la n­ guage acq u isi ti o n is the better regulation of t hese u nde1·lying ' social-cu ltural processes. The account of early language acquisition presented in these p ages d epen ds heavily on the use of co nte x t by bodi mo t h e r and child in form ing and i n t e rp ret i n g messa ges. Successful early communicatio n requires a shared and familiar context to a id the partners in m aki n g their comm u nica t ive intentions dear to each other. I ndeed , the co nce p t of the format was put forth earl y in this volume in the hope of explicating how context works in these early commu nicative encounters.

Oddly enough , the notion of con t e x t is rarely explicated in

discussions of lan gu a ge It is a little l i ke the notion .

of ':im plicit

knowledge"--assumed to be p rese n t as a "surrou nd'� for ex plici t

k n o w ledge but not amen!lble to close a na l y sis . ..Text" is what is in words; context is the rest of what a ffec ts the interpretation of ,

the

words-the "rest" including words and

nonwords.

So we will find statements of the followin

pre en

orde r: (a) To com­

a sentence as to extract a proposi tion from it in i ts con­

(6) A sentence as a devace for e m beddm g a propos1t1on Few attempts have been made to analyze the rela­ tio ns that exist between a sentence, its context, and the proposi­ tion that is extracted from their relationship. It is easy enough to specify the sentence and the proposition, but what shall be taken as context? Some writers, like Pieter Seuren, u rge that we should re la x our approach to this issue and observe with a d m i text; or

in a context.

­

ration the opportunistic ways in which' people use con te x t to

Learning How to Tallc interpret text.

1 29

We would be bound to

la il i f we t ried to i � pose a

strict determinism on the process. All these discussions ope rate u nder the assumption that the context, like the text , is llu,·e, the•·e to be interpreted . l want to take a radically d i ffe rent approach

co n tex t "is." Context fo•· t h e you n g child can­ a given, as sim ply "being t he a·e." Ope t·ati\'e con­ text, for the child or ad u l t , is selected and const ructed . The "mles" or criteria for its selection and construction will, of cou ne , vary with the circumstances. Like rules for for m i n g <md t rans­ forming t he sentences of �• tex t or discourse , the mles f(n con­ st ructing con text ch a n ge with develo p men t . O ne o f the constraints of const ructed cmu exts is t h a t t hey m ust be cogn i ti vely m a n a ge a bl e That is to say , they m ust not be so com p rehensive as to groan u nde•· ordina•· y c o n d i t ion s of lan­ guage processing. In speaking o r in com prehending speech , we cannot take "e veryth i ng" into accou n t ! I f j ane offers john a cup of coffee after dinner a n d h e replies, Thanks, b u t I've got to hit the sack early to ni gh t he is contextualizing his refusal by refe rence to a ( p resumably) sha red contextualizing presu pposi­ tion about unmetabolized coffee k ee p i ng people awake. The. presu m ption is not a bizarre one, and if Jane bears John no grud ge , she will accept his refusal as grntrols the interaction of i ts members. Once a format is conven tionalized and "sociali zed'' il comes to be seen as having "exteriority and co n s t ra i n t i n Emile Du rkheim's .sense and becomes objective in Karl Popper's. Eventuall y , formats provide the basis for speech acts and their const raining felicity conditions:· we learn how to i n voke them by speech. One special prope ny of formats involving ; m infant and <m ad ult (to pick u p H ila ry Putnam's point about refea·ence again) is that they are as y mmetrical w i t h a·espect to the knowledge of t he panners-one "knows what's u p ," the ot her ·does not know or knows less. Insofar as the ad u l t is willin g to ''hand over" his k n ow l ed ge he can serve in the format as model, scaffold , and monitor until the child achieves requisite mastery . To sum it up, I see the format as a means for achieving sev­ eral very crucial pragmatic functions in language acquisition. To "

,

· · Child's Talk

1 34

be n with , formats embed the child's com m u nicative intentions Lnto a cu t u ral m atri x ; t he y a re mstru ments for transmittin g the ·

cult m-e as wel l as its language. Because formats have a sequential structu re and a hi story (as noted earlier) , they permit the chi ld to develop p ri m i tive co nce p ts of aspectual time. At their sim­ plest, they provide the child with a kind of manageable , middle­ ran ge future, defi ned by the co u rse of t he ac t i o n rather than by ;1hst ract t i m e m· ten se . Beca use they have an incorporative growth, they become important vehicles for the dev�lopmen t o f p•·esu pposi tion and lor signal i n g presu pposi tions. Because they a re f i n i te, ordef'ly, a n d interdctive t hey also provide· a context ' fen· i nterpreti ng what is being said here and now . One last >int. I h a ve tried to set forth a view of language acctu isition that ma kes it continuous wit an epen ent on t e child"5 acqu isi tion of his cultu re . Culture is co n sti tuted of sym­ bolic proced ures, concepts, and d istinct ions that can only be made in langu age . I t is constituted for the child in the very act of m as­ tering lan guage . Language , in consequence , can not be ·u nde r­ stood sa\'e in i ts cul t u ral setting. I ho pe the account I have set forth has m ade i t c le a r w h y the two cannot be treated se parately.

N O T E S

,. 7 ,. ,

,, ,

,. 10

Prefoa

Allll in, J . H..,,. d• lltillr •iiA ""'""· OxfMd: Oxford Univ. �-. ag6• . Brown, R. A fi"' lanporp. Cambridre. Mass.: Hanard Uni¥. Preu, •97S· Bloo m , l.. Otw ...W III e lillw. The .Hasue: Mouton, I 97S· Green fi eld, P. 1: Smith . ). H . '171. *'""''' fl{ ..,_;,...... ill ..m, ....,..., ..,.,_,. . New York: AcademiC �-. 1g7fi. Dore. J. A praJmatk detcription of earlr lanpase demopment.J...,.,W fl{ �-

pUc R....mA. •97f·J· �

.

Ryan, _1. EariJ' laiiJUIJie de¥e nt. In M. P. M. Richards (ed.), '171. ..,...,... fl{ • dtilii ;,.r. . l«itJJ -'1. Cambridre: Cambridre Uni¥. I'Tess, •974· Bruner, J. S. The ont11Jmail o hpeech '11/CtL}a'ffflfl of CJtU ,..,,, • 975• a , 1- 1 9. Bruner, J. S. From communication to languare. Copifitll, 1975o J (5), •55-87. Bruner, J. S. A preface to the clnelopment of ·�· In G. Oleron (ed.), L�P�: H,_,, 4 P..JF,.u. Presso Unt¥enitcs de Frana:e, Ratner, N. 1: Bruner, j. S. Games, social n:chanre and the ac:quilition of la��Juage.

•977·

}tiUrNJI 'f!Ciriltl LMI"!f'_, t 978, ,, J191-fo l . Ninio, A. 1: Bruner, J. S. The achiew:ment and ant«.edcniS of labelling. }ttM'fftlll of Cltilll �..tm,..,.. 1 978, , , 1-15. Bruner, ]. S . , caudil, E., 1: Ninio, A. Languare and experience. In R. S. Peten (ed.), }tim 0,., � London: Routledre 1: Kqan Paul, •977· B rune.r, J. �·· Rainer, N., 1: Ror. C. The tiqinning of requat. In K. Nelson (ed.), CAilllrat , �. Yol. IV. New York: Gardner Pras, •til•· Bruner,J. S. Formata of languap ac:qui1ition. A..,;,..., joarNJI '!/S,..tiu, 1g8•, r (5), 1 -16.

,. II

Gftru, C. Till ;.. �,.., .( adlura: Stfldal GM�JS. �ew Yo�: Basic Boob , • 975 · Sperllcr . D. Rtftitiift6 ..,.. w. ... Cambridre: Cambridre Un••· �-. •975·

,. 11

The epigraph

o N IE

l l•trtHlwtiort

is !n Massimo Piattdli-Palmarini: ed., '--�UP ...J ,_.!"�_. '171. fhfall ..,_)_ ,._, ..., N- �- Cambric!�, M.S.: Hananl Unw. �. •,SO. � p. -'•· Based on uan�eripcs or a debate held m at Abbayc de Rorcs to the ltudJ' of lanalmont. For IJeneral t.ckground on the different .a bookl wil be of panicular help: SUIIIC KIJuii llion , the A ullin, j. H... �e .t. fAiotts WII • Oxfonl: Oxford Unlv. �. ag6•. Batn, E. ,_,..,. in c..,.· Tit ...,.Uiliaol fl{ /MJpolia. New York: Academic Prcn, a g7fi. Bdcn, H. S...._ in lit. cepiriw liuir tf -.,..... ....,_,. New York: Academic

followi ..,l

Oct�7S·

�· 1 975 · BeYer, T. G. The copitiYC basil for linguiltic: ·�res. lnJ. R. H•J'I (ed.), CepiiMia rm4 rlw ..,.,._l l{'-..... New York: Wiley, 1970. Biclerton. D. R.., .,,_,...,�. Ann Arllor, Mich .: Karoma I'Ublishen, 1 g8 1 . . Cbomskr, N. A lfl«b of tlw til-, tf .,..,.. Cambridp, M•A.: MIT �u, 1975· Oark, H. H . • Clark, t:. V. ,..,., .. ....,.:... All � ��� �New York: Han:ourt BracejO¥Biiimch , Jt¥17· c..,mcr, R. The de¥Ciopmcnt of languap and mpition: The cownition hypothesis, ·

Notes In B. Fou (al.), N• �ua ill cllilll �- Harmondswonh, Ena.: Pen­ suin, l 974 · Cromer, R. Rec:uncep�ualizinJ la r�� uaea acquioi&ion and c:ognitive devdopmem. In R. L Schiefdbua:b .. D. Bric:ltr, EariJ lill"f"'JI•: A� .� ;..-.... . Balti­ more, Md .: University Park Presa, 1 g8 1 . De LaM una, G. S,..: 111/wutien Mil lllwl.,.,.,.,. New Haven: Yale Univ. Preu, 1ga7. De Villiera, J. lc De Villiers, P. Lllrrptlp Mf!WiliM. Cambridse. Mass . : Harvard Uniw. . . Presa, 1978. Greenfield, P. Suucaural parallels between lansuage and action in developmenr. In A . l..ocl. (ed.), Aditol, f•*'•• lllld �. U.ndon: Academic Press , 1 978. Karmiloff-Smith, A. A fvodWull ,_,. ,. dtilll ltll..,_,.: A ....., of ,.,.,..._ _, rtf-. CambridJe: Cambridse Univ. Presa.. 1979· McNeill, D. TAu..,.UIIIGII rflill"f'I.IJP New York: Harper 1c Row, 1970. McNeill, D. Tw ciiiiUflltMII '-il rf""'P"''· H illsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum Publishers, 1979. Pinker, S. Formal modell c.p-..., 1979· 1• u7-a5. Searle, J. $,_, adl: A• _, ill 1M • · tf�·· Cambridse: C.. mbridge Univ.

ortanl";f�,':.;l;iiiJ. for

Preu, 1g6g. Sinclair-d�Zwan, H .. � 1Ja!Uililion and copilive �n1. In T. E. M001-e (cd.),c.piliw .,.,....., lllld iA.MfUUilioa ofliiiJtP�•�C · New York: Academic Presa,

1 975· Slobin, D . �nitive pr-erequisira 1he developmem of pammar. ln C. A. Fers1110 n • D. Slobin (cds.), $.-. efCIIM Uulgtulf• �l. New York: Holl , Rinehan . · .. Winalon, 1 gj 5. Trevanhen, C. The foundations of interaul!jectivity: Developmem of interpenonal coope rative undenlandins in infan11. In D. Olson (ed.), Till Miclalf""'NI.alitl 'u •I � orul tlltlfltl. ll New York: Nonon, 1g8o. T w o

,. 24

,, ,,

,. n

,. ,.

I Fro• C•••••ic•li•l fo T•IAi"'

Chomsky, N. Rtfl.-, ... ta.,...,. New York: Random Houae, 197!1· C �omslr.y, N. Review oC Vm..l &lltnMr by B. �- Skinner. lAnfllll! l • 1959, Jj, •6-511. Bickcnon, D. R"'* r(liiiA,...,. Ann Arbor, Mteh.: Karoma Publ•hen, 1g81 . · For a fuller disc:IIISion of lhesc poims, see: ' B runer, J . S. Nature and uae1 of immaturity. In K. J . Connolly .. J. S. Bruner (eds.), Tlw f'MA .,_,fllrtU. London lc New York: Academic Pra•. 1974· Kalnins, I . .. Aruner, j . S. The a10nlinalion of vilual observaaion and instrumenlal behavior in earfy inlancy. Pm.,_., 1 97!1• 2, !107-•4· _ Papouaek, H. Elaboraaiona of conditioned head-cumiiiJl. Paper presented at the sym­ posium on l.eamms of Human Infants, lAndon, 1 g6g·. . · , Stem, D. Tlufim �· /rtfortl -.4 ..,.. Cambridsc. Mau.: Hamtnl Univ. Praa. ' 1 977· B razdiDR, T. B., KoJl-slr.i, B., lc Main. M. The reciprocity: The eariy mother-infanl imeration. In M. Lcwia • L Rolenblum (cda.), n. o.ffld f{IM in/11111 ... ill mr•P.· New York: Wiley, 1 974· Bruner, J. S. Nature and UICI of immaturity . In K. J. Connolly lc J. S. Bruner (eds.), Tlw .,.... e/ �- London lc New York: Academic Prcu, 1974 · Bower, T. G. R.. p,� -'1 r( 1/w clli/J. Cambridge, Mau.: Harvard Univ. Preu, . 1 97!1· Mel110fT, A. lc Moore, M. K. lmilatioa of facial and manual ac:saures by human neonala. ScVr!u, •977· '"· 7�-78. Trunid, E. (eel.). � �I' ill irtfeM"J: A/f«t, c...-. M4 ... ...u..a... . Balti­ mo�-e, Md.: Univenily Park Preu, 1g8•. For a cli.c:usaion of abe •ruau�-e of early aaion, aee: Bruner, J. S. • Bruner, B. M. On voluntary acaion and ias hierarchical llrucaure. l.,. •llli••ll,.. of P.,.,.,. ag68, J (4), •S9-&J· Bruner, J. !. The oraaDiutirin of early slr.illed acuun . ClliM �. 1 973. u. 1 u. f'iaser, J . SiniGllrllii.. u.nct-: loudcd&e • Kepn Paul, 197 1 . f'ialet, J. '1M _,._ r( r.a&, ;, 1M dtilll. London: Roudcdge • Kegan Paul. •95'7 · Werner, H. c-,.raliw � ll/ __,., �- New York: Science Edilions, 1g61. New York: lnteriaaaiotUI Univeniliea Preu, 1'"-8. For a d._... of lhe -..binaaioul atrUClur-e of early play, see:

orisins of

,

1 )7

Note1 KollloWiki, B.

,, ,,

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&: Bruna·, J. S. L.earni111 10 use a lever. ClliU Otwlflll-•. 1 97 1 , ·ll l:s). 790"119 · Bruner, J. S. The OIJanization of e;ariJ ... illcd action. Clliltl ��. 1 97 ' · H• • ­ u. Weir, R. � m Ill# nill. The H aaue: Muu1un, tg6t. Bowerman, M. The aajuisilion of wo1-d tnaning: An inveiligation into sume £ urrcm confticu. In N. Walenon &: C. Snow (eels.), Tlu �� t{ r--niulrioft. New York: Wiley, 1 978. The deboot e 011 "rich interpretation" of early speech is reviewed in: Greenfield, P. &: Smah, J. H . T1u llrVduf'l f{ c-••italimJ m '""' ��· bwltlf'IIVHJ. New Yoa·k: Academic; Prcu, 1976. A n a.amplc of the "surprise reaction" produced by objeciS that are chanteed u pon reappear•nce is found in: . Gardner, ]. The development uf ot;ea identiay in dae lin& silt mon1h1 of human inl',aiiC)'. Ph.D. "rhnis, Department of Social Rdauuns, Han<ard U n iversity, 1 97 1 . The aurprile produced by "unnat ut'll l" caus;r.tion is reponed in: l..ealic, A. The repracntation uf pen:cived causal conneaiun in inlimcy. D. Phil. Th� ••· Department of El< perimenliol l'sychology, Univcn;ily ol' Oxl'ru·d, 1979· The tniDlln toclal nr "amudllf' b;a.sis lOa· dae ·recogniliun uf ubjena is rcpurlecl by: Bryanl, P., Junes, 1'., Claxton, V . , &: Perkins. G. Recognition uf sltapes acn••• niCldalui"" by infants. NGN.r1, '$7'• 240 (S579), sos-so.t · Meltzoff, A. lmiaation, tnter-modal QIOrdination and n:prcsemation in early infamy. In G. Bu11en010nh (ed.), l""""' drul ,._,DO· l..onclon: Harweiler Preu, ag8t. Piaget, J. .SinldUrvllu•. l.Dndun: RoutlcdJe &: Kegan P.•ul, •97 • · These distinctions (e.g., between specific and nonspecillc, c:IC.) a re discusaed by: B iderton , D. R• t( ,_,...,., , Ann Arilor, Mic:h.: Karoma Publishers, lg81 . The: La�t�uage Aajuisition Devic:e ia discuuc:d in: Chotosky, N. Review of y,6Ql B•lun!Wr by B . �- Skinner. LtmfVdfl'· • 959· JJ, 16-5 1! . Chomay, N . Asjl«