Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

1 University of social welfare and rehabilitation sciences

2 Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman

3 Payam Noor University of Tehran

Abstract

Background: Pronoun error is one of the most common errors in many speech and language disorders. Therefore, knowing about the development procedure of dependent possessive pronouns (as a subgroup of pronouns), leads to build an accurate profile for evaluation and treatment of many disorders. The goal of the present study was to examine the development of dependent possessive pronouns in 2.5-4 years old Persian-speaking children.Methods: In this cross sectional descriptive-analytic study, 177 typically normal Persian speaking children in age range of 2.5-4 years old (94 girls and 83 boys) who were selected by stratified sampling method from 10 kindergartens of Kerman were examined. There were 3 age groups (2.5-3, 3-3.5 and 3.5-4 years old). The instrument used in this study was a researcher-made task consistent of 18 questions about some parts of body to examine the development of dependent possessive pronouns. For descriptive report central tendencies and indices of dispersion were used and for statistics relations Spearman’s correlation test, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Cochran’s test were used.Results: The order of correct use of dependent possessive pronouns was from singular to plural and the order of person was 3rd person, 1st person and then 2nd person. There was a correlation between age and correct use of dependent possessive pronouns (P<0.05). The performance of girls and boys were similar (P>0.05), but children’s performance in 3 age groups were different (P<0.05) and correct use of 6 types of dependent possessive pronouns were significantly different (P<0.05).Conclusion: The correct use of dependent possessive pronouns increased with age, and by the age of 4, the children mastered in more than 90% of dependent possessive pronouns. 

Keywords

  1. Owens Jr RE. Language development: An introduction: Pearson; 2010. p. 37-315.
  2. Brandone AC, Salkind SJ, Golinkoff RM, Hirsh-Pasek K. Language Development. 2006. p. 499- 514.
  3. Crystal D. Dictionary of linguistics and phonetics: John Wiley & Sons; 2011. p. 391-392.
  4. Oshima-Takane Y, Takane Y, Shultz TR. The learning of first and second person pronouns in English: network models and analysis. Journal of Child Language.1999; 26 (03): 545-75.
  5. Petitto LA. On the autonomy of language and gesture: Evidence from the acquisition of personal pronouns in American Sign Language. Cognition. 1987;27(1):1-52.
  6. Deutsch W, Pechmann T. lhr, dir, or mir? On the acquisition of pronouns in German children. Cognition. 1978;6(2):155-68.
  7. Alborzi P. Describing of Personal Pronoun System in Farsi by Homological Looking in German (persian). Research in Contemporary World Literature. 2004;9(17).
  8. Jalilevand N, Ebrahimipour M. Pronoun acquisition in Farsi-speaking children from 12 to 36 months. Journal of Child Language Acquisition and Development. 2013;1(1):1-9.
  9. Clark EV. First language acquisition: Cambridge University Press; 2009. p. 19-254.
  10. Shipley K, McAfee J. Assessment in speech-language pathology: A resource manual (persian). Tehran: Iran University of Medical Science; 2006. p. 691-715.
  11. Wells G. Language development in the pre-school years: CUP Archive; 1985. p. 168-172.
  12. Chiat S. Personal pronouns. In: Fletcher P, Garman M, editors. Language acquisition. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1986. p. 339-55.
  13. Hay DF. Yours and mine: Toddlers' talk about possessions with familiar peers. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 2006;24(1):39-52.
  14. Owens Jr RE. Language development: An introduction: Pearson; 2008. p. 255.
  15. Anderson RT. The development of grammatical case distinctions in the use of personal pronouns by Spanish-speaking preschoolers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 1998;41(2):394-406.
  16. Xu Z, Min R. A study on the acquisition of personal pronouns by Chinese-speaking children. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 1992;24(4):337-45.
  17. Charney R. Speech roles and the development of personal pronouns. Journal of child language. 1980;7(03):509-28.
  18. Girouard PC, Ricard M, Decarie TG. The acquisition of personal pronouns in French-speaking and English-speaking children. Journal of Child Language. 1997;24(02):311-26.
  19. Jalilevand N, Ebrahimipur M, Purqarib J. Mean length of utterance and grammatical morphemes in speech of two Farsi-speaking children (persian). Audiology. 2012;21(2):96-108.
  20. Sahraei RM. Child Syntax; Full-scale Syntax. Evidence of Acquisition Process of Categorical Part and Data Form in Farsi (persian). Language Science. 2014;1(1):57-82.
  21. Meshkateddini M. Early Speech and Language According to Farsi-Speaking children (persian). Faculty of Literature and Human Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. 2001;134:447-78.
  22. Fahim M. Speech Developmental Stages in Farsi or Acquisition of Maternal Language (persian). papers collection of Third Lingustic Conference. 1997:258-35.
  23. Moore ME. Third person pronoun errors by children with and without language impairment. Journal of communication disorders. 2001;34(3):207-28.
  24. Jakubowicz C, Nash L, Rigaut C, Gerard C-L. Determiners and clitic pronouns in French-speaking children with SLI. Language acquisition. 1998;7(2-4):113-60.
  25. McGuckian M, Henry A. The grammatical morpheme deficit in moderate hearing impairment.International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 2007;42(sup1):17-36.
  26. Le Normand M-T, Ouellet C, Cohen H. Productivity of lexical categories in French-speaking children with cochlear implants. Brain and cognition. 2003;53(2):257-62.
  27. Cole EB, Oshima-Takane Y, Yaremko RL. Case studies of pronoun development in two hearing-impaired children: normal, delayed or deviant? International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. 1994;29(2):113-29.