University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Contextual and Linguistic factors in children's comprehension of nonliteral language

Vosniadou, Stella

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/31267

Description

Title
Contextual and Linguistic factors in children's comprehension of nonliteral language
Author(s)
Vosniadou, Stella
Issue Date
1985-09
Keyword(s)
  • Comprehension
  • nonliteral language
  • linguistic processing
  • epistemic processing
  • information processing
Abstract
In this paper it is argued that some of the principal constraints controlling children's comprehension of nonliteral language are their limited epistemic, linguistic, and information processing abilities. Some experiments supporting this position are reviewed. These experiments suggest that the linguistic form in which a metaphorical statement is expressed, and the context in which it occurs can facilitate young children's comprehension by helping them bypass some of their linguistic, and information processing limitations. For example, it is easier for children to understand figurative sentences when they are expressed in more rather than less familiar linguistic forms or in forms which require fewer metaphorical substitutions for their interpretation. Children also find it easier to understand metaphorical statements which occur in more probable than less probable contexts, presumably because they reduce the children's reliance on the linguistic input itself. Finally, the relationship between the linguistic input and the contextual information can influence the information processing requirements of the comprehension task and, thus, facilitate or hinder comprehension.
Publisher
  • Champaign, Ill. : University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for the Study of Reading.
  • Cambridge, Mass. : Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc.
Series/Report Name or Number
Center for the Study of Reading Technical Report ; no. 340
Type of Resource
text
Language
eng
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/31267
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1985 Board of Trustees University of Illinois

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Technical Reports - Center for the Study of Reading PRIMARY