1. Pragmatic Domains Communicative functions Discourse management
Intents
Frequency
Discourse management
Turns
topics
Register variation
Politeness
Social roles
Presupposition
Grice’s maxim of Quantity
‘mind-reading’

2. Communication Development: Preverbal Use
Perlocutionary: 0-8 mo.
No intentions
Intentions attributed
Illocutionary: 8-12 mo.
Early intents expressed:
Proto-imperative
Expressed with
Gaze
Gestures
vocalizations
Locutionary: mo.
Same intents expressed
Words and jargon co-exist

3. Pragmatic Development: 18-24 mo.
New discourse-related communicative functions:
Answer
Acknowledge
Add new information
Discourse management
Turns: increasing awareness of conversational obligation
Topics: 1-2 turns/topic
Register variation
Politeness: please, whining
Talk differently to mom than dad
Presupposition
Very little
Add clip or word combos

4. Communication Development: 24-36 mo. Use
Child is more reliable at responding to conversational obligations
New discourse intents include pretending, narrating,
More flexible forms are used to achieve politeness, indirect requests
Topics can be maintained for longer
Turn-taking and topic shifting become more independent
Beginning ability to repair conversations

5. Pragmatic Development: School Age
Communicative functions
Increase in range of functions
Narration
Persuasion/negotiation
Increase in decontextualized talk
Discourse management
Requires less support from adults; still needs some
Longer turns; more turns/topic
Increased topic maintenance, fewer unrelated utterances
Smooth transitions
Decline in abrupt shifts
Greater coherence

6. Pragmatic Development: School Age, con’t.
Register variation
New polite forms:
permission requests, permission directives, some indirect requests
4-7: hints
Ability to use ‘motherese’
Language of power, social negotiation
Presupposition
attending to listener needs
informativeness

7. Pragmatic Development in Later Childhood and Adolescence
Discourse Genres
Narration
Persuasion/negotiation
Exposition
Ambiguity/sarcasm
Register variation
Slang
Figurative language
Presupposition
Cohesive devices

8. Pragmatic Development in Adolescence: Discourse Management
Stay on topic longer
Has extended dialogues
Makes greater number of relevant, factual, new contributions to topic
Shifts gracefully from one topic to another
Adjusts the content and style of speech to thoughts and feelings of others.

9. Pragmatic Development in Adolescence: Persuasion
Adjusts to listener characteristics (e.g., social status, familiarity
States advantages to the listener as a reason to comply
Anticipates and replies to counterarguments
Uses positive strategies such as politeness and bargaining
Gives up negative strategies such as whining and begging
Generates a number and variety of arguments
Controls discourse assertively