Pragmatics and metapragmatics in the development of epistemic modality: evidence from French children's reports of think-statements

Abstract

This study examines children's knowledge of the rules of use for epistemic modal devices. French children of 5, 7 and 9 years saw filmed dialogues that contained a target accusation, the appropriateness of which depended on whether the speaker witnessed the relevant facts, used a modal verb (croire 'think'), and accused the correct agent. Children narrated these films, then answered questions about them. Their reports of the targets show that, although overall recall increased with age, at all ages they omitted modal verbs which were inappropriate. In addition, they quoted modalized targets directly, reserving indirect quotations for inappropriate non-modalized ones. Finally, when asked to justify the targets, they referred to the speaker's background knowledge at all ages. However, from 7 years on, they invoked indices to account for inferences on the part of nonwitnesses and the 9-year-olds further differentiated these responses as a function of utterance properties. In conclusion, children show some early sensitivity to the function of modal verbs as devices marking speakers' personal assessments of truth, as well as an increasing metapragmatic awareness of the various conditions of use necessary for the linguistic expression of certainty and uncertainty.