The impact of the interactional setting on the choice of referring expressions in narratives

Abstract

This article aims to account for the impact of the interactional setting on adults’ referential uses by determining if telling a story to/with a child impacts the referential strategies of adults. The long-term goal of this study is to better understand the models of reference in narratives children are exposed to in order to account for young children’s uses. The study analysed the referring expressions of 20 women telling a story with their child (5 to 7 years old) (CHILD condition), and 20 women telling the same story to an adult experimenter (ADULT condition). Referring expressions were coded according to their linguistic type, their position in the referential chain and the properties of the referents. Results revealed differences between the two settings in the referential choices for the first mention and the reactivation of a referent. Overall, in the CHILD condition, the participants used a wider range of referring expressions than in the ADULT condition. In the CHILD condition participants were oriented towards the interactional demands of enlisting the child in the task and keeping his/her attention. The findings suggest that the models children experience differ from adults’ uses, which are generally considered as the developmental target.