Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.32903/zs.64.1.13
Types of Sentences in Spoken Language Samples of Younger School-age Children
Maja Mamula
; Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti Osijek, Hrvatska
Ivana Trtanj
; Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti Osijek, Hrvatska
Abstract
Although the development of syntax is at its peak between ages three and five, it continues to develop during school-age, however, much slower. The aim of this paper is to find out the main types of sentences acquired by younger school-age children, more precisely in grades 2 and 4 as, according to the curriculum, sentence types are not taught at this stage yet. Furthermore, the aim is to establish possible individual differences between children, as well as to find out whether older children's use of sentence structures is more complex than that of younger children. Beside that the paper emphasises the use of relative clauses since the use of sentences with embedded structures is the greatest achievement of linguistic development which is intensively acquired not until school age (Balija, Hržica, Kuvač Kraljević, 2012.).
The research included 20 younger school-age children – eight-year-olds and ten-year-olds. Their acquisition of sentence types was tested by means of the picture book ‘Frog, where are you?’ (Mayer 1969).
The results show that younger school-age children make different sentence structures. They make more complex sentences, and among complex sentences multiple complex ones are predominantly used. As for compound clauses, children use linking and contrast, as well as asyndetic coordination. Among simple sentences, extended clauses are mostly used. There is also a small number of non-extended clauses and only one clause without a verb.
Keywords
syntax; syntactic development; sentence types; spoken language
Hrčak ID:
219669
URI
Publication date:
10.7.2018.
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