Development in the Use and Understanding of Polite Forms in Children

Abstract

In two experiments, children's use and understanding of polite forms and the relationship these abilities share with an ability to adopt the perspective of another were examined. Development in the understanding of polite forms seemed best characterized as sensitivity to the function of these forms in an increasing number of sentence types. Development in the use of polite forms could be viewed as an increasing tendency to produce more than one polite form in the same utterance and to use a wider variety of interrogative types when expressing politeness. Emergence of the use and understanding of politeness in speech at age 3 seemed related to an emerging ability to adopt the perspective of another. However, development of politeness beyond this age seemed related only to a form of perspective taking in which knowledge of social roles plays a part.

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