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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Descriptive Function Of Language: Changes With Age And Pressure To Inform, Eve Susan Liebman
The Descriptive Function Of Language: Changes With Age And Pressure To Inform, Eve Susan Liebman
Dissertations and Theses
Currently language is viewed as a multi-dimensional construct, consisting of three interrelated components; content, form and function (Bloom and Lahey, 1978). In recent publications, language function has been referred to as pragmatics (Prutting, 1979). The essence of pragmatic theory is that language is used functionally in social contexts, to accomplish specific types of communication (Wood, 1981). One such communicative function is referred to as the informative function, which occurs when a speaker provides ideas and information to others, as in describing, naming and giving examples {Wood, 1981). It is not clear, however, when children become competent in making specific, clear …