Learning to Talk: Discourse

Discourse focuses on the overall structure of conversation between individuals, and how children acquire the ability to effectively engage in it.
The topic includes the study of various language acquisition theories. Behaviourism, for instance, suggests that children learn language largely through imitation. On the other hand, nativism proposes that children have an innate ability to detect the structure of language.
Children’s initial discourse is minimalistic, often limited to single words. However, they gradually develop the ability to form sentences and hold continuous conversations.
The turn-taking model highlights how children learn the give-and-take of conversation. They need to understand when to speak, when to listen, and how to respond appropriately.
A child’s understanding of adjacency pairs is another crucial aspect of discourse. Adjacency pairs are conversational sequences where the first speaker’s utterance is followed by a predictable second speaker response, for example: Question - Answer, Greeting - Response.
Children learn to use speech acts, utterances that have a function in communication, such as questioning, informing, demanding, promising or apologising.
Overlaps and interruptions are crucial aspects of conversation that children need to understand and navigate. These are instances where one speaker interrupts or speaks at the same time as another.
As children grow and their language abilities improve, they start using different discourse strategies. They begin to tailor their language according to their listener. This is known as audience design.
Topic management is another aspect of discourse development. It involves initiating a topic, maintaining it, and appropriately changing or ending it.
Understanding narrative structure, such as introducing a setting and characters, developing a plot, and reaching a resolution, are also part of developing discourse skills.
The acquisition of politeness strategies and knowing how to use them appropriately like understanding when to use formal language or expressing gratitude is a crucial area of discourse development.
Discourse markers are words or phrases like ‘on the other hand’, ‘besides’, ‘first’, ‘then’ etc. that help to structure the discourse and facilitate flow of conversation. Children gradually learn to use these to enhance their communication.
Context (social, cultural) plays a significant role in shaping the discourse development and children learn to use language differently in varied contexts.
Understanding language variation such as dialects, accents, sociolects is also a crucial aspect of linguistic competence and therefore discourse.

Remember these points when revisiting child language development and related topics. Understanding them thoroughly enhances the grasp over how children acquire the complex system of language, contributing to a more profound understanding of the English Language as a whole.