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Effects of parents’ corrective feedback on the pragmatic performance of L1 English-speaking Singaporean children
Citation
Nguyen, T. T. M., & Lwin, S. M. (2014). Effects of parents’ corrective feedback on the pragmatic performance of L1 English-speaking Singaporean children. Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 129-148.
Author
Nguyen, Thi Thuy Minh
•
Lwin, Soe Marlar
Abstract
This study examines the effects of the various types of corrective feedback (CF) given during parent-child interaction on the pragmatic performance in English by three L1 English-speaking Singaporean pre-schoolers aged between 3 and 4. Analysis of 18 hours of audio-recordings of parent-child interaction shows that parents tended to vary their correction according to the type of the child’s pragmatic lapse. Further, although most types of CF appeared to yield a relatively high amount of uptake (ranging between 62% and 85% of the time), clarification requests, confirmation checks and elicitations were more likely to lead to uptake than others. Findings also suggest that overall children succeeded in repairing their pragmatic behaviour only 33% of the time following parents' corrective feedback. This finding is possibly attributable to the early stage of pragmatic development of the children under observation. Factors related to the immediate context in which the CF occurred may also have constrained its effectiveness. These factors include the purpose and topic of interaction, the amount of relevance of the topic to the child’s interest, and the opportunities for the child's uptake and repair allowed by the parent and other family members. These findings raise important pedagogical implications for parents and teachers in dealing with young children’s pragmatic errors.
Publisher
Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics
Journal
Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics