Referential choice and informativeness in mother–child conversation: A focus on the mother

This study explored Mandarin-speaking mothers’ referential choice in relation to informativeness. The data consisted of two Mandarin-speaking mothers’ natural conversation with their children, collected when the children were between the ages of 2;2 and 3;1. The subject and object arguments of the mothers’ utterances were coded for the categories of referential forms and informativeness features. The referential forms included three categories: (1) null forms, (2) pronominal forms, and (3) nominal forms. The informativeness features included eight categories: (1) absence, (2) newness, (3) query, (4) contrast, (5) differentiation in context, (6) differentiation in discourse, (7) inanimacy, and (8) third person. The results showed that both mothers’ referential choices were highly influenced by the eight informativeness features, and that their referential choices were made in accordance with discourse-pragmatic principles. Such referential strategies in maternal speech were observed from the time when the children were as young as 2;2 and throughout their development. In addition, analysis was conducted to compare the mothers’ referential choice and the children’s referential choice. Some similarities and differences were observed. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to maternal language input and child language development.

► This study explored Mandarin-speaking mothers’ referential choice in relation to informativeness.
► The mothers’ referential choice reflected discourse-pragmatic principles.
► Analysis was also conducted to compare the mothers’ and the children’s data.
► The mothers’ and the children’s referential choices showed similarities and differences.
► Implications are discussed in relation to language input and language development.