pronoun errors of gender

[Silva-corvalan, Carmen: USC]

The following is an excerpt from a chapter on subject realization in 
English and Spanish by two normally developing bilinguals (upcoming book is 
*Bilingual Language Acquisition: Spanish and English in the first six 
years. CUP).* These children did not make any gender errors, but they 
started using 3 person pronouns well into their 3rd year. Sensitivity to 
gender may have been helped by contact with Spanish, which marks gender on 
"everything". They both made the typical errors with 'me' as subject, 
though not frequently.  I have only one example with "her" as subject, from 
Nico, who is an early acquirer and quite proficient in both languages. 
Notice mom's model and child correction:

Mom:       Where’s she going?  [a cousin]

N:             [her's leaving]     *2;1.25*
 
Mom:       Where’s she going?

N:             [Thrifty, she wants to buy stuff, shave for tío Fernando]
 
"In English, Nico starts using pronouns at 1;8.2 in the utterance *I get it*(playing with a ball with an adult). The 94 overt pronouns in his English 
include: *I* (64 cases); *it* in the item *it’s* (21 cases); *you* (1 in 
the routine *How are you?*, and 6 in the frame *What (are) you V-ing?*); 
and 2 cases of *he*. These alternate with 8 unexpressed pronouns: *I* (4), *
it* (3), and *you* (1). Only three different frames for the use of *I* are 
recorded in Nico’s data throughout the 20th month: *I get it*, *I don’t 
like it*, and *I want X*. Bren starts using the first singular pronoun *I*at 1;10. This is the only pronoun he uses during the early age period: 11 
examples in the frame *I want (it) X*, 3 cases of *I did it*, and 1 in the 
routine *I coming!* (with a null auxiliary). Of the 10 cases of null 
subject in Bren’s English only one is in the context of a second person 
singular; all other null subjects correspond to *I *with a missing 
auxiliary (e.g., *No like it*, *All done*). Shared knowledge with the 
surrounding adults, and the physical and discourse context make up for the 
children's initial stage of subject omission."
 
I do not have further dates for English pronouns. For what may be worth, 
here's information about the Spanish pronouns:

AGE    Pros (first appearance)           

1;11     yo        

2;3       tú                     

2;4       él (1 token)

2;6-2;11: several tú and él

NO other pronouns.

 

FOR NICO:

2;3:  yo 

2;4:  tú, él

2;5-2;11: several tú and él

2;9: nosotros (1 token)

 

        "Ella" 'she' does not appear. The boys don't have a sister and they 
refer to mom and other females by name.

 

Carmen Silva-Corvalán
 

On Saturday, June 16, 2012 2:31:34 PM UTC-7, Snow, Laura wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>  
>
> I’m trying to determine whether typically developing children ever make 
> errors in pronoun gender (e.g., reverse “he” and “she”), and if so, 
>
>  
>
> 1.     at what point in their language development (and for how long) do 
> these errors occur?
>
> 2.     are these errors consistent or intermittent during the time that 
> they occur?
>
> 3.     Do the errors occur mainly in cases of long-distance reference or 
> also with relatively simple utterances (e.g., pointing to a girl and 
> saying, “He has it”)
>
> In my clinical experiences, I have seen many children with autism who make 
> errors in pronoun gender, and many kids with language disorders (as well as 
> younger, typically developing kids) who make errors in pronoun case (e.g., 
> “her have it”).  I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a child make a pronoun 
> gender error who did NOT have autism, but I’m having trouble finding 
> anything in the literature to back up that blanket statement.
>
>  
>
> I’m mainly interested in finding formal studies of children learning 
> English, but evidence that is anecdotal and/or from other languages would 
> also be useful!
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Laura Snow, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
>
> University of Washington
>
> Center on Human Development and Disability
>
> Seattle, WA
>
>  
>

On Saturday, June 16, 2012 2:31:34 PM UTC-7, Snow, Laura wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
>  
>
> I’m trying to determine whether typically developing children ever make 
> errors in pronoun gender (e.g., reverse “he” and “she”), and if so, 
>
>  
>
> 1.     at what point in their language development (and for how long) do 
> these errors occur?
>
> 2.     are these errors consistent or intermittent during the time that 
> they occur?
>
> 3.     Do the errors occur mainly in cases of long-distance reference or 
> also with relatively simple utterances (e.g., pointing to a girl and 
> saying, “He has it”)
>
> In my clinical experiences, I have seen many children with autism who make 
> errors in pronoun gender, and many kids with language disorders (as well as 
> younger, typically developing kids) who make errors in pronoun case (e.g., 
> “her have it”).  I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a child make a pronoun 
> gender error who did NOT have autism, but I’m having trouble finding 
> anything in the literature to back up that blanket statement.
>
>  
>
> I’m mainly interested in finding formal studies of children learning 
> English, but evidence that is anecdotal and/or from other languages would 
> also be useful!
>
>  
>
>  
>
> Laura Snow, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
>
> University of Washington
>
> Center on Human Development and Disability
>
> Seattle, WA
>
>  
>

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