Syntactic complexity in Spanish narratives: a developmental study.

V F Gutierrez-Clellen; R Hofstetter

doi:10.1044/jshr.3703.645

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Syntactic complexity in Spanish narratives: a developmental study.

V F Gutierrez-Clellen·R Hofstetter

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Abstract

Syntactic complexity in the movie retellings of 77 school-age Spanish-speaking children was examined using a structural constituent analysis. The results demonstrated developmental differences in the length of T-units, index of subordination, use of relative clauses, and prepositional phrases. There were also differences in the length of T-units, use of nominal clauses, and adverbial phrases across Spanish language groups. The analysis underscores the significance of subordination as a cohesive device and as an indicator of narrative proficiency.

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Child Language Child, Preschool Cross-Sectional Studies Female Hispanic or Latino Humans Language Language Development Language Tests Male Verbal Behavior Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

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V F Gutierrez-Clellen, R Hofstetter. 1994. Syntactic complexity in Spanish narratives: a developmental study.. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3703.645

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