THE ACQUISITION OF PERSON PRONOUNS IN FRENCH‐SPEAKING CHILDREN*

Abstract

The study reports data on the acquisition of person pronouns by 29 French‐speaking children, aged between 18 and 30 months. The results show that this acquisition proceeds according to a regular developmental sequence, which parallels that found in research with English‐speaking children. However, it appeared that the French‐speaking children in this study learned the pronouns about 2‐3 months later than had been reported for English‐speaking children. The results are interpreted as giving evidence about the selective contribution of general developmental mechanisms and socio‐cultural and linguistic factors to young children's learning of person pronouns.