Assessing preschooler\u27s pragmatic development

Pragmatične spretnosti so jezikovne veščine, ki jih uporabljamo v konkretnih okoliščinah, kontekstu, ko govorimo oziroma se sporazumevamo z drugimi osebami. Nanašajo se na govorjenje, uporabo gibov, gest, razumevanje povedanega, dajanje pobud in odzivanje na pobude drugih. Razvoj pragmatičnih veščin je zelo pomemben za razvoj govora, jezika in komunikacije nasploh. V magistrski nalogi so analizirane pragmatične veščine predšolskih otrok od 18. do 47. meseca glede na spol in starost. Pragmatične veščine so bile preverjene z vprašalnikom Ocenjevanje pragmatičnega razvoja predšolskih otrok (LUI-Language Use Inventory, avtorice O\u27Neill, 2009), ki smo ga priredili na Pedagoški fakulteti in je tudi prvi prevod vprašalnika v slovenski jezik. Avtorica vprašalnika je Daniela K. O\u27Neill, kanadska psihologinja, profesorica razvojne psihologije, ki že vrsto let raziskuje razvoj otroške komunikacije in otrokovo razumevanje uma. Njene raziskave se predvsem osredotočajo na pragmatično plat komunikacije. Naša raziskava je bila zaradi obširnega vprašalnika narejena na manjšem vzorcu otrok (44) iz osrednje Slovenije. Vzorec je bil namenski, saj je vprašalnik namenjen otrokom, starim od 18 do 47 mesecev, reševali pa so ga starši otroka. V teoretičnem delu je opisano področje pragmatike in govorno-jezikovnega razvoja, ki vključuje tudi razvoj pragmatike ter pragmatične govorno-jezikovne motnje. V empiričnem delu pa so analizirani z vprašalnikom pridobljeni rezultati, ki so pokazali, da deklice skoraj na vseh govorno-jezikovnih področjih dosegajo boljše rezultate kot dečki, a ti rezultati niso pomembni. Starejši otroci (stari od 31-47 mesecev) pa dosegajo v razvitosti pragmatičnih veščin boljše rezultate kot mlajši otroci (stari od 18-30 mesecev). Z raziskavo smo pridobili podatke o razvoju pragmatike v predšolskem obdobju, k stroki smo prispevali tudi s prirejenim vprašalnikom Ocenjevanje pragmatičnega razvoja predšolskih otrok, ki nudi podrobno oceno pragmatičnega udejstvovanja otroka. Ker je to prva priredba instrumentarija v Sloveniji, bo le-ta pomembno prispeval k ocenjevanju pragmatičnih zmožnosti otrok.Pragmatic abilities are language skills which we use in concrete circumstances or context when we talk or interact with other people. These abilities are taking initiative to speak, response on this initiative, speaking itself, use of gestures, moves, understanding of speech. Pragmatic language development takes very important part in development of speech, language and communication. In this study we analysed pragmatic abilities in preschool children from 18 to 47 months of age. This study shows age and gender differences in pragmatic abilities between children. Pragmatic abilities were tested with questionnaire called Language use inventory – LUI (O\u27Neill, 2009) which assesses pragmatic language development in children from 18 to 47 months of age. At the Faculty of Education we translated the questionnaire and this is the first adaptation of the questionnaire into slovenian language. The author of the questionnaire is Daniela K. O\u27Neill, canadian psychologist, professor of developmental psychology. Her research has focused on the interplay between children’s developing understanding of mind and their communicative development. The questionnaire is quite extensive, for this reason the sample was small, it included 44 children from central Slovenia. It was taken by child\u27s parents. The sample was purposive, because it included children 18 to 47 months of age. In the theoretic part of our study we described pragmatics, speech and language development, which includes pragmatic development and pragmatic disorders. In the empiric part of our study the results showed that girls got better scores than boys, but there were no significant differences. The group of children who were older (31-47 months of age) were better in pragmatic abilities than the group of younger children (18-30 months of age). With this study we adapted the questionnaire LUI – Language use inventory for Slovenian popoulation and acquired data about pragmatic development in preschool children. This questionnaire certainly is an important contribution for evaluating pragmatic abilities in children