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Phonological devices in poems by English and Italian children*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Ann Dowker  and
Giuliana Pinto
Ann Dowker*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Giuliana Pinto*
Affiliation:
University of Florence
*
Address for correspondence: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX 1 3UD, UK
Address for correspondence: Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Universita degli Studi di Firenze, Via San Nicolo, 93; 50125 Firenze, Italia.
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Abstract

Poems were elicited from 133 English children between two and six and 171 Italian children between three and seven, using a similar technique, and the results were compared. Both groups produced large numbers of poems. There were great similarities and some differences. The majority of poems in both samples contained phonological devices (mostly rhyme and alliteration) and the proportion was higher (87%) in the Italian sample than in the English sample (59%). The proportion of poems that contained rhyme was close to 45% in each sample, with no consistent age difference in either sample. About one-third of Italian poems and just over a fifth of English poems contained alliteration. The frequency of alliteration declined with age in the English sample but not in the Italian sample. Possible reasons for the differences between the samples are considered. It is argued that the similarities are more important, and their theoretical implications are discussed.

Type
Notes and Discussion
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , October 1993 , pp. 697 - 706
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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Footnotes

[*]

We thank the staff and children of the Coram Children's Centre, the University of London Institute of Education Nursery, the Wimbledon Park Nursery and Preparatory School, the Wimbledon Park Primary School, and the Circolo Diddatico of Ala (TN) for their help and co-operation. Venicio Tomasoni helped to collect the Italian data. The English data were collected while the first author was receiving a postgraduate research grant from the Medical Research Council.

References

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