Acquisition of backward anaphora on Pb: a experimental proposal

• Grant number: 15/21492-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2015
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics - Psycholinguistics
• Principal Investigator: Ruth Elisabeth Vasconcellos Lopes
• Grantee: Maria Luisa Machado de Odriozola
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This study aims at adapting Crain and McKee's experiment (1985) to Brazilian Portuguese (BP), in order to observe the acquisition of structures with backward anaphora in this language, based on the Theory of Principles and Parameters (Chomsky, 1981, 1986). To achieve this goal, we will study the theory in question and studies about experimental methodology on both English and BP. The adapted experiment uses a Truth Value Judgement Task in which the stories were modified for BP and distractors added. The task will be applied using videotapes. It will be applied to a control group of ten adults and in one experimental group of 30 children, aged from four to six years. Analyzing the data, we expect to observe whether children establish coreference relations between pronouns and nominal expressions that are present in backward anaphoras according to the Principle-C of the Binding Theory in Principles and Parameters. If the result is positive, we will confirm that the children's grammatical intuitions are structurally dependent, what means that they apply structural principles in formulating grammatical rules, according to Chomsky (1981, 1986).