Doctoral Dissertation Research: Language Socialization and the Acquisition of Evidentiality in Amdo Tibetan

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

How do young children learn to express modes of knowledge within the grammatical framework of their first language(s)? How is children's development of this cognitive and linguistic capability linked to social and cultural norms? This dissertation investigates these questions by studying young child speakers (aged 2-5) of Amdo Tibetan (ISO 639-3 code adx) living in Qinghai, China, over 15 months of developmental time. Like other Tibetan languages, Amdo demonstrates an elaborate system of evidential markers--grammatical forms that speakers use to express their relation to the acquisition of knowledge (i.e. knowing something via hearsay vs. direct perception). Both the role that Amdo evidential markers play in spontaneous interaction, and children's longitudinal acquisition of this grammatical system, have yet to be studied. This investigation follows the ethnographic approach known as language socialization. The researchers chart the development of six focal children, by recording and analyzing their everyday social interactions. Looking across a 15-month developmental trajectory, the researchers identify patterns in the pragmatics (the social and interactive functions) of evidentiality used by children and their interlocutors. Ethnographic examination of language ideologies and the norms of sociality that shape verbal exchanges between children and community members will complement the analysis of developmental changes in the use of evidentiality. The results of this study will provide critical insight into the relations between social interaction and children's cognitive and linguistic development. The implications of the findings will not be limited to one language community, and can be applied through comparative analysis to enrich present understandings of the social, cognitive, and linguistic development of young children living in the United States. The dissertation project also supports the professional training of a Linguistic Anthropologist.