The acquisition of mood selection in Spanish relative clauses

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANA TERESA PÉREZ-LEROUX
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
False Belief ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
False Belief Task ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Subjunctive Mood ◽  
Production Study ◽  
Spanish Subjunctive ◽  
Representational Theory Of Mind ◽  
Mood Selection

Although children acquire Spanish subjunctive morphology early in the process of language acquisition, they only master mood selection in a staged process that lasts for several years. This paper examines the possibility that the acquisition of subjunctive mood selection in particular syntactic contexts is constrained by cognitive development in the area of representational theory of mind. Acquisition of the epistemic aspects of the semantics of subjunctive are shown to be associated with the understanding of false beliefs, a landmark development in children's cognition. Twenty-two Spanish speaking children between the ages of 3;5 and 6;11 participated in an elicited production study designed to test whether children's ability to produce subjunctive relative clauses was related to their ability to pass a false belief task. Results indicate a strong correlation between children's ability to use the subjunctive mood in relative clauses and their capacity for understanding false beliefs.

The use of default forms in codeswitching

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana de Prada Pérez ◽  
Nicholas Feroce ◽  
Lillian Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Subjunctive Mood ◽  
Restrictive Relative Clauses ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Acceptability Judgment

Abstract This paper examines the effects that codeswitching (CS) has on mood selection in restrictive relative clauses in the Spanish of heritage speakers (HSs). Spanish HS participants completed an online acceptability judgment task in which they rated monolingual (i.e., unilingual) and codeswitched sentences containing verbs in indicative and subjunctive mood in restrictive relative clauses manipulated for specificity of the antecedent. The results indicated an association of the subjunctive with non-specificity in monolingual sentences that was lost in the codeswitched sentences, although this effect was modulated by proficiency. These results are discussed in terms of the use of default forms in CS.

Assertion and false-belief attribution

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Jary
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
False Belief ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Belief Attribution ◽  
Michael Dummett ◽  
Robert Brandom ◽  
Linguistic Ability ◽  
Representational Format ◽  
Representational Theory Of Mind

The ability to attribute false-beliefs to others — the hallmark of a representational theory of mind — has been shown to be reliant on linguistic ability, specifically on competence in sentential complementation after verbs of communication and cognition such as ‘say that’ and ‘think that’. The reason commonly put forward for this is that these structures provide a representational format which enables the child to think about another’s thoughts. The paper offers an alternative explanation. Drawing on the work of the philosophers Michael Dummett and Robert Brandom, it argues that the available data better fits an account that grounds the notion of representation in the commitments undertaken by asserters. The competence in sentential complementation that precedes false-belief attribution is viewed as a result of the child developing a meta-awareness of the syntactic forms employed in assertion. This meta-awareness gives the child access to discourse about the commitments undertaken by speakers and the consequences of these for their behaviour. This understanding constitutes the child’s grasp of the representational nature of discourse and thought. The paper thus offers an illocutionary account of theory-of-mind development.

In the wrong mood at the right time: Children’s acquisition of the Spanish subjunctive in temporal clauses

2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-255
Author(s):  
Jeannette Sánchez-Naranjo ◽  
Ana T. Pérez-Leroux
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Assessment ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Spanish Subjunctive ◽  
Mapping Task ◽  
Temporal Clauses ◽  
Children First ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mood Selection

AbstractThis study investigates the complexity of the mapping task in children’s acquisition of the Spanish subjunctive in temporal clauses. We consider that children’s difficulty with this task arises from the interaction between mood and other elements determining the evaluation of the temporal clause, such as semantic factors, tense, and cognition. Forty monolingual Spanish-speaking children first completed a cognitive assessment test, evaluating false belief understanding; this was followed by a linguistic prerequisite test assessing understanding of temporal connectors and knowledge of subjunctive morphology, and finally a temporal clause production task. Results reveal that mood selection in temporal clauses does not simply start with indicative followed by its replacement by subjunctive. On the contrary, the use of subjunctive temporal clauses involves a complex process for children in which tense corresponds to a fundamental source of bootstrapping. These results confirm the view that the acquisition of mood selection undergoes a protracted development. Spanish subjunctive meanings are not immediately accessible to children.

scholarly journals Mood Selection in Relative Clauses by French–Spanish Bilinguals: Contrasts and Similarities between L2 and Heritage Speakers

Languages ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Anahí Alba de la Fuente ◽  
Maura Cruz Enríquez ◽  
Hugues Lacroix
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Spanish Subjunctive ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Mood Selection ◽  
Task Modality

In this paper, we explore three issues related to the acquisition of mood selection in Spanish relative clauses by second language (L2) and heritage (HL) speakers of Spanish: (1) whether HL speakers are more native-like than L2 learners; (2) whether the speakers’ performance differs depending on task modality (written vs. oral), since HL speakers are known to perform better in oral tasks and L2 learners tend to do better in written tasks; and (3) whether knowledge of French as an L1/dominant language (DL) has an impact on the acquisition of Spanish subjunctive, since both languages include this mood in their grammars, but it is used more productively in Spanish. Results from a sentence combination felicity task (SCFT) in Spanish—in written and oral forms—and a written elicited production task (EPT) in French, administered to advanced L2 and HL speakers of Spanish whose L1/DL is French and two monolingual (Spanish and French) control groups, revealed that L2 learners pattern more closely with the control group than HL speakers in the SCFT, both written and orally. In the EPT, all bilingual speakers display higher levels of subjunctive use than the control group, showing a potential influence from the L2/weaker language on the L1/DL.

scholarly journals Process in the Community, Detain Offshore or ‘Turn Back the Boats’? Predicting Australian Asylum-seeker Policy Support from False Beliefs, Prejudice and Political Ideology

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa K Hartley ◽  
Joel R Anderson ◽  
Anne Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Future Research ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Predictive Role ◽  
Practical Implications

Abstract Over the past few decades, there has been a progressive implementation of policies designed to deter the arrival of people seeking protection. In Australia, this has included offshore processing and towing boats of asylum seekers away from Australian waters. In a community survey of 164 Australians, this study examined the predictive role of false beliefs about asylum seekers, prejudice and political ideology in support of three policies. Multiple hierarchical regression models indicated that, although political ideology and prejudice were significant predictors of policy support, false beliefs was the strongest predictor. For the policy of processing asylum seekers in the community, less endorsement of false beliefs was a significant predictor, while, for the policy of offshore processing, more endorsement of false beliefs was a significant predictor. For the boat turn-back policy, an increase in false-belief endorsement was the strongest predictor; although increases in prejudice and a prejudice–political ideology interaction (i.e. the predictive value of prejudice was stronger for participants who identified as politically conservative) also independently predicted support. Practical implications and future research avenues are discussed.

scholarly journals The concepts of «reality» and «statement» in the analysis of modal alternation in Spanish relative subordinate clauses

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (25) ◽  
pp. 129-134
Author(s):  
Alexandra I. Makarova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Subjunctive Mood ◽  
Subordinate Clauses

The article analyzes theoretical works that raise the problem of analyzing the use of the subjunctive mood in subordinate relatives in Spanish based on the concept of «reality». This topic is relevant and widely discussed among Spanish researchers. Earlier, the author has already attempted to study a different concept – the concept of «statement». This concept, based on the hidden semantics of the whole sentence, is applicable to the analysis of subordinate object sentences. The aim of the study is to determine the features of the subjunctive mood use in subordinate relative sentences in the Spanish language, based on the semantic features of the concepts of «statement» and «reality». This article attempts to implement the concept of «statement» in the analysis of subordinate relative clauses. The author concludes that this concept is not always applicable to the analysis of this type of subordinate clauses. However, we cannot completely exclude it from the analysis. The concept of «reality», which is in its own way a consequence of the concept of «statement», helps to explain the modal alternation in subordinate relative clauses. The subjunctive mood indicates the abstractness of the antecedent or the speaker's doubts about the existence of the antecedent in reality. The indicative mood, on the contrary, indicates the reality of the object or the speaker's belief in its existence. The materials of this study raise questions related to the application of concepts within other types of subordinate clauses and in other closely related languages (French).

Do children understand desires before they understand beliefs? A comparison of 3-year-olds’ grasp of incompatible desires, competitive games and false beliefs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Proft ◽  
Cornelia Hoss ◽  
Katharina Manfredini Paredes ◽  
hannes rakoczy
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Propositional Attitudes ◽  
False Belief ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
False Belief Understanding ◽  
Active Choice ◽  
The Asymmetry ◽  
Competitive Games ◽  
Cognitive Attitudes

A long-standing dispute in theory of mind research concerns the development of understanding different kinds of propositional attitudes. The asymmetry view suggests that children understand conative attitudes (e.g., desires) before they understand cognitive attitudes (e.g., beliefs). The symmetry view suggests that notions of cognitive and conative attitudes develop simultaneously. Relevant studies to date have produced inconsistent results, yet with different methods and dependent measures. To test between the two accounts more systematically, we thus combined different forms of desire tasks (incompatible desires and competition) with different forms of measurement (verbal ascription and active choice) in a single design. Additionally, children’s performance in the desire tasks was compared to their false-belief understanding. Results revealed that 3-year-olds were better at ascribing desires than at ascribing beliefs for both desire tasks whereas they had difficulties actively choosing the more desired option in the competition task. The present findings thus favor the asymmetry theory.

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