The Development of the Ability to Distinguish Between Literal and Intended Meanings of Messages
The purpose of this thesis was to identify the circumstances under which the ability to distinguish between the literal and the intended meanings of messages emerge. Young children's ability to detect ambiguity in spoken messages seems limited because they do not appear to understand that the words used in a message, the literal meaning of the message, do not always specify exactly what the speaker intended those words to mean.
Education, Early Childhood, Psychology, Developmental
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign