The influence of intonational style on the young child's ability to understand sentences: A research note on passives

Two groups of 20 nursery school children were tested on a measure of receptive language development. The test required the children to demonstrate their comprehension of spoken sentences by selecting appropriately from sets of pictures. The first group heard the sentences presented in a highly intonated, lively form, whereas the second group heard a flat, monotonic presentation. Mean total test scores were not significantly different for the two groups but a powerful, isolated effect on the comprehension of passive sentences was in evidence favouring the heavily intonated condition. This finding is interpreted in terms of current accounts of the development of receptive control of the passive form in young children.