How do adults use repetition ? A comparison of conversations with young children and with multiply-handicapped adolescents
Résumé
The aim of this research is to compare the types and functions of repetitions in two different corpora, one constituted of verbal interactions between adults and multiply-handicapped adolescents, the other between adults and young children of the same mental age as the adolescents. When interacting with a child, repetitions form part of a strategy of linguistic 'tutoring' which allow the child to take on board progressively more complex linguistic constructions. When adults communicate with multiply-handicapped adolescents, their main aim is the maintaining of dialogue.