Expression and Perception of Endpoints during Language Acquisition: Three Studies on Czech
Expression and Perception of Endpoints during Language Acquisition: Three Studies on Czech

Summary/Abstract: The description of goal-oriented motion events differs cross-linguistically. Speakers of languages with a phasal perspective (such as Russian) describe these events as a process, while speakers of languages with a holistic perspective (such as Czech) emphasize the final state of the event, i.e., an endpoint. For instance, when someone walks toward a house, Czech speakers are more likely to mention the house as an endpoint in their description than Russian speakers (Schmiedtová, 2013a). This paper investigates the prominence of endpoints during language acquisition of Czech preschoolers in three experiments. Firstly, we investigate the frequency of endpoint expression in Czech children (N=40) in an elicitation task compared to an interactive setting. Secondly, we compare the endpoint production of Czech children (n=25) with that of Russian children (n=25). Lastly, we examine whether visual fixations on endpoints increase in Czech children (n=75) with age. The results show that Czech children produced more endpoints in the interactive setting than in the elicitation task. We did not find a significant difference between the overall number of endpoints produced by Russian and Czech children. However, there were significant differences in the types of utterances in which the children were expressing them. The eye-tracking data did not show a gradual increase in attention to endpoints with age. Our findings suggest that parent–child interaction is crucial in directing children’s attention toward endpoints. However, Czech children appear to be considerably independent in their production of endpoints. This study provides insights into how Czech children describe and perceive endpoints, a topic that has not been previously analyzed.

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