Surface Structure and the Topic-Comment Distinction: A Developmental Study

HORNBY, PETER A. Surface Structure and the Topic-Comment Distinction: A Developmental Study. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1971, 42, 1975-1988. 20 Ss at each of 3 age levels (6, 8, 10 yrs.) were asked to select 1 of 2 pictures to go with each of 30 sentences (6 active, 6 passive, 6 cleft, 6 pseudo-cleft, and 6 stressed). By the S's choice of picture, it was possible to determine which part of the sentence he took to be the topic. Ss were also asked to produce sentences for pictures to determine what surface structure device they employ for marking the topic-comment distinction. The results revealed that, at all ages under consideration, Ss were equally able to mark the topiccomment distinction in the sentences which they produced; however, the various surface structure devices were employed differentially as a function of age.