CHILDES-Based Investigation into the Development Path of Quantifier System Construction in Native English-Speaking Children

In this paper, the situation of native English-speaking 4-8-year-old children's quantifier use is discussed, and the quantifiers' collocation accuracy and mistake types are analyzed. Based on the CHILDES corpus, this study examines 5,236 quantifier-containing utterances from 20 native English-speaking children aged 4-8. It analyzes collocation accuracy, error types, and developmental trends via quantitative statistics and corpus annotation. Results show total errors decrease from 16 (4-5 years) to 8 (7-8 years). Key findings: singular-plural errors dominate at 4-5 (15 cases) but vanish by 6-7; "the" misuse persists (6 cases at 5-6, 5 at 7-8); "a/an" confusion peaks at 6-7 (3 cases). Combining cognitive development theory and language input analysis, it systematically combs through the building process of children's quantifier use; its mistakes show an obvious aging tendency, with types changing from basic form confusion (singular-plural, most common among 4-5-year-olds) to context-dependent errors, especially "misusing 'the'" (at 7-8 years old). This provides scientific support for age-specific quantifier teaching practice and taking effective countermeasures to improve their quantifier use ability. These reflect cognitive-linguistic development, providing scientific support for age-specific quantifier teaching.