The child's autobiographical self: A developmental linguistic investigation

Abstract

This is an interdisciplinary discussion bringing grammar to bear on questions of self and identity in children. It reports on a developmental study of the autobiographical narratives of a group of five, eight and twelve year old children. The narratives are analysed based on a form of variation analysis which looks at both the grammatical and the discursive shape of the stories. This paper is a summary of some aspects of what distinguishes the autobiographical self of a 5-year-old from an 8- or 12-year-old as it relates to modality and tense. Overall, it forms part of a wider exploration of grammar as implicated in the construction of self and the special role played by the concept of modality in this process.