The acquisition of the meanings of modality in children aged eight and twelve

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Abstract
Little is known about children's acquisition of modality. It seems clear that at the age of five, when they are said to be linguistically competent, children have not mastered the adult system of modal meaning. This paper describes research which tests children's understanding of modal meaning at the ages of eight and twelve. The results of these tests are compared with the results of the same test on adult informants. The research uses the card-sorting method devised by Miller (1971) to investigate semantic similarities and dissimilarities; cluster analysis of the data reveals the underlying patterns. My tests revealed that eight-year-old children have only a rudimentary system of modal meaning, and even by the age of twelve a child's system will not be isomorphic with the adult system.

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