Children's conversational competence with their parents

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Abstract
This study examined preschool children's ability to follow Grice's maxims of conversation while conversing with their parents, as well as parents’ reactions to the children's violations of the maxims. Eighteen children from each of three age groups (2‐, 3‐, and 4‐year‐olds) were observed on three occasions: while interacting with their mothers, with their fathers, and with both parents. Results indicate that children's violations decreased with age. These results are discussed in terms of the younger children's inability to use their knowledge of the maxims to mediate their discourse production. In the dyadic contexts, fathers more than mothers, assumed a directive role in response to children's violations. In the triadic context there were no between‐parent differences regarding reactions to children's violations. Contextual results are discussed in terms of interactional theory wherein parents assume different interactional roles in different contexts.