Cover not available

In:Acquisition of Korean: The state of the art
Edited by Soonja Choi
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 36] 2026
► pp. 353–377

Chapter 11
Discourse, narrative and pragmatic development of children acquiring Korean in monolingual and bilingual contexts

 | University of Macau
 | University of Macau
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Pragmatic and discourse competence are crucial for successful communication and social interaction. However, the multifaceted nature of pragmatic skills — requiring linguistic, cognitive, and social knowledge — has hindered a systematic approach to studying pragmatic competence and its development, resulting in a deplorably small number of studies in pragmatic development in children acquiring Korean. This chapter surveys the emerging research landscape by organizing it into six key areas: (a) speech acts, (b) pragmatic development and linguistic knowledge, (c) narrative competence, (d) play interaction and pragmatic development, (e) sociopragmatic expectations and language socialization, and (f) factors affecting pragmatic competence. Despite the fragmented nature of current research and the complexity of acquiring pragmatic competence, a few key findings emerge and are discussed with relevant examples, including the dynamic interplay between linguistic and non-linguistic development and the negotiability of culture-specific norms.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Staking the territory: Developmental pragmatics
  • 3.Studies on the development of pragmatics in Korean
    • 3.1Speech acts: Requests
    • 3.2Pragmatic development and linguistic knowledge
    • 3.3Narrative competence
    • 3.4Children’s play interaction and pragmatic development
    • 3.5Sociopragmatic expectation: Language socialization
    • 3.6Factors affecting pragmatic development
  • 4.Concluding discussion
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • References
References (93)
References
Ahn, J. (2016). “Don’t cry, you’re not a baby!”: Emotion, role and hierarchy in Korean language socialization practice. Children & Society, 30(1), 12–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ariel, M. (2010). Defining pragmatics. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology Monographs, 4(1), 1–103. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Behrens, H. (2021). Constructivist approaches to first language acquisition. Journal of Child Language, 48(5), 959–983. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bernicot, J., & Legros, S. (1987). Direct and indirect directives: What do young children understand? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 43(3), 346–358. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S. (1997). Dinner talk: Cultural patterns of sociability and socialization in family discourse. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Honorifics and politeness. In L. Brown & J. Yeon (Eds.), The handbook of Korean linguistics (pp. 303–319). Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bucciarelli, M., Colle, L., & Bara, G. B. (2003). How children comprehend speech acts and communicative gestures. Journal of Pragmatics, 35, 207–241. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Budwig, N. (2014). Developmental pragmatics: Interdisciplinary perspectives on complex learning in everyday practice. In D. Matthews (Ed.), Pragmatic development in first language acquisition (pp.387–392). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Byon, A. S. (2000). The analysis of yo ‘The politeness marker in Korean’: From language socialization point of view. The Korean Language in America, 4, 125–140. [URL]
Cameron-Faulkner, T. (2014). The development of speech acts. In D. Matthews (Ed.), Pragmatic development in first language acquisition (pp. 37–52). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carmiol, M. A., & Sparks, A. (2014). Narrative development across cultural contexts — Finding the pragmatic in parent-child reminiscing. In D. Matthews (Ed.), Pragmatic development in first language acquisition (pp. 279–293). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Choi, S. (1991). Early acquisition of epistemic meanings in Korean: A study of sentence-ending suffixes in the spontaneous speech of three children. First Language, 11(1)[31], 93–119. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1995). The development of epistemic sentence-ending modal forms and functions in Korean children. In J. Bybee & S. Fleischman (Eds.), Modality in grammar and discourse (pp. 165–205). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021). The development of sentence-ending epistemic/evidential markers in young Korean children. In U. Stephany & A. Aksu-Koç (Eds.), Development of modality in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 491–524). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clancy, P. (1989). A case study in language socialization: Korean wh-questions. Discourse Processes, 12(2), 169–191. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clark, H. H., & Lucy, P. (1975). Understanding what is meant from what is said: A study in conversationally conveyed requests. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behaviour, 14(1), 56–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cromdal, J. (2001). Can I be with? Negotiating play entry in a bilingual school. Journal of Pragmatics, 33(4),515–543. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farver, J. A. M., & Shin, Y. L. (1997). Social pretend play in Korean- and Anglo-American preschoolers. Child Development, 68(3), 544–556. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Filipi, A. (2013). Withholding and pursuit in the development of skills in interaction and language. In I. Nomikou, K. Pitsch, & K. J. Rohlfing (Eds.), Asymmetry and adaptation in social interaction: A micro-analytic perspective. Special issue of Interaction Studies, 14(2), 139–159. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). Conversation analysis and pragmatic development. In D. Matthews (Ed.), Pragmatic development in first language acquisition (pp. 71–85). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Forrester, M. A. (2008). The emergence of self-repair: A case study of one child during the early pre-school years. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 41(1), 99–128. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fujiki, M., & Brinton, B. (2009). Pragmatics and social communication in child language disorders. In R. G. Schwartz (Ed.), Handbook of child language disorders (pp. 496–423). Psychology Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gallagher, T. M. (1991). Pragmatics of language: Clinical practice issues. Chapman and Hall. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gardner, H. F., & Forrester, M. A. (Eds.). (2010). Analysing interactions in childhood: Insights from conversation analysis. Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garvey, C. (1984). Children’s talk. Fontana. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1990). Play (Enlarged ed.). Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Giffin, H. (1984). The coordination of meaning in the creation of a shared make-believe reality. In I. Bretherton (Ed.), Symbolic play: The development of social understanding (pp. 73–96). Academic Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodluck, H. (2011). First language acquisition. Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Cognitive Science, 2(1), 47–54. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Graf, E., & Davies, C. (2014). The production and comprehension of referring expressions. In D. Matthews (Ed.), Pragmatic development in first language acquisition (pp. 161–181). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gudykunst, W. B., Matsumoto, Y., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T., Kim, K., & Heyman, S. (1996). The influence of cultural individualism-collectivism, self construals, and individual values on communication styles across cultures. Human Communication Research, 22, 510–543. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoff, E. (2012). Language development. Wadsworth Publishing. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hwang, Y. S. (2007). The relationship between young children’s comprehension ability and story making: The development of narrative. Korean Journal of Child Studies, 28(2), 39–53.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jo, Hye-Young. (2001). Heritage language learning and ethnic identity: Korean Americans’ struggle with language authorities. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 14(1), 26–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kang, E. H. (2015). Narrative ability of early elementary school students from multicultural families. Journal of Speech-Language & Hearing Disorders, 24(4), 1–8. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kang, M. A. (2015). Social aspects of Korean as a heritage language. In L. Brown & J. Yeon (Eds.), The handbook of Korean linguistics (pp. 423–440). Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keenan, E. O., & Schieffelin, B. B. (1976). Topic as a discourse notion: A study of topic in the conversations of children and adults. In C. Li (Ed.), Subject and topic: A new typology of language (pp. 337–383). Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kellogg, D. (2017). Thinking of feeling: Hasan, Vygotsky, and some ruminations on the development of narrative sensibility in children. Language and Education, 31(4), 374–387. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kern, F., Boden, U., Nemeth, A., Koutalidis, S., Abramov, O., Kopp, S., & Rohlfing, J. (2024). Preschool children’s discourse competence in different genres and how it relates to iconic gestures. Journal of Child Language, 51, 656–680. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, H. J. (2006). Let’s have a meal (and a little bit of talk, too!) (Doctoral dissertation) Harvard University. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (Publication No. 305332229)
Kim, H., & Park, H. Y. (2001). Intentions and strategies of children’s requests and teachers’ responses. Korean Journal of Child Studies, 22(4), 1–19.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, I. L. (2011). Development of discourse markers in Korean and English monolingual children and in Korean-English bilingual children (Doctoral dissertation). Temple University. ProQuest Dissertation and Theses (Publication No. 201206111).
(2012). Phenomena of discourse marker use of bilingual children and implications for heritage language education. The Korean Language in America, 17, 24–54. [URL].
Kim, K.-H. (2002). Interactive classroom discourse as context of learning and socialization. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 10(2), 213–241.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003). A conversation analysis of Korean sentence-ending modal suffixes ‑ney, kwun(a), and ‑ta: Noticing as a social action. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 12(1), 1–35.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, K.-H, & Suh, K.-H. (2004). An analysis of Korean sentence-ending suffixes in caregiver-child interaction. 어학연구 [Language Research], 40(4), 923–950.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, M. (2003). Cultural and school-grade differences in Korean and White American children’s narrative skills. International Review of Education, 49, 177–190. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, M. S. (1992). The home environment and native language acquisition: A case of Korean-American Preschoolers (Doctoral dissertation). Temple University. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global (Publication No. 304022428).
Kim, M. S., Kim, H-S, & Lee, G. (2016). A study on vocabulary and pragmatic competence of 4–5-year-old children of multicultural families. Journal of Special Education and Rehabilitation Science, 55(2), 397–415. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, S. J. (2017). A situated perspective on bilingual development: Preschool Korean-English bilinguals’ utilization of two languages and Korean honorifics. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 20(1), 1–19. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Y. (2018a). Repetition with slight variation primarily through final particles in Korean-English bilingual children’s interaction. East Asian Pragmatics, 3, 59–90. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018b). Private speech and mutual engagement in preschoolers’ playtime interaction: Talk and embodiment. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea, 26(2), 151–198. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Y., & Crepaldi, Y. T. (2021a). Co-constructed storytelling as a site for socialization in parent–child interaction: A case from a Malay-English bilingual family in Singapore. Journal of Pragmatics, 172, 167–180. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2021b). “What? Olaf is the taxi driver?” Co-construction of spontaneous fantasy narrative in pre-schoolers’ pretend play interaction. Special Issue in Research on Children and Social Interaction, 5(1), 103–128. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Küntay, A. C., Nakamura, K., & Sen, B. A. (2014). Crosslinguistic and crosscultural approaches to pragmatic development. In D. Matthews (Ed.), Pragmatic development in first language acquisition (pp.317–341). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kwon, H.-J., Rim, S.-E., & Kim, K.-H. (2021). Formulating wh-questions in Korean adult-child conversation: ‘Subject’, ‘topic’, and ‘zero’ particle as interactional resources. Journal of Pragmatics, 180, 153–172. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, H. S. (1993). Cognitive constraints on expressing newly perceived information, with reference to epistemic modal suffixes in Korean. Cognitive Linguistics, 4(2), 135–167. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, H., & Lim, J. (2023). Marital conflict and children’s problem behaviours: A focus on the mediating effect of children’s pragmatic language. Korean Journal of Child Studies, 44(1), 15–27. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, J. S., Choi, J. Y., & Marqués-Pascual, L. (2016). An analysis of communicative language functions in the speech patterns of bilingual Korean and Mexican immigrant children. New Approaches in Educational Research, 5(2), 66–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Y. J., Lee, J., Han, M., & Schickedanz, J. A. (2011). Comparison of preschoolers’ narratives, the classroom book environment, and teacher attitudes toward literacy practices in Korea and the United States. Early Education & Development, 22(2), 234–255. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Y. S. (2009). 다문화가정과 일반가정 유아의 상상적 내러티브 구조 및 주제. [A study on the imaginative narrative structures and themes of young children from multi-cultural and general families] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Korea National University Education, Chungbuk.
Leech, G. (1983). The principles of pragmatics. Longman. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lo, A. (2009). Lessons about respect and affect in a Korean heritage language school. Linguistics and Education, 20, 217–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Matthews, D., Butcher, J., Lieven, E., & Tomasello, M. (2012). Two- and four-year-olds learn to adapt referring expressions to context: Effects of distracters and feedback on referential communication. Topics in Cognitive Science, 4(2), 184–210. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCabe, A., & Peterson, C. (Eds.). (1991). Developing narrative structure. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miller, P. J., Koven, M., & Lin, S. (2012). Language socialization and narrative. In E. Ochs & B. B. Schieffelin (Eds.), The handbook of language socialization (pp. 190–208). Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2010). Current issues in heritage language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 30, 3–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moon, K. I. (2021). Analysis of structural relationships of pragmatic language ability in children’s language development. Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information, 26(11), 237–245. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). Effect of parenting behaviour on children’s pragmatic language ability. Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information, 27(2), 219–227. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nelson, K. (1996). Language in cognitive development: Emergence of the mediated mind. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ninio, A., & Snow, C. E. (1996). Pragmatic development. Westview Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ochs, E., & Schieffelin, B. (Eds.). (1979). Developmental pragmatics. Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Neill, D. K. (2012). Components of pragmatic ability and children’s pragmatic language development. In H.-J. Schmid (Ed.), Cognitive pragmatics (pp. 261–290). De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pae, S. Y., Kwon, E. G., Jin, Y. S., Jun, H. J., & Kwak, K. J. (2010). 다문화가정 아동의 이야기 산출. [Narratives of children with multicultural backgrounds]. Journal of Speech-Language and Hearing Disorders, 19(2), 53–72.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Park, E. J. (2008). Intergenerational transmission of cultural values in Korean American families: An analysis of the verb suffix ‑ta. Heritage Language Journal, 6(2), 173–205. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sacks, H. (1995). Lectures on conversation (Vols. 1–2, G. Jefferson, Ed.). Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), 696–735. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schieffelin, B., & Ochs, E. (1986). Language socialization. Annual Review of Anthropology, 15, 163–191. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shatz, M. (1978). Children’s comprehension of their mothers’ question-directives. Journal of Child Language, 5, 39–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snow, C. E., Pan, B. A., Imbens-Bailey, A., & Herman, J. (1996). Learning how to say what one means: A longitudinal study of children’s speech act use. Social Development, 5, 56–84. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sohn, H. (2001). The Korean language. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Song, J. (2019). Wuli and stance in a Korean heritage language classroom: A language socialization perspective. Linguistics and Education, 51, 12–19. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Song, M., O’Grady, W., Cho, S., & Lee, M. (1997). The learning and teaching of Korean in community schools. Korean Language in America, 2, 111–127.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stephany, U. (1986). Modality. In P. Fletcher & M. Garman (Eds.), Language acquisition (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tarplee, C. (2010). Next turn and intersubjectivity in children’s language acquisition. In H. Gardner & M. Forrester (Eds.), Analysing interactions in childhood: Insights from conversation analysis (pp. 3–22). Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verschueren, J. (1999). Understanding pragmatics. Edward Arnold & Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wootton, A. J. (1997). Interaction and development of mind. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yun, S. (2008). Role-play and language socialization among bilingual Korean children in the United States. Simulation & Gaming, 39(2), 240–252. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue