Afreen Fatima and Nandita Babu
University of Delhi, Delhi
Pages:414-424
Pragmatics is a psycho-linguistic construct. Due to its sensitivity to cultural differences,
western knowledge cannot be generalized. Therefore, little is known about Hindi
pragmatic language skills in Indian children. Hence, a novel Hindi Pragmatic Video
(HPV) Task was created. HPV assessed the development of pragmatic markers such
as non-verbal language, metaphor, sarcasm, etc. using 15 videos, each with 3 questions.
The study examined the effect of age and gender on 180 Indian children. The sample
included 4 age groups (5 to 6 years, 6 to 7 years, 7 to 8 years, and 8 to 9 years) and
two genders (male and female). Pragmatic language skills were positively correlated
with age, r(178)=0.85, p =<.001, two-way ANOVA depicted that the factor of age was
statistically significant F(3,172) =157.37, p< .001. These results confirm the available
literature. However, the gender factor was not statistically significant (F(1, 172)=2.55,
p>.001). The Age and Gender interaction effect was also not statistically significant
(F(3, 172) =0.14, p>.001). This contradicts earlier research and offers new insights.
The novel HPV tasks was established as an standardized measure to assess pragmatics
in 5 to 10 year old children. Resulting trends can be used to develop norms of Hindi
pragmatic language skills and help those with Social Pragmatic Disorder (SPD). The
findings have many relevant implications, these can be social, cross-cultural, and in
developmental psychology