Çocukların nesneler hakkında yetişkinlerle kurdukları sözlü ve sözsüz iletişimlerinin doğal ve deneysel yöntemlerle incelenmesi

The current dissertation examines toddlers' and preschool children's competency at using and comprehending adults' verbal and nonverbal cues in referential interactions. We report data from one semi-naturalistic study longitudinally investigating children's speech about objects in their physical environment between ages 1;0 and 1;09; and two experimental studies examining 2- to-4 year-old children' comprehension of an adult's communicative intent in referentially ambiguous situations. The results indicated that the children are competent at using verbal cues (prior mention in discourse) in their referential speech as early as age 1;09; but this competency was detected only when we considered nonverbal action (deictic gestures) supplementing the children's speech. The results from the experimental studies also showed that the children solved referential uncertainty at multiple steps and adults' verbal and nonverbal cues differently contributed to this process at different steps. Children's individual cognitive profiles were associated with whether labels or gestures are prioritized in resolving referential uncertainty. This thesis showed that children learn to demonstrate early referential skills during interactive experience with competent adults, and use both verbal and nonverbal cues to develop referential competency across early preschool years.