International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Children Indirect Speech Acts at Ages 18-24 Months Old: A Case Study on Indonesian Language Acquisition by Balinese Children
Nengah Arnawa

Abstract
The research aims at formulating language characteristic and development of children indirect speech acts at age 18-24 months old. The research data is hoped to be able to contribute to a theoretical implication in semantic and pragmatic aspects of children language. The research is based on speech acts, implicature, and language acquisition theory which were constructed eclectically. Research data was collected in a natural setting through some methods as listening, conversation, and participative observation in collaboration with stimulating technique. Main corpus obtained was analyzed in units of utterance with method of pragmatic. There were three points successfully drawn upon the analysis, they are: (1) consonant sound acquiring pattern was consistent with “principle of maximal contrast”; (2) words were generally presented into monosyllabic words, even though they are polysyllabic ones, and represent “semantic primitives”; (3) children were able to comprehend early than they were able to produce speech acts, which is in line with their cognitive and social development; and (4) children have implicative ability, i.e. differentiating what is said and what is meant.

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