Developmental Versus Language-Based Factors in Metaphor Interpretation

This study examines the respective roles of language proficiency and more general developmental factors (e.g., mental capacity, knowledge) in children's metaphor interpretation. Subjects were Spanish-English-speaking and monolingual-English children from 7 to 12 years of age. The samples were English-speaking middle-class (n ffi 31) and working-class children (n = 34) and Spanish-English-speaking children who were either long-term residents (n = 39) or recent immigrants to Canada (n = 21). These samples were equal in measured mental capacity but differed on measures of language proficiency in English. With a previously validated procedure, subjects' metaphor interpretations were scored for cognitive complexity. Metaphor score increased with age, and the developmental curves were parallel across the four samples. For metaphor score, effects due to language or socioeconomic status were of small magnitude in relation to those due to age.