Language Complexity and Intersubjectivity in Narratives Written by Colombian Children

Language development depends on social aspects of cognition, such as intersubjectivity. Given the interdependence of patterns of language use and social cognitive aspects of communication, we question whether there is a measurable relation between lexico-grammatical complexity and the construction of intersubjectivity in children’s narratives. We analyzed narrative texts using quantitative measures (grammatical and lexical complexity) and analyses of semiotic aspects for the construction of intersubjectivity. The results show that narratives with higher levels of intersubjectivity contain sentences that are more grammatically complex, as reflected by a higher proportion of subordinated clauses. These findings allow to conclude that social cognition processes play an important role in text production. Moreover, this study shows how the use of combined semiotic analysis and quantitative measures of lexical-grammatical elements makes possible a holistic approach to the written language study.