Developmental study of aspects of Malay narratives

This study investigates the developmental patterns in Malay based on elicited narratives. It focusses specifically on whether the children display any preferences in the use of the different structures available in the language. Thirty-four subjects were involved in the study, eleven adults, eleven 5-year olds and twelve 7-year olds. Three narratives were also collected from 3-year olds. These have generally been excluded from the main analysis but are nonetheless discussed briefly. The results reveal developmental patterns in the use of relative clauses, passives and locatives. The results also suggest that the children have not yet fully mastered the complex system of affixes in Malay