ABSTRACT
As we considered the inferences that might be drawn from the analyses of the structural features in the language produced by children, we reflected on our purposes in analysing the collected data. We saw our task to be that of trying to discover the kind of meanings that children were establishing, and of testing whether there were differences between children in the systems of meanings which were developing that might stem from differences in their experiences of using language
Our interest lay, therefore, in the way in which language functioned to express and construct different kinds of meanings, meanings that would reflect the child's awareness, appreciation and interpretation of the physical and social world around him.
