Talk and Doubletalk: The Development of Metacommunication Knowledge about Oral Language

Three levels of metacommunication knowledge and five factors that influence the understanding of speaker meaning in oral language (gestures, intentions, making sense, being “easy to understand,” and “figuring out” what a speaker means) were identified in pilot interviews with children and adolescents. To assess the extent to which these three levels and five factors are generalizable to a large sample, 156 subjects from three age groups (5-7, 8-11, and 13-18 years) were interviewed. Analysis of covariance and Scheffe comparisons indicated significant age group differences. Guttman scale analyses reflected a sequence in levels of metacommunication knowledge.