Language Learning ISSN 0023-8333 Catalan Children’s Sensitivity to the Discourse Constraints Imposed by Different Kinds of Question Merc ` e Prat-Sala The University of Winchester Ulrike Hahn Cardiff University In an investigation of discourse sensitivity, Catalan-speaking children aged 4 to 8 years were asked two different questions in a picture description task. One was a wide-focus question (“What is happening?”); the other was a narrow-focus question (“What is happening to ‘the patient’?”). Children of all age groups displayed sensitivity to the various discourse constraints imposed by the two different questions, responding both with changes to word order and with changes in use of referential expressions. However, there was evidence of a developmental change between 4 and 5 years of age. The possible causes of this change are discussed. Keywords referential expressions; discourse; givenness; word order; determiners; language acquisition; language development The production of a sentence in a particular language requires the speaker to be sensitive to the phonological, morphological, and syntactic constraints of that language, as well as to the discourse constraints imposed by the contextual environment of the speech act. This article focuses on the different linguistic devices used by Catalan-speaking children of different ages to mark information Merc` e Prat-Sala, Department of Psychology; Ulrike Hahn, School of Psychology. The order of authors is arbitrary. We would like to thank the teachers of the day care centers and primary schools “Sagrat cor de Jes´ us ” and “Sant Pere ” de Monistrol de Montserrat (Bages) for their help and collaboration in allowing the studies to take place. We would also like to thank the children who took part in the study. Without all of them, the research would not have been possible. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Merc` e Prat-Sala, Department of Psychology, The University of Winchester, West Hill, SO22 4NR, UK or Ulrike Hahn, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Park Place Cardiff, CF10 3AT, Wales, UK. Internet: Merce.Prat- Sala@winchester.ac.uk; hahnu@Cardiff.ac.uk Language Learning 57:3, September 2007, pp. 443–467 443 C  2007 Language Learning Research Club, University of Michigan