Proverb Comprehension and Use in Late Childhood : The Role of Familiarity and Concreteness of Proverbs

후기아동의 속담이해능력과 사용정도에 관한 연구 : 속담의 친숙도와 구체성을 중심으로

This study explored proverb comprehension and use in elementary school children by familarity and concreteness of proverbs and children's age, sex, experience of living with grandparents. The 529 fourth and sixth grade participants completed a questionnaire probing knowledge of 16 proverbs; 4 each in four categories(familiar-concrete, familiar-abstract, unfamiliar-concrete, and unfamiliar-abstract). Results showed highest comprehension scores for familiar-concrete proverbs. Sixth graders obtained higher comprehension score than fourth graders in all four proverb categories. There was no difference between grades in frequency of proverb usage. An interaction effect between grade and sex showed that female sixth graders had the highest comprehension score. These results suggest a possibility of relationship between figurative language and cognitive development related to abstract thinking in late school-age children.