A Case Study of a Preschool Child’s Compliment Expression Based on Schema Theory

Compliments, as an essential type of evaluation expression, are also considered an important factor in assessing pragmatic competence. This paper analyzes how children organize their compliment expressions under the framework of schema theory. It describes the characteristics and developmental trajectory of children’s compliment expression based on the four parts of language schema and 16 types of high-frequency expression. The analysis also reveals a continuity of sentiment strength, indicating that schema patterns differ significantly across various degrees of compliments. This novel approach can not only shed light on the realization of children’s compliment expression but also provide a new avenue for research of speech acts and enhance the accuracy of sentiment analysis in natural language processing.