REMEMBERED VOICES

The speech children spontaneously quote was examined in two studies. I n Study I, a corpus of personal narratives from 96 children aged 4 ; 0 to 9; 0 was analysed; StudY 2 investigated reported speech in 2 5 you nger children aged I ; 2 to 5 ; 2 interacting with their parents. In b oth studies, the frequency of reported speech increased with age. Dire ct quotation was more common than indirect or summarized quotation at all ages. In Study I, children quoted themselves more frequently than any other speaker, and their mothers more frequently than their father s. Directives were the most commonly reported speech act from the dist ant past in both older (Study I) and younger (Study 2) children. In St udy I, girls used reported speech more frequently than did boys, and t heir quotations were more direct in form than were those of boys.