Pragmática y desarrollo metalingüístico

Pragmatics provides a theoretical framework to interpret human communication, which generally focuses its attention on the study of contextualized use of language. Among other aspects, pragmatics is related to the intuitions and concerns of the speakers on how they should use the language. Intrinsically metalinguistic and metacommunicative reflection occurs in every conversation, in a more or less conscious and more or less evident manner. The aim of this article has been to review the role played by metacognition and some of the most significant metalinguistic categories that, for different reasons, better indicate the level of pragmatic development of children: Imitation and spontaneous self-corrections. Pragmatic perspective emphasizes the importance of learning to catch intentionality beyond the literality of words in the process of language acquisition. Metalinguistic and metacognitive processes are recursive processes that contribute to understand how we become capable of grasping intentions and sharing meanings.