Work

Intentions of English children’s nonfiction discourse: Communicative and cognitive-pragmatic perspectives

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This article examines the intentions of English children’s nonfiction discourse from communicative and cognitive-pragmatic perspectives and identifies the linguistic means of their realization at lexical, syntactic, and stylistic levels. The study is based on a corpus of English children’s nonfiction books, including encyclopedias and biographies represented by covers, blurbs, and main texts. The research applies pragmalinguistic, descriptive, cognitive, and quantitative methods grounded in speech act theory and discourse studies. The communicative perspective includes representative, directive, commissive, expressive, declarative, and quesitive intentions, whereas the cognitive-pragmatic perspective is represented by informing, influencing, and engaging intentions. The results demonstrate that communicative and cognitive-pragmatic intentions, together with their linguistic means of representation, form an interconnected system in children’s nonfiction discourse. Representative and informing intentions are predominantly realized through scientific terminology, declarative constructions, and descriptive statements, while directive and influencing intentions are expressed through imperative constructions, modal verbs, and direct address. Engaging and expressive intentions are represented through emotionally marked vocabulary, rhetorical questions, intensifiers, and exclamatory constructions aimed at maintaining readers’ interest and stimulating curiosity. The findings provide new insights into the intentional organization of children’s nonfiction discourse and its role in shaping children’s perception of scientific knowledge and interaction with the surrounding world. Disclosure Statement The authors reported no potential conflicts of interest.

Source: East European Journal of Psycholinguistics

DOI: 10.29038/eejpl.2026.13.1.che

Authors: Maryna Chernyk, Hanna Prihodko, Vladyslava Kulish, Oleksandra Prykhodchenko

Institutions: Sumy State University, Zaporizhzhia National University

Language: English

Topic: Discourse Analysis in Language Studies

Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $107