REINFORCING CREATIVE THINKING AND IMAGINATION THROUGH ADJECTIVES: A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Abstract

In children’s literature, adjectives are important linguistic elements, as they serve as a tool to stimulate creativity, critical thinking and moral development. This study investigates the semantic, functional and cognitive role of adjectives on discourse attributes such as narrative depth and reader engagement, using an integrated semantic-cognitive framework of adjectives particularly designed for this study. Computational tools TagAnt and AntConc were used to extract and categorize adjectives from a corpus of 20 children’s novels. Analysis suggests that descriptive adjectives are most common, generating detailed sensory imagery to visualize narrative settings and characters. Temporal and evaluative adjectives (e.g. old, good) are used to advance moral reasoning and further the narrative along helping readers to consider moral and generational themes. The functional roles of adjectives, i.e. imaginative enrichment, characterization etc., are used to demonstrate their role in engaging young minds in curiosity, empathy and maintaining relational understanding. More importantly, symbolic adjectives help to develop themes and cognitive engagement. Adjectives are emphasized in the findings and the importance of making linguistic and cognitive experiences available to young readers. The study is significantfor authors, educators, and researchers to recommend the adequate and deliberate application of a variety of adjectives to affect children’s cognitive and emotional development.