Final answer:
Children sometimes interpret questions like "Do you know where your mommy is?" literally by simply answering "Yes," not grasping the implied request for the location of their mother. This indicates that they're still learning the social functions of language, where linguistic cues provide more than just factual information.
Step-by-step explanation:
Young children sometimes literally interpret sentences like "Do you know where your mommy is?" by answering "Yes." They failed to understand the implied request of the question. When young children respond to such questions, they often focus on the factual aspect rather than the social intent, missing cues that would tell an older individual that the questioner is actually asking for the location of the child's mother, not just whether the child knows it. In the context of language development, this tendency to interpret questions literally is indicative of children still learning to navigate the social functions of language. As children grow and are exposed to more social interactions, they better grasp the underlying intents behind such questions. This development is closely related to their linguistic and cognitive growth, where they start understanding that language is not only for factual communication but also serves social and interactive purposes.