A three-year-old mistakenly says "I go-ed" instead of "I went". This is an example of which of the following?

The statement "I go-ed" instead of "I went" is a classic example of over-regularization. Over-regularization occurs when a child applies a grammatical rule too broadly, which is common in language development. In this case, the child is applying the regular past tense rule of adding "-ed" to a verb instead of using the irregular past tense form "went."

Children learn that adding "-ed" transforms present tense verbs into past tense. When they encounter irregular verbs that do not follow this pattern, their understanding can lead to errors like "go-ed." This demonstrates the child’s developing grasp of language rules, highlighting their attempt to generalize grammatical patterns rather than understanding the exceptions at this stage of their language acquisition.

Contextually, the other options, such as underextension and telegraphic speech, refer to different aspects of language development and do not apply in this scenario. Underextension involves using a word too narrowly (e.g., calling only their own dog "dog" instead of all dogs), while telegraphic speech typically consists of short, two- or three-word phrases that convey meaning without grammatical markers. A lack of phonemic awareness relates to an understanding of sounds in speech, which is not directly relevant to this example