現有有關「道歉語」發展的研究多數探討西方兒童的發展，少有學者檢視東方兒童的道歉語發展情形。此外，多數探討道歉語發展的研究收集查驗兒童的語料。青少年的道歉表達與認知的情形和兒童、成人是否有差異則較少有學者探討。為清楚地瞭解道歉語的發展，本研究收集國小三年級、六年級、高中二年級及大學一年級學生的道歉語語料。每組各有男生30人，女生30人。資料收集的工具則是以情境問卷為主，收集道歉表達與認知資料。研究結果顯示在道歉認知的部分，四組不同年齡層的參與者對於情境的「冒犯嚴重程度」的認知差異不具顯著性。對於情境之「道歉的必要性」及「接受道歉的可能性」的認知部分，四組則有顯著差異。此研究發現意謂著道歉認知的發展歷程，對於情境的「冒犯嚴重程度」的認知發展應是早於冒犯別人之後需採取什麼行動及對方會如何回應的認知發展。在道歉表達的部分，各組所使用的道歉策略亦有顯著的差異。

This study of the pragmatic development of the speech act of apology compares perception and production data from Mandarin-speaking participants in different age groups. Using a cross-sectional approach, subjects from 4 age groups (3rd grade, 6th grade, 10th grade and college freshmen) were selected to represent children, early adolescents, adolescents, and young adults groups. Data were collected using the perception assessment task and the discourse completion task. Differences across age groups were statistically significant in the perception of the obligation to apologize and the likelihood of apology acceptance but not statistically significant in the perception of the severity of the offense indicating the ability to judge offense severity develops earlier than the ability to assess what action to take after the offense and how people will respond to the apology. Developmental changes in apology production were also found through quantitative analysis of production data.