What does this mean?

[yohosuff]

I'm confused about the following sentence:

可是外国人初学汉语时, 弄不清"东西"的指代范围和使用状况,更不知修辞和感情色彩.

What does 指代 mean here?

I think that part of the sentence means "scope of reference." Is that what 指代 means, reference?

[monto]

指代 = refer to

[yohosuff]

Thanks monto, but I'm still slightly confused.

If 指代 means "refer to" then does 指代范围 mean "scope of refer to"? What would you say this means in this sentence?

[monto]

If 指代 means "refer to" then does 指代范围 mean "scope of refer to"? What would you say this means in this sentence?

Yes. Meaning of a word takes an area rather than a point.

For example,

when we say 手指，it may refer to the indicate finger, middle finger, ring finger or little finger, or even the thumb. These posibilities make up a scope and if anything referred by 手指 falls into this scope, then it's correct usage of the word.

指代范围 means "scope of what it refers to".

[Sam Addington]

可是外国人初学汉语时, 弄不清"东西"的指代范围和使用状况,更不知修辞和感情色彩.

My attempt at translation:

The scope of reference and the situations in which "thing" is used is not clear to to foreign students of Chinese in the beginning, however. They are even less certain about modification and nuance.