5>Child directed speech Flashcards
Nativist-generative theories in relation to role of linguistic input>
- input plays a minor role
- primarily used in:
1>word learning (i.e. ‘dog’ vs ‘hund’)
2>parameter setting (i.e. is it SVO or SOV)
-idea of top-down development
what is top-down development>
-idea kids born with abstract categories (S, V, O) & these are used to analyse input from caregivers
(e.g.”the man kissed the woman”–>SVO)
Usage-based theories in relation to role of linguistic input>
- children extract (/create) linguistic categories & rules FROM their input
- idea of bottom-up development
what is bottom up development?>
the input is used to discover rules
(e.g. “the man kissed the woman”> SUBJ VERB OBJ)
what is evidence for the ‘bottom-up’ development?
- frequency & novelty effects: experiments show that young children don’t go beyond the input & can only process similar sentences (“where is the frog gorping the monkey?”)
interactions with preverbal infants (WEST)>
-we address kids before they produce language themselves
- adults interpret gestures & vocalisations as having social meanings (e.g. smiling)
- our culture anthropomorphises a range of non-talking things
paralinguistic features of child directed speech (in comparison to adult)> (6)
- higher pitch
- exaggerated intonation
- greater range of pitch
- longer pauses
- lengthened phonemes (&slower speech in general)
- slower tempo
Pros of child directed speech>
- long pauses help word segmentation
(in higher pitched sounds the ‘bands of energy’ (harmonics) are more widely spaced than in lower pitched sounds
Cons of child-directed speech
-relatively high pitch might hinder vowel discrimination
(higher pitched vowels as more difficult to discriminate than low pitched vowels, due to formant location)
- long pauses do not always occur in the right place
(“the nice…man sells ice cream”)
Phonological features of child directed speech> (in comparison to adult)>
- mothers produce extreme VOTs (voice onset time) for voiceless consonants
- vowels are hyper-articulated (distance between different vowels is more extreme in CDS than adult); thus should be easier for infants to distinguish v & c like /p/ & /b/
- mothers articulate less clearly- to convey intimacy
Lexicon & syntax features of child-directed speech> (in comparison to adult speech) (5)
-shorter MLU
-fewer subordinated clauses/embeddings per utterance (^easier to process)
-more utterances without verbs (Noun bias?)
-more content words, fewer function words (telegraphic speech)
-diminuitives (“doggie” “horsie”)
(might help categorisation & word segmentation)
Discourse features of child directed speech>
- more interrogatives (to keep convo going)
- more imperatives (to regulate child’s behaviour)
- speech more fluent & intelligible ( ‘poverty of stimulus’?)
- more repetitions
- routines (i.e. give+take; peakaboo; book reading)
Gestural features of child directed speech>
- caregivers use gestures to reinforce the verbal content of their utterances
- ‘temporal synchrony’–>caregivers move toys while talking about them & when teach novel verbs/nouns (involves joint attention)
Basic functions of child directed speech>
- bonding & attachment
- regulating
Basic functions of CDS> 1.bonding & attachment>
-infants prefer to listen to HAPPY-sounding speech
-in tonal langs, extreme pitch might work against word learning:
^thai mothers more likely to use emotional expressions (e.g. smiling)
Basic functions of CDS> 2. Regulating>
- can soothe a crying infant
-(imperatives) can get children’s attention & warn them
Linguistic functions of CDS>
- truthfulness rather than correctness
- direct negative feedback doesnt always help
- indirect feedback (e.g. recasts) as more effective
is CDS universal?>
CDS features can be observed in fathers, siblings, grandparents & nannies speech
- CDS has been observed in varieties of eng, german, hebrew, japanese, thai, russian
>but :
-in Quiche mayan, mothers do not increase voice pitch/pitch range
-in walpiri & kaluli adults tend to not talk to their children until they talk
socio-economic difference in CDS? QUANTITY>
- the higher the SES, the more CDS
- mothers with university degrees talk twice as much as working-class mothers
- high SES mothers produce a greater variety of words & more complex syntax
socio-economic difference in CDS> QUALITY/interactional styles>
-high SES mothers tend to use lang to analyse, reflect & reason about situations & encourage their children to do the same (more complex lang & sentence types & use of emotion verbs)
-low SES mothers tend to use lang to direct & prohibit (more imperatives & utterances as relatively short)
Do differences in SES matter? (3+1)
yes>
- found correlations between amount of CDS & children’s vocabulary–>difference of 500 words in 3;0 from high & low SES
- children from high SES families tend to produce longer & more complex utterances
- developmental lang disorder is more common in low SES families
no>
- in deprived areas (low SES) teachers took on role of caregivers & boosted children’s development of syntax
SES, vocabulary & processing>study (just process)
- looked at how kids process words
- tested kids from high & low SES & ages 1;5 & 2;0
- had 2 objects (car & apple)
- asked to “look at apple”
- measured time took to look at correct obj
SES, vocabulary & processing>study (findings)
- significant disparities in vocab & lang evident at 18 months between infants from higher & lower SES families (80 word gap)
- by 24 months, was 6 month gap between SES groups in processing skills critical to lang development (150 word gap)
