Children all over the world learn language, yet the contexts in which they do so vary substantially. This variation needs to be systematically quantified to build robust and generalizable theories of language acquisition. We compared communicative interactions between parents and their 2-year-old children (N = 99 families) during mealtime across…

Twenty preschool children and their mothers were observed interacting verbally in an unstructured situation. Close mutual adaptation of both partners was demonstrated. Correlational patterns allowed the abstraction of primitive and advanced clusters of language-teaching/learning behaviors. (JMB)

Compared the home environments and parent-child interaction patterns of 20 preschool language-delayed children, 20 normal preschoolers and 20 genetically handicapped children with Down's Syndrome. Data indicate that language delay had a stronger influence on mother-child relationship than did socioeconomic factors. (Author/SDH)