In this paper, I address the question of how interactions with deaf youth and their hearing interlocutors are able to unfold in economical and fluid ways despite the existence of sensory and communicative asymmetries. Bringing together ethnographic insights from two years of fieldwork in Iquitos, Peru with the microanalysis of moments of situated…

Maternal responsive and directive speech to children at ages 0;10 and 2;0 was investigated by applying a procedure frst introduced by Flynn and Masur (2007) to a new language community (Finnish). The issues examined were consistency and stability over time, and also the role of responsiveness and directiveness in child linguistic development at…

Recent re-conceptualisation of paternal involvement (Pleck, J. H. (2010). Paternal involvement: Revised conceptualization and theoretical linkages with child outcomes. In M. Lamb (Ed.), "The role of the father in child development" (5th ed., pp. 67-107). London: Wiley), while proving fruitful, has yet to be applied to investigations into…

Family environment plays a very important role in early child development and the availability of stimulating material in the early years of a child's life is crucial for optimising development. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory is one of the most widely used measures to assess the quality and quantity of…

An attempt was made in the present study to identify mothers' and caregivers' teaching (mediation) behaviour in relation to toddlers' social behaviour. Participants were 103 toddlers, two- to four-year olds, their mothers, and 28 caregivers at 16 public daycare centres in Israel. Two observations were carried out, one in toddlers' homes and the…

This article describes the application of the Diagnostic Intervention Model and its effects in two case studies of 3-year-old boys, Rolf and Ruud, using individual interaction coaching with their mothers. Positive effects were found for all the target categories in both cases, although an interaction that used materials appeared to be more…

The study examined inadequate behaviors of Japanese mothers with their stuttering children. Video tape recordings of playing situations of five stuttering children (ages 3-5) and their mothers and five non-stuttering children and their mothers were evaluated using two rating check lists. Results found differences in the behaviors of the two groups…

Examines difficulties associated with the use of conversational features in the analysis of mother-infant vocalization episodes. Observations of six mother-infant dyads revealed difficulties involving (1) pooling of data; (2) the unit of analysis; and (3) selection of appropriate "expected" values for dyadic parameters used in tests of…

Presents an analysis of the control techniques adopted by the mothers of 15- and 24-month-old children during an eight-minute laboratory play situation. Mothers were requested to take an active role in the interaction by ensuring that the child played with the full range of toys available. (JMB)

Analysis of transcripts of interviews with 16 Taiwanese mothers of babies with Down syndrome identified two themes. The first theme highlights ways in which mothers talked about the abilities and limitations of their babies; the second describes what appear to be two distinct frames of reference (pessimistic and optimistic) with respect to having…

This study explored interactions between six hearing mother-deaf child dyads in Zimbabwe before and after an intervention program based on the mediational interaction for sensitizing caregivers system. Pre- and post- intervention frequencies of mediational interactions showed increases for five categories of interaction. Qualitative analyses…

This longitudinal study looked at how communication developed in seven deaf infants (ages 6-18 months) with either deaf or hearing parents. The children were video- recorded in interactional settings with their parents in their home every second month. A parallel study was conducted with seven blind infants and three severely visually impaired…

Investigates the relationship between maturity of moral judgement and perception of maternal and peer attitudes in Brazilian sixth- and seventh-grade boys. (CM)

Evaluates a comprehensive intervention program for deaf children under age three in Vancouver, British Columbia. Twelve subjects were compared with a matched sample of children undergoing less-systematic intervention. Results indicated more developmentally mature communication and higher quality interaction in families who had received…