In a seminal study, Cameron-Faulkner et al. made two important observations about utterance-level constructions in English child-directed speech (CDS). First, they observed that canonical in/transitive sentences are surprisingly infrequent in child-direct speech (given that SVO word order is often thought to play a key role in the acquisition of…

Describes adjustments in speech patterns made by two- and three-year-olds when talking to their 14-month-old siblings and compares these changes with those made by mothers addressing their babies. Individual differences between the children indicate two types of influence on the adjustments made--pragmatic and emotional. (EKN)

A study was undertaken to separate elements of maternal speech heavily influenced by the children's language levels from those representing the mothers' consistent style or strategy for "teaching" language. A striking similarity was found between speech mothers used with their daughters and that used with their daughters' friends. (MSE)

A study was conducted to determine the relationship between maternal input to early language learners and language acquisition and to answer the following questions: (1) Does nursery language used with the child change after he begins to talk? (2) Is there reason to believe that the child's speech is influenced by or influences the mother's…

Study arose out of the need for a functional analysis of the language of young children which might lead to an understanding of how language and context interact to produce differentiated speech, and what interpersonal situations were most fruitful in eliciting good communication. (Authors/CB)

Any theory of language acquisition must take into account the actual speech heard by children during the acquisition period. When 8 well-educated mothers were tape-recorded talking to their daughters, ages 16 to 30 months, it was found that their speech differed significantly from that spoken to another adult. The mothers used a more restricted…

The system of deriving baby speech from adult speech is discussed. The theory is based on the system of consonantal replacements. (NCR)

There is justification for the study of black language to help improve language self-concepts in the black community and to assist in reducing the oppressions of black people. Research literature has generally centered on these approaches: (1) black language is an unsystematic, childlike linguistic system; (2) it is basically an extension of…

Words artificially isolated from 12 parents' speech to their children aged 1;10-3;0 were significantly less intelligible to adult listeners than words originally spoken to an adult. While parents did not adjust the clarity of words, their speech was more redundant in anticipation of the children's comprehension. Research implications are…

Examined the speech patterns of three- to eight-year-old children. Results showed that the children most often used "ah" phenomena and unfilled pauses as do adults. "Ah" phenomena showed a significant increase with age, especially between five and six among the females. (SRT)

Investigated the developmental processes that lead from a literal interpretation of idiomatic expressions to the ability to comprehend and produce them figuratively. Results showed that younger children are more literally oriented than older children, who in turn are more idiomatically oriented, and that children of both age groups found it more…

Investigators agree that mothers employ a variety of request forms and that children seem to be able to respond to these forms with a remarkable degree of accuracy. It is suggested that the speech of mothers to their children is filled with requests which are really not requests at all. It is shown that many of what appear to be adult requests to…

A study investigated the use of questions and directives by bilingual children of variable relative proficiency in Spanish and English. Patterns in the use of each question and directive type were examined in relation to language proficiency and context of use. Qualitative characteristics of the questions and directives were analyzed. The subjects…

Noting the close relationship among language, thought, culture, personality, and self awareness, anthropological linguistics acknowledges the powerful and real function language styles play in human life, the close attachment between the individual and his natural manner of speech, and the sensitivity that surrounds an individual's attachment to…

Discussions in speech and language pathology often contain references to language differences and the ways these differences compare with speech and language disorders. There is ongoing research on the regional varieties of English, and within the past decade, information on social and ethnic variation in language has been accumulating. Based on…