Previous studies show that infants store functional morphemes for inferring syntactic categories of adjacent words, and they generally perform better with nouns than with verbs. In this study, we tested whether toddlers can exploit phrasal groupings for syntactic categorization in the face of noisy co-occurrence patterns. Using a visual fixation…

Language skills are vital to children's learning and well-being, and the first 5 years of life are an especially critical time for language acquisition. Research suggests that when early childhood teachers create language-rich environments, children develop stronger receptive and expressive language abilities, especially children from low-income…

In learning language, children must discover how to interpret the linguistic significance of phonetic variation. On some accounts, receptive phonology is grounded in perceptual learning of phonetic categories from phonetic distributions drawn over the infant's sample of speech. On other accounts, receptive phonology is instead based on phonetic…

Studies on the acquisition of Spanish as a first language do not agree on the patterns and factors relevant for coda development. In order to shed light on the questions involved, a longitudinal study of coda development in Northern European Spanish was carried out to explore the relationship between accuracy, markedness and frequency. The study…

The study aims to account for the distribution of finite versus non-finite verbs during a developmental period when children use both types of verb forms in contexts requiring finiteness. To meet this goal, longitudinal samples from three Hebrew-acquiring children (aged 1;4-2;6) are examined from the onset of verb production and across the…

Purpose: This study tests the hypothesis that toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) will show differences from contrast groups in preferences for attending to speech. Method: This study examined auditory preferences in toddlers with ASD and matched groups of (a) typical age-mates, (b) age-mates with nonautistic developmental disabilities,…

Examines onset, atrophy, and possible interaction of a set of patterns in the speech of a child acquiring French and English. Examines how data bear on the question of whether the bilingual child has two distinct production phonologies from the earliest stage. Tests recent claims consonant harmony patterns. (Author/VWL)

Describes the various direct and indirect effects of HIV and AIDS on children's development and the implications for early intervention assessment. HIV and AIDS effects include disorganization during the neonatal period, failure to thrive, motor difficulties, cognitive dysfunction, expressive language behavior, attention problems, and…

Measures fathers' and mothers' linguistic involvement in the development of communication between young siblings--infants and toddlers. In a laboratory setting, 39 families, each with a mother, a father and two children, were videotaped in semistructured activities. Results suggest that fathers very actively direct sibling interactions, especially…

Examines the process of language acquisition as well as scientists' understanding of the intricate process of learning to talk. Specifically addresses: (1) foundations of language; (2) prenatal period; (3) first month after birth; and (4) conversation. Also discusses adult-child activities that stimulate language-learning. (SD)

Data from a transcript database of 12 children collected in 1-hour samples every month from 1;0 to 3;0 support the hypothesis that there should be strong differences in the frequency and types of errors between pronouns with suppletive nominatives and those without. The suppletive nominative forms "I" and "she" are blocked from overextension in a…

Analysis of the first 4 months of word combinations recorded for an Estonian-English learning child suggests that meaning-based generativity may play a role in this important transition in that mixed language utterances, sequence reversals, and errors revealing early attempts at analysis provide clear evidence that distributional learning alone…

This study investigated variables that might be associated with outcome differences in language development of 10 children (ages 10-20 months) with blindness or severe visual impairments, attending a developmental vision clinic in southern England. Subjects' early patterns of expressive language development were examined and related to observed…

This longitudinal pilot study, which extends Veneziano's (1987) work on phonetically and semantically contingent maternal response types, compared, microanalytically and globally, maternal response types and mother-child dyadic interactions of normally developing and Down syndrome children. Participants were three normally developing infants, five…

In this study, everyday mother-to-toddler speech patterns among disadvantaged and advantaged groups were examined in the home environment. The Schachter FIS-C (Functions of Interpersonal Speech of Caretakers) language measuring instrument was applied to mother speech in three sociolinguistic urban groups: black disadvantaged, black advantaged, and…