ERIC Number: EJ1477608
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1092-4388
EISSN: EISSN-1558-9102
Available Date: 0000-00-00
The Impact of Word-Touch Synchrony on Early Language Development: Preliminary Findings from Korean Mother-Child Interactions
Jongmin Jung; Eon-Suk Ko
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, v68 n7 p3337-3347 2025
Purpose: This study evaluates the impact of temporal synchrony between maternal touch and speech on children's early language development. It investigates whether the proportion of word-touch co-occurrence, overlap, and alignment precision in maternal input influences language acquisition, hypothesizing that such synchrony boosts infants' attention and aids speech segmentation. Method: We analyzed video recordings of 21 infants aged 6-16 months (M[subscript age] = 10 months 21 days, SD = 3 months 1 day), focusing on 6 min of interaction data per mother-infant pair. This age range marks a stage of development where infants are in the process of learning to segment words and associate them with meanings, highlighting their potential to benefit from redundant multimodal cues. The analysis included frequency of word-touch co-occurrence, extent of overlap, and precision of alignment. Infants' language skills were assessed using the Sequenced Language Scale for Infants (Kim, 2002), a standardized parent-report scale designed to evaluate language development in Korean infants. Results: Multivariable linear regression analyses indicated that higher proportions of word-touch co-occurrence and overlap, along with more precise alignment, positively correlated with infants' receptive language scores but did not significantly affect expressive language outcomes. Conclusion: The findings underscore the significant role of temporal synchrony between maternal touch and speech in enhancing infants' receptive language skills.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Mothers, Parent Child Relationship, Interaction, Stimuli, Infants, Incidence, Language Skills, Language Acquisition, Correlation, Receptive Language, Expressive Language
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Korea
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A