Fine-tuning of utterance length to preverbal infants: effects on later language development

1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 511-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann D. Murray ◽  
Jeanne Johnson ◽  
Jo Peters
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Preverbal Infants ◽  
Fine Tune

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to determine (1) whether mothers simplify their speech during the second half of the first year of development when infants begin to comprehend words and use gestures to communicate intentionally, and (2) whether individual differences in mothers' speech adjustments influence their infants' later language acquisition. The subjects for the study were 14 mother-infant pairs from a medically low risk sample who were followed longitudinally. Mothers' mean length of utterance (MLU) was calculated from transcripts of face-to-face interaction when the infants were 0;3, 0;6, and 0;9 in age. Mothers who provided responsive and stimulating environments, as indicated by HOME scores, also reduced their MLU over the age range studied. Moreover, mothers' MLU adjustments during the first year were more predictive than the HOME scale in forecasting receptive language development at 1; 6. In contrast, expressive language abilities at 1; 6 were unrelated to the environmental variables measured but were predicted by child characteristics such as the infant's sex. These results suggest that a mother's ability to ‘fine-tune’ her early linguistic input may be predictive of her child's later receptive language functioning. Precursors of fine-tuning, such as maternal beliefs in reciprocity and infant object orientation, are discussed.

The Concurrent Validity of the Minnesota Child Development Inventory as a Measure of Young Children's Language Development

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bruce Tomblin ◽  
Cynthia M. Shonrock ◽  
James C. Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Child Development ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Language Measure ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Child Development Inventory ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance

The extent to which the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI), could be used to estimate levels of language development in 2-year-old children was examined. Fifty-seven children between 23 and 28 months were given the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development (SICD), and at the same time a parent completed the MCDI. In addition the mean length of utterance (MLU) was obtained for each child from a spontaneous speech sample. The MCDI Expressive Language scale was found to be a strong predictor of both the SICD Expressive scale and MLU. The MCDI Comprehension-Conceptual scale, presumably a receptive language measure, was moderately correlated with the SICD Receptive scale; however, it was also strongly correlated with the expressive measures. These results demonstrated that the Expressive Language scale of the MCDI was a valid predictor of expressive language for 2-year-old children. The MCDI Comprehension-Conceptual scale appeared to assess both receptive and expressive language, thus complicating its interpretation.

scholarly journals Relationship between mean length of utterance and vocabulary in children with typical language development

Revista CEFAC ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Letícia Arruda Nóro ◽  
Helena Bolli Mota
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Statistical Analysis System ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
Analysis System ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Age Range

ABSTRACT Purpose: to investigate the existence of a relationship between vocabulary and measures of mean length of utterance in children in their language development phase. Methods: the sample consisted of 72 children aged 2 to 4 years, 11 months and 29 days, 36 boys and 36 girls, with typical language development, evenly distributed into age groups, enrolled in kindergartens with the public school system, in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. Videos of the spontaneous speech of each subject were made, and then, the analysis of the vocabulary and Mean Length of Utterance took place. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Analysis System program, version 9.2 and Spearman correlation coefficient, with a significance level of p <0.05. Results: the influence of gender in the Mean Length of Utterance correlation and vocabulary was observed. There was a difference between the ages of 2 and 4 years. Conclusion: vocabulary development promotes mean length utterance, indicating positive correlation between gender and age range.

scholarly journals Beyond the Words: Comparing Interpersonal Engagement Between Maternal and Paternal Infant-Directed Speech Acts

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theano Kokkinaki ◽  
Vassilis G. S. Vasdekis
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Interpersonal Engagement ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Preverbal Infants ◽  
The Way

The present study investigates the way infants express their emotions in relation to parental feelings between maternal and paternal questions and direct requests. We therefore compared interpersonal engagement accompanying parental questions and direct requests between infant–mother and infant–father interactions. We video-recorded spontaneous communication between 11 infant–mother and 11 infant–father dyads—from the 2nd to the 6th month—in their home. The main results of this study are summarized as follows: (a) there are similarities in the way preverbal infants use their affections in spontaneous interactions with their mothers and fathers to express signs of sensitivity in sharing knowledge through questions and direct requests; and (b) the developmental trajectories of face-to-face emotional coordination in the course of parental questions descend in a similar way for both parents across the age range of this study. Regarding the developmental trajectories of emotional non-coordination, there is evidence of a linear trend in terms of age difference between the parents’ gender with fathers showing the steeper slope. The results are discussed in relation to the theory of intersubjectivity.

scholarly journals Language Skills of Young Children with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate following Infant Orthopedics: A Randomized Clinical Trial

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmy M. Konst ◽  
Toni Rietveld ◽  
Herman F. M. Peters ◽  
Anne Marie Kuijpers-Jagtman
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Infant Orthopedics

Objective To investigate the effects of infant orthopedics (IO) on the language skills of children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP). Design In a prospective randomized clinical trial (Dutchcleft), two groups of children with complete UCLP were followed up longitudinally: one group was treated with IO based on a modified Zurich approach in the first year of life (IO group); the other group did not receive this treatment (non-IO group). At the ages of 2, 2½, 3, and 6 years, language development was evaluated in 12 children (six IO and six non-IO). Receptive language skills were assessed using the Reynell test. Expressive language skills of the toddlers were evaluated by calculating mean length of utterance (MLU) and mean length of longest utterances (MLLU); in the 6-year-olds, the expressive language skills were measured using standardized Dutch language tests. Patients The participants had complete UCLP without soft tissue bands or other malformations. Results IO did not affect the receptive language skills. However, the expressive language measures MLU and MLLU were influenced by IO. At age 2½ and 3 years, the IO group produced longer utterances than the non-IO group. In the follow-up, the difference in expressive language between the two groups was no longer significant. Conclusions Children treated with IO during their first year of life produced longer sentences than non-IO children at the ages of 2½ and 3 years. At 6 years of age, both groups presented similar expressive language skills. Hence, IO treatment did not have long-lasting effects on language development.

scholarly journals Mean Length of Utterance in Cypriot Greek-speaking Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louiza Voniati
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Age Range

While research undertaken worldwide indicates that mean length of utterance (MLU) is a valuable index in investigations of child language development, to date there have been no studies exploring MLU in pre-primary Cypriot Greek (CYG)-speaking children. The participants in this study were 36 monolingual CYG-speaking children at ages 36, 40, 44 and 48 months, with a typical course of language development. The findings demonstrated that MLU counted in words (MLU-w) of typically developing CYG-speaking children had a positive correlation with age (from 36 to 48 months) and a non-significant difference in MLU-w by gender at each age point, and that typically developing CYG-speaking children, for the age range studied, tended to produce more multiword utterance types. An outcome of this study is an MLU-w database which could be used, with some caution, in the language assessment of a similar population or as the basis for future studies. Areas for further research are identified.

scholarly journals Developmental Variability and Developmental Cascades: Lessons From Motor and Language Development in Infancy

2021 ◽  
pp. 096372142199382
Author(s):  
Jana M. Iverson
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
First Year ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Language System ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Developing System ◽  
Lasting Change

The first year of life is punctuated by explosions of growth in motor and language abilities. This is not a coincidence. The notion of developmental cascades provides a conceptual framework for considering ways in which advances in one component of a developing system can exert far-reaching and lasting change in other domains. In this article, I review evidence for the cascading effects of early motor advances on the developing communication and language system and describe how differences in the timing of these advances may have consequences for these effects.

Identifying the Dimensionality of Oral Language Skills of Children With Typical Development in Preschool Through Fifth Grade

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (8) ◽  
pp. 2185-2198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Lonigan ◽  
Trelani F. Milburn
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Formal Schooling ◽  
Oral Language Skills ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Age Range ◽  
5Th Grade

Purpose Language is a multidimensional construct from prior to the beginning of formal schooling to near the end of elementary school. The primary goals of this study were to identify the dimensionality of language and to determine whether this dimensionality was consistent in children with typical language development from preschool through 5th grade. Method In a large sample of 1,895 children, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with 19–20 measures of language intended to represent 6 factors, including domains of vocabulary and syntax/grammar across modalities of expressive and receptive language, listening comprehension, and vocabulary depth. Results A 2-factor model with separate, highly correlated vocabulary and syntax factors provided the best fit to the data, and this model of language dimensionality was consistent from preschool through 5th grade. Conclusion This study found that there are fewer dimensions than are often suggested or represented by the myriad subtests in commonly used standardized tests of language. The identified 2-dimensional (vocabulary and syntax) model of language has significant implications for the conceptualization and measurement of the language skills of children in the age range from preschool to 5th grade, including the study of typical and atypical language development, the study of the developmental and educational influences of language, and classification and intervention in clinical practice. Supplemental Materials https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5154220

Within- and Cross-Language Relations Between Phonological Memory, Vocabulary, and Grammar in Bilingual Children

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Margaret Kehoe ◽  
Diane Poulin-Dubois ◽  
Margaret Friend
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Free Play ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Phonological Memory ◽  
Grammatical Skills ◽  
Information Number ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Age Range

Purpose This study investigated within-language and between-language associations between phonological memory, vocabulary, and grammar in French–English ( n = 43) and Spanish–English ( n = 25) bilingual children at 30, 36, and 48 months. It was predicted that phonological memory would display both within-language and between-language relations to language development and that these relations would be stronger at the youngest age. Method Bilingual children participated in free-play sessions in both of their languages at each age, from which vocabulary and grammatical information (number of different words and mean length of utterance) was extracted. Vocabulary information was also obtained from parent inventories completed when the children were 30 months and a standardized receptive vocabulary test administered at 36 and 48 months. The children were also administered nonword repetition tests in both of their languages at each age. Results Mixed logistic regression indicated that phonological memory was associated with vocabulary and grammar within the same language and phonological memory in the other language. In two of the four statistical models, phonological memory exhibited positive between-language relations, and in one model, it exhibited negative between-language relations to language development. Results also indicated that within-language and between-languages effects remained constant, or between-language associations decreased during the age range studied. Conclusion Overall, the findings provide some support for cross-language associations between phonological memory and lexical and grammatical skills.

Fine-Tuning Electronic Properties of Luminescent Pt(II) Complexes via Vertex-Differentiated Coordination of Sterically Invariant Carborane-Based Ligands

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent O. Kirlikovali ◽  
Jonathan C. Axtell ◽  
Kierstyn Anderson ◽  
Peter I. Djurovich ◽  
Arnold L. Rheingold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coordination Chemistry ◽  
Metal Complexes ◽  
Electronic Properties ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Fine Tune

We report the synthesis of two isomeric Pt(II) complexes ligated by doubly deprotonated 1,1′-bis(<i>o</i>-carborane) (<b>bc</b>). This work provides a potential route to fine-tune the electronic properties of luminescent metal complexes by virtue of vertex-differentiated coordination chemistry of carborane-based ligands.

scholarly journals The effect of age at time of cochlear implantation on the pragmatic development of the prelingual hearing impaired children

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Sameeh Khodeir ◽  
Dina Fouad El Sayed Moussa ◽  
Rasha Mohammed Shoeib
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Cochlear Implantation ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

Abstract Background Pragmatics is the social use of language that draws on understanding human interactions in specific contexts and requires engagement with a communicative partner or partners. The hearing-impaired children are known to have a pragmatic language delay as hearing impairment deprived of exposure to natural communication interactions, in addition to the language delay they have. Since the age of implantation has emerged as an important predictor of language, hearing, and speech in children who use cochlear implants (CI), question aroused about the benefits of early cochlear implantation on pragmatic language development in those children. Thus, this study aims to compare the pragmatic language development of the prelingual hearing impaired children who cochlear implanted before the age of 3 years and those who cochlear implanted after the age of 3 years. Results The two study groups showed no significant differences regard their scores in the Egyptian Arabic Pragmatic Language Test (EAPLT). The two studied groups had pragmatic language scores below their 5th percentile. Among the studied groups, the scores of the EAPLT were positively correlated to the age of the children, the children’s language abilities, and the duration of the received language rehabilitation, with no significant correlation to the age of implantation. Conclusions The age of implantation has no impact on pragmatic language development in children with CI. The prelingual children with CI are susceptible to delays in the pragmatic language development that is primarily related to the age of those children and their language abilities, besides their experience in social interactions. These results should be considered in their rehabilitative plan and advocate the importance of early incorporation of pragmatic behaviors into their intervention programs.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document