Changes in the Synchrony of Multimodal Communication in Early Language Development

Purpose The aim of this study is to analyze the changes in temporal synchrony between gesture and speech of multimodal communicative behaviors in the transition from babbling to two-word productions. Method Ten Spanish-speaking children were observed at 9, 12, 15, and 18 months of age in a semistructured play situation. We longitudinally analyzed the synchrony between gestures and vocal productions and between their prominent parts. We also explored the relationship between gestural–vocal synchrony and independent measures of language development. Results Results showed that multimodal communicative behaviors tend to be shorter with age, with an increasing overlap of its constituting elements. The same pattern is found when considering the synchrony between the prominent parts. The proportion of overlap between gestural and vocal elements at 15 months of age as well as the proportion of the stroke overlapped with vocalization appear to be related to lexical development 3 months later. Conclusions These results suggest that children produce gestures and vocalizations as coordinated elements of a single communication system before the transition to the two-word stage. This coordination is related to subsequent lexical development in this period. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6912242

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How arbitrary is language?

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2013.0299 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 369 (1651) ◽

pp. 20130299 ◽

Cited By ~ 83

Author(s):

Padraic Monaghan ◽

Richard C. Shillcock ◽

Morten H. Christiansen ◽

Simon Kirby

Keyword(s):

Language Acquisition ◽

Language Development ◽

Language Learning ◽

Large Scale ◽

Vocabulary Development ◽

Corpus Analysis ◽

Early Language ◽

Early Stages ◽

Early Language Development ◽

The Relationship

It is a long established convention that the relationship between sounds and meanings of words is essentially arbitrary—typically the sound of a word gives no hint of its meaning. However, there are numerous reported instances of systematic sound–meaning mappings in language, and this systematicity has been claimed to be important for early language development. In a large-scale corpus analysis of English, we show that sound–meaning mappings are more systematic than would be expected by chance. Furthermore, this systematicity is more pronounced for words involved in the early stages of language acquisition and reduces in later vocabulary development. We propose that the vocabulary is structured to enable systematicity in early language learning to promote language acquisition, while also incorporating arbitrariness for later language in order to facilitate communicative expressivity and efficiency.

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Gestural-vocal deixis and representational skills in early language development

Interaction Studies ◽

10.1075/is.6.2.05piz ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 223-252 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Elena Antinoro Pizzuto ◽

Micaela Capobianco ◽

Antonella Devescovi

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Temporal Relationship ◽

Primary Role ◽

Early Language ◽

Early Language Development ◽

Spontaneous Production ◽

Vocal Productions ◽

Representational Gestures

This study explores the use of deictic gestures, vocalizations and words compared to content-loaded, or representational gestures and words in children’s early one- and two-element utterances. We analyze the spontaneous production of four children, observed longitudinally from 10–12 to 24–25 months of age, focusing on the components of children’s utterances (deictic vs. representational), the information encoded, and the temporal relationship between gestures and vocalizations or words that were produced in combination. Results indicate that while the gestural and vocal modalities are meaningfully and temporally integrated form the earliest stages, deictic and representational elements are unevenly distributed in the gestural vs. the vocal modality, and in one vs. two-element utterances. The findings suggest that while gestural deixis plays a primary role in allowing children to define and articulate their vocal productions, representational skills appear to be markedly more constrained in the gestural as compared to the vocal modality.

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Referential style at thirteen months: why age-defined cross-sectional measures are inappropriate for the study of strategy differences in early language development

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000900010916 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 625-631 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Julian M. Pine ◽

Elena V. M. Lieven

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Significant Relationship ◽

Early Language ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Early Language Development ◽

Development Level ◽

The Relationship

ABSTRACTThis study examines the relationship between cross-sectional measures of referential style taken at 1;1 and measures based on the first 50 words in 12 first-born children. Since no significant relationship is found it is argued that age-defined cross-sectional measures are inappropriate for the study of strategy differences in early language development because they confound such differences with variation due to differences in development level.

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A longitudinal study of the relationship between early language development and play development

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000900011065 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 273-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Tamiko Ogura

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Study ◽

Language Development ◽

Single Word ◽

Early Language ◽

Japanese Children ◽

Rate Of Development ◽

Early Language Development ◽

The Relationship ◽

First Words ◽

Play Development

ABSTRACTTemporal correspondences between the attainment of specific milestones in play and language were examined through a longitudinal study of four Japanese children (aged 0;7 to 0;11 at the beginning of the study). There were developmental correspondences between the onset of six language landmarks (the emergence of first words, naming words, vocabulary spurts, word-chains, nonproductive two-word utterances, productive two-word utterances) and the onset of subcategories of play. Language and play both reflected the development of underlying symbolic ability, and both developed in a parallel manner at the single-word stage. After the emergence of word-chains, language and play developed interdependently. All the children proceeded through the same sequence of stages, but the rate of development was different depending on their environment.

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Lexicon–phonology relationships and dynamics of early language development – a commentary on Stoel-Gammon's ‘Relationships between lexical and phonological development in young children’

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000910000450 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 35-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

JAN EDWARDS ◽

BENJAMIN MUNSON ◽

MARY E. BECKMAN

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Language Development ◽

Future Research ◽

Phonological Development ◽

Early Language ◽

Phonological Representations ◽

Comprehensive Account ◽

Early Language Development ◽

Child Centered ◽

The Relationship

We applaud Stoel-Gammon's (this issue) call for a more comprehensive account of the relationship between lexicon and phonology, and we strongly endorse her suggestions for future research. However, we think that it will not be enough simply to integrate findings and methods from the adult-centered and child-centered literatures. Both of these literatures suggest that we need to rethink standard assumptions about what phonological representations are and how they emerge to support the very large vocabularies that speakers develop over the course of a lifetime. Our commentary focuses on three themes relevant to this reconceptualization.

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Overheard: Know Your Morphemes

ASHA Leader ◽

10.1044/leader.ov.18072013.16 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 18 (7) ◽

pp. 16-17

Author(s):

Julie Wolter

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Literacy Development ◽

Morphological Awareness ◽

Early Language ◽

Online Chat ◽

Early Language Development

Julie Wolter, an expert in early language development, recently led an online chat about the contribution of morphological awareness to semantic understanding and literacy development. Here's what the Leader overheard ...

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Variations in the Home Language Environment and Early Language Development in Rural China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18052671 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (5) ◽

pp. 2671

Author(s):

Yue Ma ◽

Laura Jonsson ◽

Tianli Feng ◽

Tyler Weisberg ◽

Teresa Shao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Child Language ◽

Language Skills ◽

Rural China ◽

Home Language ◽

Early Language ◽

Early Language Development ◽

Language Environment ◽

Conversational Turns ◽

Home Language Environment

The home language environment is critical to early language development and subsequent skills. However, few studies have quantitatively measured the home language environment in low-income, developing settings. This study explores variations in the home language environment and child language skills among households in poor rural villages in northwestern China. Audio recordings were collected for 38 children aged 20–28 months and analyzed using Language Environment Analysis (LENA) software; language skills were measured using the MacArthur–Bates Mandarin Communicative Developmental Inventories expressive vocabulary scale. The results revealed large variability in both child language skills and home language environment measures (adult words, conversational turns, and child vocalizations) with 5- to 6-fold differences between the highest and lowest scores. Despite variation, however, the average number of adult words and conversational turns were lower than found among urban Chinese children. Correlation analyses did not identify significant correlations between demographic characteristics and the home language environment. However, the results do indicate significant correlations between the home language environment and child language skills, with conversational turns showing the strongest correlation. The results point to a need for further research on language engagement and ways to increase parent–child interactions to improve early language development among young children in rural China.

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Bayonet-shaped language development in autism with regression: a retrospective study

Molecular Autism ◽

10.1186/s13229-021-00444-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

David Gagnon ◽

Abderrahim Zeribi ◽

Élise Douard ◽

Valérie Courchesne ◽

Borja Rodríguez-Herreros ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Linear Models ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Early Language ◽

Verbal Iq ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

Language Level ◽

Language Outcome ◽

Almost All ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Background Language delay is one of the major referral criteria for an autism evaluation. Once an autism spectrum diagnosis is established, the language prognosis is among the main parental concerns. Early language regression (ELR) is observed by 10–50% of parents but its relevance to late language level and socio-communicative ability is uncertain. This study aimed to establish the predictive value of ELR on the progression of language development and socio-communicative outcomes to guide clinicians in addressing parents’ concerns at the time of diagnosis. Methods We used socio-communicative, language, and cognitive data of 2,047 autism spectrum participants from the Simons Simplex Collection, aged 4–18 years (mean = 9 years; SD = 3.6). Cox proportional hazard and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the effect of ELR on language milestones and the probability of using complex and flexible language, as defined by the choice of ADOS module at enrollment. Linear models were then used to evaluate the relationship of ELR and non-verbal IQ with socio-communicative and language levels. Results ELR is associated with earlier language milestones but delayed attainment of fluent, complex, and flexible language. However, this language outcome can be expected for almost all autistic children without intellectual disability at 18 years of age. It is mostly influenced by non-verbal IQ, not ELR. The language and socio-communicative level of participants with flexible language, as measured by the Vineland and ADOS socio-communicative subscales, was not affected by ELR. Limitations This study is based on a relatively coarse measure of ultimate language level and relies on retrospective reporting of early language milestones and ELR. It does not prospectively document the age at which language catches up, the relationship between ELR and other behavioral areas of regression, nor the effects of intervention. Conclusions For autistic individuals with ELR and a normal level of non-verbal intelligence, language development follows a “bayonet shape” trajectory: early first words followed by regression, a plateau with limited progress, and then language catch up.

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