Explain the significance of child-directed speech and the language development theories it supports and refutes
Explain the significance of child-directed speech and the language development theories it supports and refutes
Child-directed speech aims to attract and hold the baby’s attention, help the process of breaking down language into understandable chunks and make the conversation more predictable by keeping the conversation in the here and now and referring to things that the baby can see. Child-directed speech has a variety of features examples of these features are: higher pitch, repeated sentence frames, repletion of the adult’s own words, simple sentences, questions, commands, use of concrete nouns, use of expansions, use of recastings, frequent use of the child’s name and a large number of one word utterances. These are all used with the aim of keeping the child’s attention and assisting them in learning words through input and imitation.
Studies that have been done regarding child directed speech generally support the social interactionist theory which suggests that interaction helps children develop a grasp of not only the meanings of words but the also the practical realities of communication. This interaction is seen as vital for language development as without it they would not fully understand turn taking and pragmatics and as a result of this would not be able to hold a good conversation this is why child directed speech in the critical period of 18 months when they are picking up language is significant and essential. An example of a study that shows the significance of the child-directed speech in relation to language development is Clarke-Stewart in 1973, she found that children whose mothers speak to them more have a larger vocabulary. This supports social interactionist like Jerome Bruner who believed that input is vital in helping children acquire language Clarke-Stewarts research proves this because the children had a larger vocabulary if they had more input from their mothers.
A key thing to take from this study is not only the
Child-directed speech aims to attract and hold the baby’s attention, help the process of breaking down language into understandable chunks and make the conversation more predictable by keeping the conversation in the here and now and referring to things that the baby can see. Child-directed speech has a variety of features examples of these features are: higher pitch, repeated sentence frames, repletion of the adult’s own words, simple sentences, questions, commands, use of concrete nouns, use of expansions, use of recastings, frequent use of the child’s name and a large number of one word utterances. These are all used with the aim of keeping the child’s attention and assisting them in learning words through input and imitation.
Studies that have been done regarding child directed speech generally support the social interactionist theory which suggests that interaction helps children develop a grasp of not only the meanings of words but the also the practical realities of communication. This interaction is seen as vital for language development as without it they would not fully understand turn taking and pragmatics and as a result of this would not be able to hold a good conversation this is why child directed speech in the critical period of 18 months when they are picking up language is significant and essential. An example of a study that shows the significance of the child-directed speech in relation to language development is Clarke-Stewart in 1973, she found that children whose mothers speak to them more have a larger vocabulary. This supports social interactionist like Jerome Bruner who believed that input is vital in helping children acquire language Clarke-Stewarts research proves this because the children had a larger vocabulary if they had more input from their mothers.
A key thing to take from this study is not only the