A longitudinal investigation of the role of quantity and quality of child-directed speech in vocabulary development

By Meredith Rowe. Child Development, 2012

1,168 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Quantity and quality of caregiver input was examined longitudinally in a sample of 50 parent-child dyads to determine which aspects of input contribute most to children’s vocabulary skill across early development. Measures of input gleaned from parent-child interactions at child ages 18-, 30- and 42-months were examined in relation to children’s vocabulary skill on a standardized measure one year later (e.g., 30-, 42-, and 54 months). Results show that controlling for SES, input quantity, and children’s previous vocabulary skill, using a diverse and sophisticated vocabulary with toddlers and use of decontextualized language (e.g. narrative) with preschoolers explains additional variation in later vocabulary ability. The differential effects of various aspects of the communicative environment at several points in early vocabulary development are discussed.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8836e7327ef5d87f183611a9c5eacde8f2aeb85d

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In Developmental and Educational Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Child-Directed Speech Is Infrequent in a Forager-Farmer Population: A Time Allocation Study. (2019, positive): “…development even when controlling for SES (e.g., Hoff & Naigles, 2002; Rowe, 2008; Weisleder & Fernald, 2013; see also Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2015; Rowe, 2012; Rowe & Goldin-Meadow, 2009; Cartmill et al., 2013 for additional considerations; and Hodson, 2014; Baker-Henningham & L opez Boo, 2010…”
The Contribution of Early Communication Quality to Low-Income Children’s Language Success (2015, background): “…Bruner, 1983), as infants and caregivers “converse” using gaze, gestures, vocalizations, and facial expressions; it then becomes increasingly symbol-infused and decontextualized as children become increasingly sophisticated language users (Adamson, Bakeman, Deckner, & Nelson, 2014; Rowe, 2012).”
Talking Shape: Parental Language with Electronic versus Traditional Shape Sorters. (2015, positive): “Language quality was measured using rate of unique words because of the importance of varied language for children’s vocabulary development (Hart & Risley, 1995; Rowe, 2012).”
The Benefits of Reminiscing With Young Children (2016, background): “Rowe (2012) identified conversations about personal experiences in the past and future (narrative talk) as pervasive in children’s everyday lives and as especially important for preschool children’s complex language skills.”
Understanding the Program Effectiveness of Early Mathematics Interventions for Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Environments: A Meta-Analytic Review (2016, background): “Language researchers have been arguing and finding that it is not the quantity but the quality that matters (Rowe, 2012; Wasik & Hindman, in press).”
Twenty Years after “Meaningful Differences,” It's Time to Reframe the “Deficit” Debate about the Importance of Children's Early Language Experience (2015, background): “Several researchers have now studied larger samples of families from more diverse backgrounds, confirming disparities among children in their early language experience that are related to several different aspects of vocabulary and language growth [Hoff, 2003, 2013; Huttenlocher, Waterfall, Vasilyev”
Beyond the “30 Million Word Gap:” Children’s Conversational Exposure is Associated with Language-Related Brain Function (2018, background): “When SES is controlled, children’s language exposure remains strongly associated with variation in their language abilities (Rowe, 2012; Weisleder & Fernald, 2013), and differences in exposure partially or fully explain the SES-related gap in language skills (Hoff, 2006).”
Closing the 30 Million Word Gap: Next Steps in Designing Research to Inform Practice (2016, background): “about how adults can support children’s word learning (8), many effective techniques are not practiced widely.”