Linguistic input and early word meaning

Four mother–child dyads were videotaped in a longitudinal study of the relationship between linguistic input to children and early lexical development. Diary records were also kept by the mothers and, together with the videorecordings, were used to identify the contexts in which the children produce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child language 1988-02, Vol.15 (1), p.77-94
Main Authors: Harris, Margaret, Barrett, Martyn, Jones, David, Brookes, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Child development
Child Language
Communication disorders
Developmental psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Infant
Language Development
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mother-Child Relations
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Semantics
Verbal Learning
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Summary:Four mother–child dyads were videotaped in a longitudinal study of the relationship between linguistic input to children and early lexical development. Diary records were also kept by the mothers and, together with the videorecordings, were used to identify the contexts in which the children produced their first words. These were compared with the contexts in which the mothers used these same words. It was found that there was a strong relationship between the children's initial use of words and the most frequently occurring use of these words by the mothers. It was also found that although the majority of the children's first words were context-bound, a significant number were referential. The implications of these findings for current theoretical proposals concerning early lexical development are discussed.
ISSN:0305-0009
1469-7602
DOI:10.1017/S030500090001206X