Abstract
Studies of adults' speech to children indicate that adults make a number of modifications in their speech when interacting with a young child and that some of these modifications may facilitate the child's language acquisition. Modified repetitions of the child's utterances, along with certain syntactic, semantic, and cognitive simplifications, appear to be potentially effective language-teaching devices. However, the special lexicon, phonological simplification, and higher pitch that also characterize this “baby-talk” style are much less likely to play important roles in the child's language learning. The child's role in affecting these modifications in adult speech is briefly discussed, and an optimal pattern of adult-child language interaction is suggested.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersen, E. S., and Johnson, C. E. (1973). Modifications in the speech of an eight-year old as a reflection of age of listener.Stanford Occasional Papers in Linguistics, No. 3.
Anglin, J. M. (1975). The child's first terms of reference. In Ehrlich, S., and Tulving, E. (eds.),La Memoire Sémantique, Bulletin de Psychologie, Paris.
Austerlitz, R. (1956). Gilyak nursery words.Word 12:260–279.
Bates, M. (1973). Mother's and father's speech to children. Unpublished manuscript, Boston University.
Berko Gleason, J. (1973). Code-switching in children's language. In Moore, T. E. (ed.),Cognitive Development and the Acquisition of Language, Academic Press, New York.
Berko Gleason, J. (1974). Talking to children: Some notes on feedback. Unpublished paper presented at the Conference on Input Language and Acquisition, Boston.
Bever, T. G. (1970). The cognitive bases for linguistic structures. In Hayes, J. R. (ed.),Cognition and the Development of Language, Wiley, New York.
Bever, T. G., Fodor, J. A., and Weksel, W. (1965). On the acquisition of syntax: A critique of “contextual generalization.”Psychol. Rev. 72:467–482.
Blank, M. (1975). Mastering the intangible through language.Dev. Psycholing. Commun. Disorders 263:44–58.
Blount, B. G. (1972). Parental speech and language: Some Luo and Samoan examples.Anthropol. Ling. 14:119–130.
Brown, R. (1973).A First Language, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Brown, R., and Bellugi, U. (1964). Three processes in the child's acquisition of syntax. In Lenneberg, E. H. (ed.),New Directions in the Study of Language, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Brown, R., and Hanlon, C. (1970). Derivational complexity and order of acquisition in child speech. In Hayes, J. R. (ed.),Cognition and the Development of Language, Wiley, New York.
Brown, R., Cazden, C., and Bellugi, U. (1969). The child's grammar from I to III. In Hill, J. P. (ed.),Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Brown, R. W. (1957). Linguistic determinism and the part of spech.J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol. 55:1–5.
Casagrande, J. B. (1948). Comanche baby talk.Int. J. Am. Ling. 14:11–14.
Cazden, C. (1965). Environmental assistance to the child's acquisition of grammar. Unpublished dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Cicourel, A. V., and Boese, R. J. (1972). Sign language acquisition and the teaching of deaf children. In Cazden, C., and Hymes, D. (eds.),Functions of Language in the Classroom, Teacher's College Press, New York.
Drach, K. M. (1969). The language of the parent: A pilot study.Working Paper No. 14, Language-Behavior Research Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.
Ervin Tripp, S. (1970). Discourse agreement: How children answer questions, in Hayes, J. R. (ed.),Cognition and the Development of Language, Wiley, New York.
Feldman, C. (1971). The effects of various types of adult responses in the syntactic acquisition of two to three year-olds. Unpublished paper, University of Chicago.
Ferguson, C. A. (1964). Baby talk in six languages.Am. Anthropol. 66:103–113.
Ferguson, C. A. (1974). Baby talk as simplified register. Paper presented at the Conference on Language Input and Acquisition, Boston.
Fraser, C., Bellugi, U., and Brown, R. (1963). Control of grammar in imitation, comprehension, and production.J. Verb. Learn. Verb. Behav. 2:121–135.
Gaer, E. P. (1969). Children's understanding and production of sentences.J. Verb. Learn. Verb. Behav. 8:289–294.
Gelman, R., and Shatz, M. (1974). Rule-governed variation in children's conversations. Unpublished paper presented at the Conference on Language Input and Acquisition, Boston.
Glanzer, P. D., and Dodd, D. H. (1975). Developmental changes in the language spoken to children. Unpublished paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver.
Gonzales, J. L. (1973). The effects of maternal stimulation on early language development of Mexican-American children.Diss. Abst. 33:(7-A)3436.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1972). Learning how to mean. In Lenneberg, E. H., and Lenneberg, E. (eds.),Foundations of Language Development: A Multidisciplinary Approach, Academic Press, New York.
Hayes, J. (1970).Cognition and the Development of Language, Wiley, New York.
Herriot, P. (1968). The comprehension of syntax.Child Dev. 39:273–282.
Jakobson, R. (1968).Child Language Aphasia and Phonological Universals, Mounton, The Hague.
Kagan, J. (1972). Do infants think?Sci. Am. 226:74–82.
Kelkar, A. (1964). Marathi baby talk.Word 20:40–54.
Klein, R. (1974). Word order: Dutch children and their mothers. Unpublished master's thesis, Institute for General Linguistics, University of Amsterdam.
Kobashigawa, B. (1969). Repetitions in a mother's speech to her child.Working Paper No. 14, Language-Behavior Research Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.
Lenneberg, E. H. (1962). Understanding language without ability to speak.J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol. 65:419–425.
Lord, C. (1975). Is talking to baby more than baby talk? A longitudinal study of the modification of linguistic input to young children. Unpublished paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver.
Maclay, H., and Osgood, C. (1959). Hesitation phenomena in spontaneous English speech.Word 15:19–44.
Maratsos, M. P. (1974). When is a high thing the big one?Dev. Psychol. 10:367–375.
Masur, E. F. (1975). Four-year olds' speech: Modifications to listeners' linguistic level. Unpublished paper presented at Harvard Graduate School of Education Colloquium.
McNeill, D. (1970).The Acquisition of Language: The Study of Developmental Psycholinguistics, Harper and Row, New York.
Miller, G. A. (1962). Some psychological studies of grammar.Am. Psychol. 17:748–762.
Moerk, E. (1972). Principles of interaction in language learning.Merrill-Palmer Quart. 18:229–257.
Nelson, K. (1973). Structures and strategies in learning to talk.Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. 38:(1–2)149.
Nelson, K. E. (1975). Facilitating syntax acquisition. Unpublished paper presented at Eastern Psychological Association convention, New York.
Nelson, E. E., Carskaddon, G., and Bonvillian, J. D. (1973). Syntax acquisition: Impact of experimental variation in adult verbal interaction with the child.Child Dev. 44:497–504.
Pfuderer, C. (1969). Some suggestions for a syntactic characterization of baby talk style.Working Paper No. 14, Language-Behavior Research Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.
Phillips, J. R. (1973). Syntax and vocabulary of mothers' speech to young children: Age and sex comparisons.Child Dev. 44:182–185.
Psotka, J. (1969). Computation rate and memory in comprehension and production. Unpublished manuscript, Harvard University (cited in McNeill, 1970).
Sachs, J., and Johnson, M. L. (1972). Language development in a hearing child of deaf parents. Unpublished paper presented at the International Symposium on First Language Acquisition, Florence, Italy.
Sachs, J., Brown, R., and Salerno, R. A. (1972). Adults' speech to children. Unpublished paper presented at the International Symposium on First Language Acquisition, Florence, Italy.
Shatz, M., and Gelman, R. (1973). The development of communicative skills.Monogr. Soc. Res. Child Dev. 1952:38(5).
Shipley, E. F., Smith, C. S., and Gleitman, L. R. (1969). A study in the acquisition of language: Free response to commands.Language 45:322–342.
Sinclair, H., and Bronckart, J. P. (1972). S.V.O. A linguistic universal? A study in developmental psycholinguistics.J. Exp. Child. Psychol. 14:329–348.
Slobin, D. I. (1968). Imitation and grammatical development in children, in Endler, N., Boulter, L., and Osser, H. (eds.),Contemporary Issues in Developmental Psychology, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.
Slobin, D. I. (1969). Questions of language development in cross-cultural perspective.Working Paper No. 14, Language-Behavior Research Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif.
Slobin, D. I., and Welsh, C. A. (1968). Elicited imitations as a research tool in developmental psycholinguistics.Working Paper No. 10. Language-Behavior Research Laboratory. Berkeley, Calif.
Snow, C. E. (1972). Mother's speech to children learning language.Child Dev. 43:549–565.
Snow, C. E. (1974). Mothers; speech research: An overview. Paper presented at the Conference on Language Input and Acquisition, Boston.
Strohner, H., and Nelson, K. E. (1974). The young child's development of sentence comprehension: Influence of event probability, nonverbal context, syntactic form, and strategies.Child Dev. 45:567–576.
Suppes, P., Léveille, M., and Smith, R. L. (1974). Developmental models of a child's French syntax.Technical Report No. 243, Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford, Calif.
Voegelin, C. F., and Robinett, F. M. (1954). “Mother language” in Hidatsa.Int. J. Am. Ling. 20:65–70.
Weeks, T. (1971). Speech registers in children.Child Dev. 42:1119–1131.
Weir, R. H. (1962).Language in the Crib, Mouton, The Hague.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DePaulo, B.M., Bonvillian, J.D. The effect on language development of the special characteristics of speech addressed to children. J Psycholinguist Res 7, 189–211 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067042
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067042