Exploring the interactive and linguistic dimensions of parent input and their role in the development of children's simple sentences.

Research investigating how parent input influences child language outcomes has typically analyzed input from the perspective of only one dimension at a time. Rowe and Snow (2020) proposed an alternative framework for analyzing input from a multi-dimensional perspective, integrating the interactive, linguistic, and conceptual dimensions to better identify high-quality input for a defined developmental period. The purpose of this study was to identify how different features from the interactive and linguistic dimensions intersect in parent input at 21 months, and how those intersections relate to the production of diverse, childlike simple sentences at 30 months. Optimal input was defined as responsive and contextualized simple active declarative sentences. Twenty naturalistic parent-child observations at 21 months were coded for their linguistic and interactive features in parent input. In addition, child sentence diversity was calculated at 30 months. Results indicated that at 21 months, optimal input was rare, while responsive parent input that was not linguistically ideal, and parent input that was neither responsive nor linguistically ideal were relatively common. Partial correlations, controlling for the total number of parent utterances, were used to examine relations between parent input and child sentence diversity. Optimal input was not related to child sentence diversity at 30 months; however, parent input that was neither responsive nor declarative was negatively correlated with child sentence diversity. Future clinical research should continue to explore parent input from a multi-dimensional perspective to determine what is optimal or less helpful for clearly defined developmental periods.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Speech & Hearing Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2020

Author dc:creator

• Preza, Tracy

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hahn, Laura
• Hadley, Pamela A
• Channell, Marie

• language development
• parent input

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2020 Tracy Preza

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/108442

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/108442