Maternal overall verbal responsiveness to prelinguistic infants at 0;10 was analysed
by categorizing responses according to their function. In addition, the predictive
validity of the response categories to the child’s communicative and
linguistic development at 1;0 was examined. The participants were 27
Finnish-speaking mothers and their first-born infants. The results indicated several
predictive relations between the functions of maternal verbal responses and child
communicative and linguistic development, while maternal overall verbal
responsiveness seemed to imply aspects of verbal style only modestly. Child
contributions that may account for relationships between maternal interaction and
child linguistic development were also considered. The results are discussed with
reference to maternal interactional sensitivity.
Ainsworth, M. D. S.
,
Blehar, M. C.
,
Waters, E.
&
Wall, S.
(1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the
strange situation.
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
2.
Akhtar, N.
,
Dunham, F.
&
Dunham, P. J.
(1991).
Directive interactions and early vocabulary development: The role of joint
attentional focus
. Journal of Child Language, 18,
41–49
.
3.
Baldwin, D. A.
(1995). Understanding the link between joint attention and
language. In
C. Moore
&
P. J. Dunham
(Eds), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp.
131–158).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
4.
Barrett, M.
,
Harris, M.
&
Chasin, J.
(1991).
Early lexical development and maternal speech: A comparison of
children’s initial and subsequent uses of words
. Journal of Child Language, 18,
21–40
.
5.
Bates, E.
(1976). Language and context: The acquisition of
pragmatics.
New York: Academic Press
.
6.
Baumwell, L.
,
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
&
Bornstein, M. H.
(1997).
Maternal verbal sensitivity and child language comprehension
. Infant Behavior and Development, 20,
247–258
.
7.
Bloom, L.
(1993). The transition from infancy to language: Acquiring
the power of expression.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
.
8.
Bloom, L.
&
Lahey, M.
(1978). Language development and language disorders.
New York: John Wiley & Sons
.
9.
Bornstein, M. H.
,
Tal, J.
,
Rahn, C.
,
Galperín, C. Z.
,
Pêcheux, M.-G.
,
Lamour, M.
,
Toda, S.
,
Azuma, H.
,
Ogino, M.
&
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
(1992).
Functional analysis of the contents of maternal speech to infants of 5 and
13 months in four cultures: Argentina, France, Japan, and the United States
. Developmental Psychology, 28,
593–603
.
10.
Bornstein, M. H.
&
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
(1989). Maternal responsiveness and cognitive development
in children. In
M. H. Bornstein
(Ed.), Maternal responsiveness: Characteristics and consequences
(pp. 49–61).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
.
11.
Bornstein, M. H.
&
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
(1997).
Maternal responsiveness and infant mental abilities: Specific predictive relations
. Infant Behavior and Development, 20,
283–296
.
12.
Bornstein, M. H.
,
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
&
Haynes, O. M.
(1999).
First words in the second year: Continuity, stability, and models of
concurrent and predictive correspondence in vocabulary and verbal
responsiveness across age and context
. Infant Behavior and Development, 22,
65–85
.
13.
Bruner, J.
(1983). Child’s talk: Learning to use
language.
New York: Norton
.
14.
Camaioni, L.
,
Castelli, M. C.
,
Longobardi, E.
&
Volterra, V.
(1991).
A parent report instrument for early language assessment
. First Language, 11,
345–359
.
15.
Clark, R.
(1985). The parent-child early relational assessment.
Instrument and manual.
University of Wisconsin Medical School, Department of Psychiatry
.
Madison, WI: Wisconsin University Press
.
16.
Della Corte, M.
,
Benedict, H.
&
Klein, D.
(1983).
The relationship of pragmatic dimensions of mothers’ speech to
the referential-expressive distinction
. Journal of Child Language, 10,
35–43
.
17.
D’Odorico, L.
,
Salerni, N.
,
Cassibba, R.
&
Jacob, V.
(1999).
Stability and change of maternal speech to Italian infants from 7 to 21
months of age: A longitudinal study of its influence on early stages of
language acquisition
. First Language, 19,
313–346
.
18.
Dunham, P. J.
&
Dunham, F.
(1995). Optimal social structures and adaptive infant
development. In
C. Moore
&
P. J. Dunham
(Eds), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp.
159–188).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
19.
Fenson, L.
,
Dale, P. S.
,
Reznick, J. S.
,
Bates, E.
,
Thal, D.
&
Pethick, S. J.
(1994).
Variability in early communicative development
. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development,
59 (5, Serial No. 242).
20.
Furrow, D.
,
Nelson, K.
&
Benedict, H.
(1979).
Mothers’ speech to children and syntactic development: Some
simple relationships
. Journal of Child Language, 6,
423–442
.
21.
Gleitman, L.
,
Newport, E.
&
Gleitman, H.
(1984).
The current status of the motherese hypothesis
. Journal of Child Language, 11,
43–79
.
22.
Hampson, J.
&
Nelson, K.
(1993).
The relation of maternal language to variation in rate and style of
language acquisition
. Journal of Child Language, 20,
313–342
.
23.
Iacono, T. A.
,
Chan, J. B.
&
Waring, R.
(1998).
Efficacy of a parent-implemented early language intervention based on
collaborative consultation
. International Journal of Language and Communication
Disorders, 33,
281–303
.
24.
Kloth, S.
,
Janssen, P.
,
Kraaimaat, F.
&
Brutten, G. J.
(1998).
Communicative styles of mothers interacting with their preschool-age
children: A factor analytic study
. Journal of Child Language, 25,
149–168
.
25.
Laakso, M.-L.
,
Poikkeus, A.-M.
,
Katajamäki, J.
&
Lyytinen, P.
(1999).
Early intentional communication as a predictor of language development in
young toddlers
. First Language, 19,
207–231
.
26.
Landry, S. H.
,
Smith, K. E.
,
Miller-Loncar, C. L.
&
Swank, P. R.
(1997).
Predicting cognitive-language and social growth curves from early maternal
behaviors in children at varying degrees of biological risk
. Developmental Psychology, 33,
1040–1053
.
27.
Lyytinen, P.
(1999). MCDI-testi: Varhaisen kommunikaation ja kielen
kehityksen arviointimenetelmä. [MCDI test: An assessment method for
early communicative and language development].
Jyväskylä,
Finland: University of
Jyväskylä and the Niilo Mäki Institute
.
28.
Masur, E. F.
(1982).
Mothers’ responses to infants’ object-related gestures:
Influences on lexical development
. Journal of Child Language, 9,
23–30
.
29.
Masur, E. F.
(1997).
Maternal labelling of novel and familiar objects: Implications for
children’s development of lexical constraints
. Journal of Child Language, 24,
427–439
.
30.
McDonald, L.
&
Pien, D.
(1982).
Mother conversational behaviour as a function of interactional intent
. Journal of Child Language, 9,
337–358
.
31.
Menyuk, P.
(1988). Language development: Knowledge and use.
New York: Harper Collins
.
32.
Menyuk, P.
,
Liebergotts, J.
&
Schultz, M.
(1995). Early language development in full-term and premature
infants.
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
33.
Murray, A. D.
,
Johnson, J.
&
Peters, J.
(1990).
Fine-tuning of utterance length to preverbal infants: Effects on later
language development
. Journal of Child Language, 17,
511–525
.
34.
Murray, A. D.
&
Yingling, J. L.
(2000).
Competence in language at 24 months: Relations with attachment security and
home stimulation
. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 161,
133–140
.
35.
Murray, L.
&
Trevarthen, C.
(1986).
The infant’s role in mother-infant conversations
. Journal of Child Language, 13,
15–29
.
36.
Nicely, P.
,
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
&
Bornstein, M. H.
(2000).
Mothers’ attuned responses to infant affect expressivity promote
earlier achievement of language milestones
. Infant Behavior and Development, 22,
557–558
.
37.
Olsen-Fulero, L.
(1982).
Style and stability in mother conversational behaviour: A study of
individual differences
. Journal of Child Language, 9,
543–564
.
38.
Pine, J. M.
(1992).
Maternal style at the early one-word stage: Re-evaluating the stereotype of
the directive mother
. First Language, 12,
169–186
.
39.
Reznick, J. S.
&
Goldfield, B. A.
(1992).
Rapid changes in lexical development in comprehension and production
. Developmental Psychology, 28,
406–412
.
40.
Reznick, J. S.
&
Goldsmith, L.
(1989).
A multiple form word production checklist for assessing early language
. Journal of Child Language, 16,
91–100
.
41.
Saxon, T.
(1997).
A longitudinal study of early mother-infant interaction and later language competence
. First Language, 17,
271–281
.
42.
Smolak, L.
(1987).
Child characteristics and maternal speech
. Journal of Child Language, 14,
481–492
.
43.
Snow, C. E.
(1977).
The development of conversation between mothers and babies
. Journal of Child Language, 4,
1–22
.
44.
Snow, C. E.
(1986). Conversations with children. In
P. Fletcher
&
M. Garman
(Eds), Language acquisition (2nd ed., pp.
69–89).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
.
45.
Statistical Yearbook of Finland 2001 (2001). Vol. 96.
Hämeenlinna, Finland: Karisto
.
46.
Stern, D. N.
(1985). Interpersonal world of the infant: A view from
psychoanalysis and developmental psychology.
New York: Basic Books
.
47.
Stevens, E.
,
Blake, J.
,
Vitale, G.
&
MacDonald, S.
(1998).
Mother-infant object involvement at 9 and 15 months: Relation to infant
cognition and early vocabulary
. First Language, 18,
203–222
.
48.
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
&
Bornstein, M. H.
(1989).
Habituation and maternal encouragement of attention in infancy as
predictors of toddler language, play, and representational competence
. Child Development, 60,
738–751
.
49.
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S.
,
Bornstein, M. H.
&
Baumwell, L.
(2001).
Maternal responsiveness and children’s achievement of language milestones
. Child Development, 72,
748–767
.
50.
Thal, D.
,
Tobias, S.
&
Morrison, D.
(1991).
Language and gesture in late talkers: A 1-year follow-up
. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 34,
604–612
.
51.
Tomasello, M.
(1995). Joint attention as social cognition. In
C. Moore
&
P. J. Dunham
(Eds), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp.
103–129).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
52.
Tomasello, M.
&
Farrar, J.
(1986).
Joint attention and early language
. Child Development, 57,
1454–1463
.
53.
Vygotsky, L. S.
(1934/1986). Thought and language.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
.
54.
Wetherby, A. M.
&
Prizant, B. M.
(1993). Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales. Manual
– Normed edition.
Chicago: Applied Symbolix
.
55.
Yoder, P. J.
&
Kaiser, A. P.
(1989).
Alternative explanations for the relationship between maternal verbal
interaction style and child language development
. Journal of Child Language, 16,
141–160
.
56.
Yoder, P. J.
&
Warren, S. F.
(2001).
Intentional communication elicits language-facilitating maternal responses
in dyads with children who have developmental disabilities
. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 106,
327–335
.
