Intentional communication may be related to later language development, in part, because intentional communication is a relatively clear communicative cue, which may elicit language-facilitating maternal responses. As a first step in testing this model, this study was conducted to determine whether the relationship between early intentional communication and later language is in part due to covariation with maternal responsivity. The participants were 58 children with developmental disabilities in the prelinguistic period of development and their mothers. Children's intentional prelinguistic communication, mothers' responses, and children's language were measured at entry into the study, 6 months later, and 12 months later, respectively. The results support the model that the relationship between intentional communication and later language was, in part, due to the covarying relationship with maternal responsivity. Implications for future research are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. (1992). Boston: New York.
2.
Barnes, S., Gutfreund, M., Satterly, D., & Wells, G. (1983). Characteristics of adult speech which predict children's language development. Journal of Child Language, 10, 65–84.
3.
Bates, E., Benigni, L., Bretherton, I., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V. (1979). The emergence of symbols: Cognition and communication in infancy. New York: Academic Press.
4.
Bates, E., O'Connell, B., & Shore, C. (1987). Language and communication in infancy. In J. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (pp. 149–203). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
5.
Bayley, N. (1969). Bayley Scales of Infant Development. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
6.
Bayley, N. (1993). Bayley Scales of Infant Development (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
7.
Beckwith, L., & Cohen, S. E. (1989). Maternal responsiveness with preterm infants and later competency. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Maternal responsiveness: characteristics and consequences. (pp. 75–87). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
8.
Bloom, L. (1993). The transition from infancy to language: Acquiring the power of expression. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
9.
Bornstein, M. H., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (1989). Maternal responsiveness and cognitive development. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Maternal responsiveness: Characteristics and consequences, (pp. 49–62). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
10.
Bruner, J. S. (1976). From communication to language: A psychological perspective. Cognition, 3, 155–187.
11.
Bruner, J. S. (1978). Berlyne memorial lecture: Acquiring the use of languages. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 32(4), 204–218.
12.
Cronbach, L. N., Gleser, G. C., Norda, H., & Rajaratnam, N. (1972). The dependability of behavioral measurements: Theory of generalizability for scores and profiles. New York: Wiley & Sons.
13.
Fenson, L., Dale, P. S., Reznick, S., Thal, D., Bates, E., Hartung, J. P., Pethnick, S., & Reilly, J. S. (1991). Technical manual for the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories.San Diego State University.
14.
Farrar, M. J. (1990). Discourse and the acquisition of grammatical morphemes. Journal of Child Language, 17, 607–624.
15.
Girolametto, L. (1988). Improving the social-conversational skills of developmentally delayed children: An intervention study. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 53, 156–167.
16.
Girolameto, L., Verbey, M., & Tannock, R. (1994). Improving joint engagement in parent-child interaction: An intervention study. Journal of Early Intervention, 18, 155–167.
17.
Golinkoff, R. M. (1981). The influence of Piagetian theory on the study of the development of communication. In I Sigel, D. Brodzinsky, & R. M. Golinkoff (eds.), New directions in Piagetian theory and practice (pp. 127–142). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
18.
Harding, C. G. (1983). Setting the stage for language acquisition: Communication development in the first year. In R. M. Golinkoff (Ed.), The transition from prelinguistic to linguistic communication (pp. 93–111). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
19.
Harris, S. (1994). The relation of maternal style to the language development of children with Down syndrome. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles.
20.
Kahn, J. (1984). Cognitive training and initial use of referential speech. Topics in Language Disorders, 6, 14–28.
21.
MacTurk, R. H., Meadow-Orlans, K. P., Sandord, L, & Spencer, P. E., (1993). Social support, motivation, language, and interaction. American Annuals of the Deaf, 138, 19–25.
22.
Masur, E. F. (1981). Mothers' responses to infants' object-related gestures: influences on lexical development. Journal of Child Language, 9, 23–30.
23.
McCathren, R., Warren, S. F., & Yoder, P. J. (1996). Prelinguistic predictors of later language development. In K. Cole, P. Dale, & D. Thal (eds.), Assessment of Communication and Language (pp. 57–77), Baltimore: Brookes.
24.
McCathren, R. B., & Yoder, P. J. (1994). Extrapolated Mental Development Index Scores for the Bayley (1993)Scales of Infant Development. Unpublished paper. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
25.
Messer, D. J., McCarthy, M. E., McQuiston, S., MacTurk, R. H., Yarrow, L., & Vietze, P. (1986). Relation between mastery behavior in infancy and competence in early childhood. Child Development, 22, 366–372.
26.
Mundy, P., Kasari, C., Sigman, M., & Ruskin, E., (1995). Nonverbal communication and early language acquisition in children with Down syndrome and in typically developing children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38, 157–167.
27.
Naglieri, J. A. (1981). Extrapolated developmental indices for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 85, 548–550.
28.
Nelson, K. E., Bonvillian, J. D., Denninger, M. M., Kaplan, B. J., & Baker, N. (1984). Maternal input adjustments and nonadjustments as related to children's linguistic advances and to language acquisition theories. In A. D. Pellegrini & T. D. Yawkey (eds.), The development of oral and written languages: Readings in developmental and applied linguistics (pp. 31–56). New York: Ablex.
29.
Ohr, P. & Fagen, J. W. (1994). Contingency learning in 9-month-old infants with Down syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 99, 74–84.
30.
Pedhazur, E. (1982). Multiple regression in behavioral research (2nd ed.), New York: CBS College Publishing.
31.
Reynell, J. K., & Gruber, C. P. (1990). Reynell Developmental Language Scales. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.
32.
Rice, M. L., & Kemper, S. (1984). Child language and cognition. Baltimore: University Park Press.
33.
Riksen-Walraven, J. M. (1978). Effects of caregiver behavior on habituation and self-efficacy in infants. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 1, 105–130.
34.
Scherer, N. J., & Olswang, L. B. (1989). Using structured discourse as a language intervention technique with autistic children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 54, 383–394.
35.
Smith, L. & von Tetzchner, S. (1986). Communicative, sensorimotor, and language skills of young children with Down syndrome. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 91, 57–66.
36.
Snow, C. E., Perlmann, R., & Nathan, D. C. (1987). Why routines are different. In K. Nelson & A. van Kleeck (eds.), Children's language (Vol. 6, pp. 281–296). Hillsdale: NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
37.
Stevens, G., & Cho, J. H. (1985). Socioeconomic indexes and the new 1980 census occupational classification scheme. Social Science Research, 14, 142–168.
38.
Uzgiris, I., & Hunt, J. (1975). Assessment in infancy. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
39.
van den Boom, D. C. (1994). The influence of temperament and mothering on attachment and exploration: An experimental manipulation of sensitive responsiveness among lower-class mothers with irritable infants. Child Development, 65, 1457–1477.
40.
Wetherby, A. M., & Prizant, B. (1993). Communication and symbolic behavior scales manual: Normed edition. Chicago, IL: Riverside.
41.
Wilcox, M. J. (1992). Enhancing initial communication skills in young children with developmental disabilities through partner programming. Seminars in Speech and Hearing, 13, 194–212.
42.
Wilcox, M. J., Shannon, M. S., & Bacon, C. K., (December, 1992). Longer term outcomes of prelinguistic intervention. Paper presented at the Division for Early Childhood Meeting, Washington, DC
43.
Yoder, P. J. (1985). Maternal attributions of communication in dyads with handicapped and nonhandicapped 11-month-olds. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.
44.
Yoder, P. J., & Munson, L. (1995). The social correlates of coordinated attention to adult and objects in mother-infant interaction. First Language, 15, 219–230.
45.
Yoder, P. J., Spruytenburg, H., Edwards, A., & Davies, B. (1995). Effect of verbal routine contexts and expansions on gains in the mean length of utterance in children with developmental delays. Language, Speech, Hearing Services in Schools, 26, 21–32.
46.
Yoder, P. J., & Warren, S. F. (1993). Can developmentally delayed children's language development be enhanced through prelinguistic intervention? In A. P. Kaiser & D. B. Gray (eds.), Enhancing children's communication: Research foundations for intervention, (pp. 35–62). Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
47.
Yoder, P. J., Warren, S. F., Kim, K., & Gazdag, G. (1994). Facilitating prelinguistic communication in very young children with developmental disabilities II: Systematic replication and extension. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 37, 841–851.
48.
Zill, N. & Schoenborn, C. A. (1990). Developmental, learning, and emotional problems: Health of our nation's children, United States, 1988. Advance Data, 190, 1–17.
