Late Talkers: Types of Questions in Maternal Input

Toby Mehl, MS, CCC-SLP

PhD Candidate, Graduate Center, CUNY

Michelle MacRoy-Higgins, PhD Hunter College, CUNY

Valerie Shafer, PhD, Graduate Center, CUNY

Isabelle Barriere, PhD, Molloy College

Dissertation Committee

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between a toddler’s language, as measured by expressive vocabulary, and the child directed questions by the mother of the child. Maternal input to children who show expressive language delays, characterized as ‘late talkers’ (LT) was compared to the maternal input presented to two control groups: a typically developing age-matched group (TD-AM) and a typically developing vocabulary-matched group (TD-VM). Nine monolingual English-speaking mother-child dyads participated in the study; all dyads were part of a homogenous socioeconomic status group. Three dyads included LT toddlers, while three dyads included TD-AM toddlers and three other dyads included TD-VM toddlers.

An eight minute play interaction between each mother-child dyad was recorded for maternal input analysis. All questions asked by the mothers during the play interaction were analyzed, in order to determine if significant group differences existed in this social-pragmatic language measure of the maternal input. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in the overall number of questions posed by the mothers in the three groups during play. However, significant differences were noted in the number of ‘wh’ questions that were asked by the mothers of the LT to their toddlers when compared to the amount of ‘wh’ questions posed during play by the mothers of the TD-AM and TD-VM groups. This suggests that maternal ‘wh’ questions during play may elicit a richer language communication interaction between a mother and child.

References

Carson, C. P., Klee, T., Carson, D. K., & Hime, L. K. (2003). Phonological profiles of 2- year-olds with delayed language development. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology.

Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A., & Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18months. Developmental Science, 16(2), 234-248.

Fernald, A., & Marchman, V. A. (2012). Individual differences in lexical processing at 18

months predict vocabulary growth in typically developing and late-talking toddlers. Child Development, 83(1), 203-222.

Fernald, A., & Weisleder, A. (2015). Twenty Years after" Meaningful Differences," It's Time to Reframe the" Deficit" Debate about the Importance of Children's Early Language Experience. Human Development, 58(1), 1.

Girolametto, L., Weitzman, E., Wiigs, M., & Pearce, P. S. (1999). The relationship between maternal language measures and language development in toddlers with expressive vocabulary delays. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 8(4), 364-374.

Girolametto, L., Hoaken, L., Weitzman, E., & Lieshout, R. V. (2000). Patterns of adult- child linguistic interaction in integrated day care groups. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 31(2), 155-168.

Guralnick, M. J., & Paul-Brown, D. (1989). Peer-related communicative competence of preschool children: Developmental and adaptive characteristics. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 32(4), 930-943.

Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Paul H Brookes Publishing.

Hoff, E. (2003). The specificity of environmental influence: Socioeconomic status affects early vocabulary development via maternal speech. Child development, 74(5), 1368-1378.

Hoff-Ginsberg, E. (1991). Mother-child conversation in different social classes and communicative settings. Child Development, 62(4), 782-796.

Hoff, E., & Naigles, L. (2002). How children use input to acquire a lexicon. Child Development, 73(2), 418-433.

Hoff, E., & Tian, C. (2005). Socioeconomic status and cultural influences on language. Journal of Communication Disorders, 38(4), 271-278.

Irwin, J. R., Carter, A. S., & Briggs-Gowan, M. J. (2002). The social-emotional development of “late-talking” toddlers. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(11), 1324-1332.

Leech, K. A., Salo, V. C., Rowe, M. L., & Cabrera, N. J. (2013). Father input and child vocabulary development: The importance of wh-questions and clarification requests. In Seminars in Speech and Language, 34, (4), 249-259.

MacRoy-Higgins, M., & Kaufman, I. (2012). Pragmatic functions of toddlers who are late talkers. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 33(4), 242-244.

MacRoy-Higgins, M., & Kliment, S. (2017). Pragmatic Functions in Late Talkers: A 1- Year Follow-Up Study. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 38(2), 107-111.

MacRoy-Higgins, M., & Montemarano, E. A. (2016). Attention and word learning in toddlers who are late talkers. Journal of child language, 43(5), 1020-1037.

MacRoy-Higgins, M., Shafer, V. L., Fahey, K. J., & Kaden, E. R. (2016). Vocabulary of Toddlers Who Are Late Talkers. Journal of Early Intervention, 38(2), 118-129.

Masur, E. F., Flynn, V., & Eichorst, D. L. (2005). Maternal responsive and directive behaviours and utterances as predictors of children's lexical development. Journal of Child Language, 32(1), 63-91.

Paul, R. (1996). Clinical implications of the natural history of slow expressive language development. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 5(2), 5-21.

Paul, R. (1997). Understanding language delay: A response to van Kleeck, Gillam, and Davis. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 6(2), 40-49.

Paul, R., & Elwood, T. J. (1991). Maternal linguistic input to toddlers with slow expressive language development. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 34(5), 982-988. Paul, R., & Kellogg, L. (1997).

Temperament in late talkers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(7), 803-811. Paul, R., & Shiffer, M. E. (1991). Communicative initiations in normal and late-talking toddlers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 12(4), 419-431.

Rescorla L. (2009). Age 17 language and reading outcomes in late-talking toddlers: support for a dimensional perspective on language delay. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52, 16–30.

Rescorla, L. (2011). Late talkers: Do good predictors of outcome exist?. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 17(2), 141-150.

Rescorla, L., Dahlsgaard, K., & Roberts, J. (2000). Late-talking toddlers: MLU and IPSyn outcomes at 3; 0 and 4; 0. Journal of Child Language, 27(3), 643.

Rescorla, L., & Fechnay, T. (1996). Mother child synchrony and communicative reciprocity in late-talking toddlers. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 39(1), 200-208.

Rowe, M. L., Leech, K. A., & Cabrera, N. (2017). Going beyond input quantity: Wh- questions matter for toddlers' language and cognitive development. Cognitive Science, 41, 162-179.

Vigil, D. C., Hodges, J., & Klee, T. (2005). Quantity and quality of parental language input to late-talking toddlers during play. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 2