PHONETIC AND CONTEXTUAL ASPECTS OF THE TRANSITION TO EARLY WORDS (LEXICAL ACQUISITION, PRE-SPEECH, ROUTINES)

CHERYL KAYE MESSICK, Purdue University

Abstract

The present investigation examined phonetic and contextual aspects of the transition into early words within an experimental paradigm. Twelve normally developing infants (five males and seven females), ranging in age between 0;11.21 and 1;3.3 at the outset and 1;3.3 at the outset and 1;3.11 to 1;7.9 at conclusion of the study participated as subjects. All of the children were first-born and had two or fewer words in their expressive vocabularies. They were visited in their homes for three pre-experimental sessions. During these sessions developmental measures were completed, and spontaneous speech samples were audio- and video-recorded. The speech samples were transcribed and analyzed to determine which sounds were produced frequently (IN sounds) and infrequently (OUT sounds) for each subject. Subsequently, the children were seen in their homes for 12 experimental sessions, over a three to five month period. During each session, 12 nonsense words were presented six times each to refer to a set of 24 experimental toys. Six of the words were presented within a restricted context (RC) in which only one referent was labeled per word. These presentations simulated routines that frequently occur in mother-child interactions. The other six words were presented in reference to three objects each within a more flexible context (FC) of varied sentence frames. There were six IN and six OUT words for each of the RC and FC conditions. For each word an un-named referent was also presented to measure generalization. Comprehension probes were completed for six words per session. Analyses of the children's responses to the comprehension probes revealed that phonological composition of the experimental words had no effect on comprehension. Likewise, contextual variation did not affect comprehension. Analyses of the children's spontaneous productions of the words revealed that more IN words were produced than OUT words. They were also acquired more quickly and used more often. The context of presentation had a significant effect on extension of words to un-named referents. The restricted context presentations facilitated lexical generalization.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Developmental psychology

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