We present a neural network model of referent identification in a visual world task. Inputs are visual representations of item pairs unfolding with sequences of phonemes identifying the target item. The model is trained to output the semantic representation of the target and to suppress the distractor. The training set uses a 200-word lexicon…

The Babysong Project arose out of the Baby Room Project and its aims included supporting baby room practitioners to develop 'communicative musicality' (Malloch & Trevarthen 2009), extending research knowledge about baby room practices and helping practitioners to explore opportunities to question and adapt their own ways of working with babies…

Psycholinguistics coined the term idiomorph to describe idiosyncratic invented word-like units that toddlers use to refer to familiar objects during their early language development (Haslett & Samter, 1997; Otto, 2008; Reich, 1986; Scovel, 2004; Werner & Kaplan, 1963). Idiomorphs act as "words" because their meanings and phonetic pronunciations…

Approximately 228,000 children from birth to age 3 are affected by a disability. Developmental challenges may include severe, chronic disabilities that can begin at birth and last a lifetime. Delayed speech and language are the most common types of developmental delays among infants and toddlers. Many of these children are at risk for later…

Electronic media--whether child-oriented videos and games or background television--is increasingly embedded in young children's lives, raising questions of its impact on children's language skills. New research presents a multitextured picture of how different types of e-media--depending on content, context, and a child's age--can help and hurt.…

As infant/toddler programs encounter growing diversity, they need to reenvision the impact they have on children and families in all areas of practice, from recruiting new enrollees to stocking classrooms to changing the ways adults interact with children and families with different languages and from different cultures. What happens on the first…

In their first few years, almost all children learn at least one language, though not equally well. Differences in the quantity, quality, sources, and variety of language inputs and conversation opportunities have a long-lasting effect. This article provides an overview of early language development and explains how talking with babies promotes…

Infants and toddlers encounter numerous spoken story experiences early in their lives: conversations, oral stories, and language games such as songs and rhymes. Many adults are even surprised to learn that children this young need these kinds of natural language experiences at all. Adults help very young children take a step along the path toward…

Parents and child care personnel in English-dominant parts of the world often express misgivings about raising children bilingually. Their concerns are based on the belief that dual language learning during the infant-toddler stage confuses children, delays their development, and perhaps even results in reduced language competence. In this…

The belief that a child has to abandon his home language to learn English implies that the young brain has limited learning capacity. Early childhood teachers need to help families understand that children can learn two languages at the same time. What matters is that the infant/toddler is in an effective language-learning environment, whether it…

Storytelling is perhaps the most powerful way that human beings organize experience. The practice is timeless and universal. Stories help everyone understand the world and make sense of their lives. Like adults, children use stories to process and reflect on their experiences. Recognizing and responding to the stories that infants and toddlers…

In our recent paper, "Semantic generality, input frequency and the acquisition of syntax" ("Journal of Child Language" 31, 61-99), we presented data from two-year-old children to examine the question of whether the semantic generality of verbs contributed to their ease and stage of acquisition over and above the effects of their typically high…

Most children between 18 and 24 months can say about 50 words and understand hundreds more. While children a few months younger use single words to label objects and people, the one- and two-word phrases children use at this age show the beginnings of what they call "stories"--children's expressions of their desires, descriptions of what they see,…

Offers suggestions for using talk time with toddlers in an early care setting to promote communicative interaction. Discusses how talk time was introduced and its usefulness in promoting language development, and identifying and helping delayed talkers. Describes talk time themes and strategies, including a caution not to use the time to correct…

Discusses the concept of "Velcro time": a period in infants' lives when they show an increased interest in books and in their primary caregiver, and particularly, in his or her use of speech. (BB)