Examined the communicative behavior of 40 maltreated and nonmaltreated 31-month-old toddlers and their mothers. Results revealed that maltreated toddlers followed a pattern of shorter mean length of utterance, less descriptive speech, and proportionally less relevant speech. (RJC)

Investigates fricative perception in toddlers using repeated tests to control for factors relating to task difficulty and stimulus familiarity. Each subject was tested on a contrast the child produced distinctly in an imitation task and one the child produced as similar syllables. Final perception results were well matched to productive…

Using Scotton's model of codeswitching based on markedness theory, this paper examines a type of register variation known as "babytalk," defined as ambiguous talk of babies or young children and talk to babies or young children. It is argued that babytalk and the voice of authority are motivated by Chinese cultural assumptions about…

The claim that multiple-birth children use "twin language" was investigated by describing and comparing the phonological characteristics of the speech of 19 sets of multiple birth children (aged 2-4) and by measuring multiple-birth children's understanding of their twins' or triplets' context-free speech. Results indicated that multiple…

A blind child and her sighted twin sister were recorded at home once a month from 2;5 to 3;5, and their repetitions and routines were analyzed with respect to three dimensions. Results showed that the blind twin used routines and modified imitations and repetitions more frequently, and her use of modified repetitions increased during the study.…

Discusses a study of conversational dyadic interaction between children aged 1.5 to 3 years; their 4-, 5-, 7-, or 8-year-old siblings; and their mothers. Mothers were more supportive conversational partners and adapted their level of speech more than siblings. (GH)

The lexical variables of word frequency and neighborhood density were hypothesized to facilitate sound change to varying degrees. Twelve children with functional phonological delays participated in an alternating-treatments experiment to promote sound change. Results indicated word frequency was most facilitative in sound change, whereas dense…

Examines how young children describe reversals of action that restore objects to a prior, less-constrained, state. In both English and German, children first rely on the verb "open"; they then use their knowledge of particle pairs. Reentry into a prior state is underlined by uses of "back" and "wieder" and the…

Explores the possibility that the early predominance of infinitival forms in children acquiring Dutch as their first language is related to patterns in the language input. Analyzed a corpus of utterances addressed by two Dutch-speaking mothers to their 2- and 3-year-old sons. Root infinitive utterances amounted to 10%, and auxiliary-plus…

Intended for parents and others caring for young children, this viewer's guide and videotape leads adults along the path of child's language acquisition and demonstrates how to use a language-rich environment to communicate with infants, toddlers, and preschool children in ways to foster language development. The first half of the guide presents…

A group of studies on child language development between ages 2 and 3 is presented. The studies, originally published between 1970 and 1989, are the result of a longitudinal research program. An introductory section describes the contents, offers background information on several different perspectives (developmental, learnability, cross-cultural)…

This paper provides a brief outline of some of the constituents of speech, language, and universal stages of the development of talking in children up to the age of 2 1/2 years. Mention is made of theories put forward to account for universal aspects of speech and language development; recent research into the way adults talk to very small…

A study investigated whether children expect color similarity to be less important than form similarity in object label extensions. Twenty 2-year-olds and 20 3-year-olds were asked to sort objects similar in either color or form in two different situations: (1) the "No Label" condition where children were asked to help the puppet put objects that…

This study, which uses the organizational perspective, synthesizes major contributions to the examination of symbolic development in abused children. Focuses on the interrelationship between and the impact of maltreatment on children's cognitive, socioemotional, and linguistic development. (RWB)

Explores the ability of 5 children aged 1 month to 30 months to initiate and maintain topics of conversation. The data demonstrate that at the beginning of development children simply attract attention to themselves as the topic of conversation and that later, as their interests broaden, their topic repertoire expands. (Author/SED)