Combining observational and experimental approaches to the development of language and communication in rural samples: Opportunities and challenges

Cristià, Alejandrina; Foushee, Ruthe; Aravena-Bravo, Paulina; Cychosz, Margaret; Scaff, Camila; Casillas, Marisa

doi:10.31234/osf.io/u59xb

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 31 publications

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“…76, 77). § Our study joins recent and ongoing efforts to characterize the scope of diversity in language environments and potential language learning mechanisms (33,43,(77)(78)(79)(80)(81)(82)(83). Because most prior work has been conducted in contexts where child-directed language is common, it is perhaps unsurprising that this work has focused on how and what children learn from child-directed language, and has highlighted such language as critical to learning.…”

Section: R a F Tmentioning

confidence: 85%

Infants who are rarely spoken to nevertheless understand many words

Foushee¹,

Srinivasan²

2023

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Theories of language development---informed largely by studies of Western, middle-class infants---have highlighted the language that caregivers direct to children as a key driver of language learning. However, some have argued that language development unfolds similarly across environmental contexts, including those in which child-directed language is scarce. This raises the possibility that children adapt their learning strategies to the language available in their environments, such that some children come to rely on speech that they overhear. We explore this hypothesis with infants in an indigenous Tseltal-speaking community in Southern Mexico, who are rarely spoken to, yet overhear a great deal of other-directed language by virtue of being carried on their mothers' backs. Adapting a previously-established gaze-tracking method for detecting early word knowledge to our field setting, we find that, like Western infants, Tseltal infants exhibit implicit knowledge of high-frequency nouns (Exp. 1). Moreover, they exhibit comprehension of Tseltal honorific terms used to greet adults in the community (Exp. 2). Notably, these honorific terms represent language that could only have been acquired through overhearing, and infants' task performance demonstrates an ability to discriminate highly similar stimuli at an earlier age than has been shown among Western children. Together, these results suggest that for some infants, learning from overhearing may be an important path toward developing language.

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Section: R a F Tmentioning

confidence: 85%

Infants who are rarely spoken to nevertheless understand many words

Foushee¹,

Srinivasan²

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Combining observational and experimental approaches to the development of language and communication in rural samples: Opportunities and challenges

et al. 2023

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Multiple approaches – including observational and experimental – are necessary to articulate powerful theories of learning. Our field’s key questions, which rely on these varied methods, are still open. How do children perceive and produce language? What do they encounter in their linguistic input? What does the learner bring to the task of acquisition? Considerable progress has been made for the development of spoken English (especially by North American learners). Yet there is still a great deal to discover about how children in other populations proceed, especially populations in rural settings. To examine language learning in these populations, we need a multi-method approach. However, adapting and integrating methods, particularly experimental ones, to new settings can present immense challenges. In this paper, we discuss the opportunities and challenges facing researchers who aim to use a multimethodological approach in rural samples, and what the field of language acquisition can do to promote such work.

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Diversifying language acquisition research can be (partly) achieved in urban societies and with simplified methodologies: Insights from multilingual Ghana

et al. 2023

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There is a large consensus (e.g., Cristia, Foushee, Aravena-Bravo, Cychosz, Scaff & Casillas, 2022; Kidd & Garcia, 2022) that diversification in language acquisition research is needed. Cristia et al. (2022) convincingly argue for studying language acquisition in rural populations and recommend combining observational and experimental approaches in doing so. In this commentary, we identify that diversification efforts must also include children growing up in non-western urban societies and that combining experiments with more easy-to-obtain data on language exposure can be a solid method to start with.

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Combining observational and experimental approaches to the development of language and communication in rural samples: Opportunities and challenges

Cited by 3 publications

References 31 publications

Infants who are rarely spoken to nevertheless understand many words

Infants who are rarely spoken to nevertheless understand many words

Combining observational and experimental approaches to the development of language and communication in rural samples: Opportunities and challenges

Diversifying language acquisition research can be (partly) achieved in urban societies and with simplified methodologies: Insights from multilingual Ghana

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