Language input and acquisition in a Mayan village: how important is directed speech?

Abstract

Theories of language acquisition have highlighted the importance of adult speakers as active participants in children’s language learning. However, in many communities children are reported to be directly engaged by their caregivers only rarely (Lieven, 1994). This observation raises the possibility that these children learn language from observing, rather than participating in, communicative exchanges. In this paper, we quantify naturally occurring language input in one community where directed interaction with children has been reported to be rare (Yucatec Mayan). We compare this input to the input heard by children growing up in large families in the United States, and we consider how directed and overheard input relate to Mayan children’s later vocabulary. In Study 1, we demonstrate that 1-year-old Mayan children do indeed hear a smaller proportion of total input in directed speech than children from the US. In Study 2, we show that for Mayan (but not US) children, there are great increases in the proportion of directed input that children receive between 13 and 35 months. In Study 3, we explore the validity of using videotaped data in a Mayan village. In Study 4, we demonstrate that word types directed to Mayan children from adults at 24 months (but not word types overheard by children or word types directed from other children) predict later vocabulary. These findings suggest that adult talk directed to children is important for early word learning, even in communities where much of children’s early language input comes from overheard speech.

When Does Time Matter? Maternal Employment, Children’s Time With Parents, and Child Development

“…Engagement in activities that are not explicitly educational but that require high levels of verbal exchange and critical involvement from both parent and child may also improve child outcomes. For example, prior studies have demonstrated that frequency of exposure to adult speech that is specifically directed to children positively influences language growth in children as young as 18 months (Hurtado et al 2008; Shneidman and Goldin-Meadow 2012; Weisleder and Fernald 2013). Adult speech that is not specifically directed to children, however, has no effect on child outcomes.…”

Teaching: Natural or Cultural?

“…Other examples come from a growing body of research in WEIRD society that reveals parents "teaching" children skills that they can readily learn on their own and have always done so (Shneidman & Goldin-Meadow 2012). Prominent examples include: teaching children to speak (Clark, 2005); teaching them how to do make-believe (Vandermaas-Peeler Nelson, von der Heide, & Kelly, 2009); teaching them how play with peers (Schütze, Kreppner, & Paulsen, 1986;Waldfogel, 2006) and; teaching them how to play with toys.…”

The phonological forms and perceived functions of janyarrp, the Gurindji ‘baby talk’ register

“…On the other hand, adults do not exclusively use baby talk to children; they can also use adult forms within the same conversational exchange, and children also overhear speech to others (Shneidman and Goldin-Meadow, 2012;Van de Weijer, 2002). It is therefore possible that baby talk may highlight to children, whose speech is developing, the differences between adult and child forms of words.…”