Transitional phenomena in early language acquisition

Abstract

Two transitional phases in the child's early language development are described; the first occurs between prelinguistic vocalization and one-word speech and the second between one-word and patterned speech. Cognitive, linguistic and affective inputs to the acquisition of reference and syntax are discussed in the light of the transitional phenomena that were found. We claim that each major linguistic stage is preceded by a transitional phase which serves as a bridging device for the next major acquisition; that sound and meaning develop partly independently in language development; and that the child's earliest patterned speech is not organized in terms of knowledge of grammatical categories, but in terms of more fundamental coordinations of conceptual meanings with phonetic outputs. A theoretical framework is proposed which provides a more systematic treatment of transitional phenomena than has previously been provided. The framework allows for interpretations of transitional phenomena and of their relations to the milestone periods of early language development.

From one word to two words: repetition patterns on the way to structured speech

“…chaining as the temporal contiguity of simple repetition of one word and relating as an identity relation on the one hand, and as the relation between different words used to verbalize recurring intentions on the other; and (2) the importance of repetition as a psychological mechanism. Dore et al (1976) also proposed that early two-word combinations result from the co-ordination of previously acquired abilities which, in accord with the importance they attributed to the intonational contour, they proposed to be the coordination of 'conceptual relations with prosodic patterns ' (p. 26). We propose a different kind of co-ordination, i.e.…”

“…Bloom, 1970;Dore et al 1976;Dolitsky, 1983), these vocalic additions do not seem to modify the meaning of the words nor increase their communicative value. Their appearance reflects the child's incipient concern with formal aspects of utterances based on her noticing certain regularities, like the fact that content words are frequently preceded by something which, in adult French, is a determiner, an auxiliary or a pronoun.…”

Language and the career of similarity

“…15. These vocalizations have been called "phonetically consistent forms" (Dore, Franklin, Miller, & Ramer, 1976), "indexical signs" (Dore, 1986), "sensorimotor morphemes" (Carter, 1979), "protowords" (Halliday, 1975;Menn, 1976;Menyuk & Menn, 1979), and "quasiwords" (Stoel-Gammon & Cooper, 1984). 16.…”

Survey of language acquisition techniques provided by parents of talented and gifted children

“…In terms of effectiveness, parents ranked educational toys as the third most effective material and/or equipment (Table III and Figure 3). Games and other toys can serve as motivational material, but they should be used judiciously to ensure they have educational value and 50 not merely a busywork measure (Dore et al, 1975;Friedrich, 1983;Larrick, 1976;Ratner and Bruner, 1977;Unger, 1976;Van Hattum, 1982) • Data from this study suggest the parents selected games and other toys such as surprise boxes, picture games, and puppetry as indicated by their writt~n-in responses.…”

“…This vogue, started in New York City, is spreading across the country with many organizations providing educational play, commercial reading programs, educational toys, and workbooks for children (Brinley, 1983·;Dore, Franklin, Miller and Ramer, 1975;Friedrich, 1983;Larrick, 1976;Ratner and Bruner, 1977;Unger, 1976;Van Hattum, 1982).…”