An Analysis of Child Caregivers' Language During Book Sharing With Toddler-Age Children

Abstract

Increasing enrollment in childcare centers has led to questions about the extent to which those environments foster child development in areas such as language. This study examined the language of childcare center caregivers during book sharing with children to describe caregivers' use of linguistic structures (declarative, imperative, and compound/ complex sentences; wh—, yes/no, and choice questions) that have been suggested to positively or negatively affect early language acquisition. Results revealed similarities and differences in caregivers' use of the structures. Additionally, each caregiver demonstrated a communicative “style” during book sharing across the children. Implications for the speech—language pathologist's role within childcare centers are discussed.