Adult Verbal Responses Facilitating Child Vocalizations

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether adults in the vicinity of children respond differently to various child vocalization types within three-event sequences of “child vocalization-adult verbal response-child vocalization” occurring in everyday life. Additionally, this study examined the types of adult verbal responses that facilitate child vocalizations within the series of three-event sequential interactions between children and adults. Methods: Data was collected using the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) from 30 children aged 12 to 18 months and their families. Three-event sequences of interactions between children and adults were selected from twenty 5-minute recorded segments with the highest conversational turn counts. Child vocalizations before and after adult verbal responses were broadly classified into canonical babblings and non-canonical babblings, and then coded into subcategories for each babbling type. Adult verbal responses were classified into different pragmatic types. Results: Adults responded differently depending on children’s non-canonical and canonical babblings. Among pragmatic types of adult verbal responses, imitation, recast, and expansion were prominently observed following canonical babblings with more than two syllables. Adult verbal responses such as acknowledgment and recast facilitated children in producing more advanced vocalization forms. Conclusion: This study supports bi-directional relationships in interactions between children and adults and provides insights into which child-adult vocal exchanges facilitate child vocalizations and early speech-language development.