Abstract
Studies of children’s first language acquisition conducted during the past 2 decades have revealed the great complexity of this process, even though it takes place successfully and seemingly effortlessly in quite varied social environments. The proposition that linguistic input is important in nontrivial ways has come to be accepted, although its precise role during the acquisition process remains to be clarified. Finer-grained analyses have indicated the need to consider the role of language directed to the child during each of the phases of the acquisition process and in relation to each of the different aspects (phonemic, semantic, syntactic, pragmatic) constituting language. Moreover, language has come to be viewed within the broader framework of communication, which, in turn, has encouraged a more interactive approach to the study of the role of input in language acquisition. The assumptions that communication provides a framework for early language development and that an interactive approach is appropriate to the analysis of early language behaviors have guided our research on mother-child conversations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barnes, S., Gutfreund, M., Satterly, D., & Wells, G. (1983). Characteristics of adult speech which predict children’s language development. Journal of Child Language, 10, 65–84.
Bloom, L., Hood, L., & Lightbown, P. (1974). Imitation in language development: If, when, and why. Cognitive Psychology, 6, 380–420.
Bloom, L., Rocissano, L., & Hood, L. (1976). Adult-child discourse: Developmental interaction between information processing and linguistic knowledge. Cognitive Psychology, 8, 521–552.
Bohannon, III J.N., & Hirsh-Pasek K. (1984). Do children say as they are told? A new perspective on motherese. In L. Feagans, C. Garvey, & R. Golinkoff (Eds.), The origins and growth of communication (pp. 176–195). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Broome, S., & Uigiris, I.C. (in preparation). The role of imitation in mother-child conversations.
Brown, R. (1973). A first language. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Brown, R. (1977). Introduction. In C.E. Snow & C.A. Ferguson (Eds.), Talking to children (pp. 1–27). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, R., Cazden, C., & Bellugi-Klima, U. (1969). The child’s grammar from Ito III. In J.P. Hill (Ed.), Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 28–73). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Bruner, J.S. (1978). Learning how to do things with words. In J.S. Bruner & A. Garton (Eds.), Human growth and development (pp. 62–84). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Chapman, R.S. (1981). Mother-child interaction in the second year of life. In R.L. Schiefelbusch & D.D. Bricker (Eds.), Early language: Acquisition and intervention (pp. 201–250). Baltimore: University Park Press.
Clark, R. (1977). What’s the use of imitation? Journal of Child Language, 4, 341–358. Corrigan, R. (1980). Use of repetition to facilitate spontaneous language acquisition. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 9, 341–358.
Cross, T.G. (1977). Mothers’ speech adjustments: The contribution of selected child listener variables. In C.E. Snow & C.A. Ferguson (Eds.), Talking to children (pp. 151–188). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cross, T.G. (1978). Mothers’ speech and its association with rate of linguistic development in young children. In N. Waterson & C. Snow (Eds.), The development of communication (pp. 199–216). New York: Wiley.
Dale, P.S. (1980). Is early pragmatic development measurable? Journal of Child Language, 7, 1–12.
Dore, J. (1975). Holophrases, speech acts and language universals. Journal of Child Language, 2, 21–40.
Folger, J.P., & Chapman, R.S. (1978). A pragmatic analysis of spontaneous imitations. Journal of Child Language, 5,25–38.
Fraser, C., & Roberts, N. (1975). Mothers’ speech to children of four different ages. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 4, 9–16.
Furrow, D., Nelson, K., & Benedict, H. (1979). Mothers’ speech to children and syntactic development: Some simple relationships. Journal of Child Language, 6, 423–442.
Gleitman, L.R., Newport, E.L., & Gleitman, H. (1984). The current status of the motherese hypothesis. Journal of Child Language, 11, 43–79.
Harris, M., Jones, D., Brookes, S., & Grant, J. (1986). Relations between the non-verbal context of maternal speech and rate of language development. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4, 261–268.
Howe, C.J. (1980). Mother-child conversation and semantic development. In H. Giles, W.P. Robinson, & P.M. Smith (Eds.), Language: Some psychological perspectives (pp. 35–40). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Keenan, E.O. (1977). Making it last: Repetition in children’s discourse. In S. Ervin Tripp & C. Mitchell-Kernan (Eds.), Child Discourse (pp. 125–138). New York: Academic Press.
Killen, M., & Uzgiris, I.C. (1981). Imitation of actions with objects: The role of social meaning. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 138, 219–229.
Kuczaj II, S.A. (1982). Language play and language acquisition. In H.W. Reese (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 17, pp. 197–232). New York: Academic Press.
Kuczaj, II S.A. (1983). Crib speech and language play. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Lieven, E.V.M. (1978). Turn-taking and pragmatics: Two issues in early child language. In R.N. Campbell & P.T. Smith (Eds.), Recent advances in the psychology of language (pp. 215–236). New York: Plenum.
McDonald, L., & Pien, D. (1982). Mother conversational behaviour as a function of interactional intent. Journal of Child Language, 9, 337–358.
McTear, M.F. (1978). Repetition in child language: Imitation or creation? In R.N. Campbell & R.T. Smith (Eds.), Recent advances in the psychology of language (pp. 293–311). New York: Plenum.
Moerk, E.L. (1974). Changes in verbal child-mother interactions with increasing language skills of the child. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 3, 101–116.
Moerk, E.L. (1977). Processes and products of imitation: Additional evidence that imitation is progressive. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 6, 187–202.
Moerk, E.L., & Moerk, C. (1979). Quotations, imitations and generalizations. Factual and methodological analyses. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2, 43–72.
Nadel-Brulfert, J., & Baudonniere, P.M. (1982). The social function of reciprocal imitation in 2-year-old peers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 5, 95–109.
Nelson, K.E. (1977). Facilitating children’s syntax acquisition. Developmental Psychology, 13, 101–107.
Nelson, K.E. (1981). Toward a rare-event cognitive comparison theory of syntax acquisition. In P.S. Dale & D. Ingram (Eds.), Child language-An international perspective (pp. 229–240). Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.
Nelson, K.E., Baker, N.D., Denninger, M., Bonvillian, J.D., & Kaplan, B.J. (1985). Cookie versus do-it-again: Imitative-referential and personal-social-syntacticinitiating language styles in young children. Linguistics, 23, 433–454.
Nelson, K.E., Bonvillian, J.D., Denninger, M.S., Kaplan, B.J., & Baker, N.D. (1984). Maternal input adjustments and non-adjustments as related to children’s linguistic advances and to language acquisition theories. In A.D. Pellegrini & T.D. Yawkey (Eds.), The development of oral and written language in social contexts (pp. 31–56). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Nelson, K.E., Carskaddon, G., & Bonvillian, J.D. (1973). Syntax acquisition: Impact of experimental variation in adult verbal interaction with the child. Child Development, 44,497–504.
Newport, E.L., Gleitman, H., & Gleitman, L.R. (1977). Mother, I’d rather do it myself: Some effects and non-effects of maternal speech style. In C.E. Snow & C.A. Ferguson (Eds.), Talking to children (pp. 109–149). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pawlby, S.J. (1977). Imitative interaction. In H.R. Schaffer (Ed.), Studies in mother-infant interaction (pp. 203–224). New York: Academic Press.
Phillips, J.R. (1973). Syntax and vocabulary of mothers’ speech to young children: Age and sex comparisons. Child Development, 44, 182–185.
Ramer, A.L.H. (1976). The function of imitation in child language. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 19, 700–717.
Remick, H. (1976). Maternal speech to children during language acquisition. In W. von Raffler-Engel & Y. Lebrun (Eds.), Baby talk and infant speech (pp. 223–233). Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Rodgon, M.M., & Kurdek, L.A. (1977). Vocal and gestural imitation in 8-, 14-, and 20-month-old children. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 131, 115–123.
Schachter, F.F. (1979). Everyday mother talk to toddlers. New York: Academic Press.
Scollon, R. (1979). A real early stage: An unzippered condensation of a dissertation on child language. In E. Ochs & B. Schieffelin (Eds.), Developmental pragmatics (pp. 215–227). New York: Academic Press.
Seitz, S., & Stewart, C. (1975). Imitations and expansions: Some developmental aspects of mother-child communications. Developmental Psychology, 11, 763–768.
Slobin, D.I. (1968). Imitation and grammatical development in children. In N.S. Endler, L.R. Boulter, & H. Osser (Eds.), Contemporary issues in developmental psychology (pp. 437–443). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Smolak, L., & Weinraub, M. (1983). Maternal speech: Strategy or response? Journal of Child Language, 10, 369–380.
Snow, C.E. (1972). Mothers’ speech to children learning language. Child Development, 43,549–565.
Snow, C.E. (1977). Mothers’ speech research-From input to interaction. In C.E. Snow & C.A. Ferguson (Eds.), Talking to children (pp. 31–49). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Snow, C.E. (1981). The uses of imitation. Journal of Child Language, 8, 205–212. Snow, C.E. (1983). Saying it again: The role of expanded and deferred imitations in language acquisition. In K.E. Nelson (Ed.), Children’s language (Vol. 4, pp. 205–212). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Stella-Prorok, E.M. (1983). Mother-child language in the natural environment. In K.E. Nelson (Ed.), Children’s language (Vol. 4, pp. 187–230). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Stine, E.L., & Bohannon, III J.N. (1983). Imitations, interactions, and language acquisition. Journal of Child Language, 10, 589–603.
Uzgiris, I.C. (1981). Two functions of imitation during infancy. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 4, 1–12.
Uzgiris, I.C. (1984). Imitation in infancy: Its interpersonal aspects. In M. Perlmutter (Ed.), The Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology, Vol. 17: Parent-child interactions and parent-child relations in child development (pp. 1–32). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Užgiris, I.Č., Broome, S., Kruper, J.C. (1989). Imitation in Mother-Child Conversations: A Focus on the Mother. In: Speidel, G.E., Nelson, K.E. (eds) The Many Faces of Imitation in Language Learning. Springer Series in Language and Communication, vol 24. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1011-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1011-5_5
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6983-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1011-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive