Directive interactions and early vocabulary development: the role of joint attentional focus
- 17 February 1991
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Child Language
- Vol. 18 (1), 41-49
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0305000900013283
Abstract
Maternal directiveness, assessed by the mother's use of prescriptives, is correlated with slow vocabulary development. As prescriptives are most often used to redirect a child's attention to a different object or activity, it is hypothesized that attentional regulation underlies this negative relationship. In the present study, twelve mothers were videotaped interacting with their children aged 1;1, and 100 maternal utterances were coded for pragmatic intent. Prescriptives were coded as either changing (LEADING) or FOLLOWING the child's focus of attention. Only the frequency of mothers' FOLLOW-prescriptives correlated significantly with a productive vocabulary measure taken at 1;10. This correlation was high and positive, indicating that, given joint focus, directing a 13-month-old's behaviour can have beneficial effects on subsequent vocabulary development.Keywords
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