Diversity matters: Parent input predicts toddler verb production

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The contribution of parent input to children's subsequent expressive verb diversity was explored in twenty typically developing toddlers with small verb lexicons. Child developmental factors and parent input measures (i.e. verb quantity, verb diversity, and verb-related structural cues) at age 1;9 were examined as potential predictors of children's verb production in spontaneous language samples at age 2;3. Parent verb input diversity, rather than input quantity, was the primary input factor contributing to children's subsequent verb diversity. Regression analysis showed that verb diversity in parent input at age 1;9 accounted for 30% of the variance in children's verb production six months later, with children's total vocabulary size at age 1;9 accounting for an additional 16% of the variance. These findings demonstrate the relative contributions of developmental and input factors to individual differences in toddlers' language development and establish the importance of input diversity to verb acquisition.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)63-86
Number of pages24
JournalJournal of Child Language
Volume44
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2017

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Psychology(all)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Diversity matters: Parent input predicts toddler verb production'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this