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The development of conversation between mothers and babies*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Catherine E. Snow
Catherine E. Snow
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam
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Abstract

The speech of two mothers to their infants at several points between three and eighteen months of age was analysed. Simplicity of the speech, as measured by MLU, was about the same at all ages, and none of the other features of the mothers' speech style showed any abrupt change at the time the children started to talk. The changes that did occur started much earlier, at about seven months. These findings are incompatible with the explanation that mothers speak simply and redundantly in response to cues of attention and comprehension from the child listener. It is suggested that the mothers interacted with their infants using a conversational model, and that the changes in the mothers' speech reflect their children's growing ability to function as conversational partners.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , February 1977 , pp. 1 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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Footnotes

*

The work of Bob Phillips in collecting the videotapes analysed and his generosity with those tapes are gratefully acknowledged. Discussions with all the members of the Medical Psychology Unit, University of Cambridge have contributed greatly to the ideas expressed in this paper. Author's address: Institute for General Linguistics, University of Amsterdam, Spui 21, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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