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Early lexical development and maternal speech: a comparison of children's initial and subsequent uses of words*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Martyn Barrett ,
Margaret Harris  and
Joan Chasin
Martyn Barrett*
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London
Margaret Harris
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London
Joan Chasin
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London
*
Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK.
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Abstract

In Harris, Barrett, Jones & Brookes (1988), we reported the results of a detailed analysis of the initial uses of the first 10 words which were produced by four children. The present paper reports the results of an analysis of the subsequent uses of these 40 words. This analysis reveals that seven qualitatively different patterns of change occurred between the children's initial and subsequent uses of these words; the particular patterns of change which occurred support Barrett's (1986) model of early lexical development. In addition, it was found that, although there was a strong relationship between maternal speech and the children's initial word uses, the relationship between maternal speech and the children's subsequent word uses was very much weaker. These findings indicate that the role of linguistic input in early lexical development may decline quite sharply once the child has established initial uses for words.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 21 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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Footnotes

*

This research was supported by grant number C00232136 from the Economic and Social Research Council to the first two authors.

References

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