Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:28:00.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Facilitation of early syntax through discourse structure*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Richard G. Schwartz
Affiliation:
Purdue University
Kathy Chapman
Affiliation:
Purdue University
Patricia A. Prelock
Affiliation:
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Brenda Y. Terrell
Affiliation:
Case Western Reserve University
Lynne E. Rowan
Affiliation:
Ithaca College

Abstract

The effect of an adult–child discourse structure on children's production of word combinations was examined. Seventeen children at the singleword utterance level (1; 5–2; 1) served as subjects. An experimental group of six children were engaged in vertical structures over 10 sessions, while the remaining children served as a control group. Pre-tests and post-tests revealed a significant difference in the number of spontaneous and elicited multiword productions for the experimental group, but no difference for the control group.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Amnon, P. & Amnon, M. (1971). Effects of training black preschool children in vocabulary vs. sentence construction. JEdPsychol 33. 421–6.Google Scholar
Barnes, S., Gutfreund, M., Satterly, D. & Wells, G. (1983). Characteristics of adult speech which predict children's language development. JChLang 10. 6584.Google ScholarPubMed
Bloom, L. (1973). One word at a time. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Branigan, G. (1979). Some reasons why successive single word utterances are not. JChLang 6. 411–21:Google Scholar
Cazden, C. (1965). Environmental assistance to the child's acquisition of grammar. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Feldman, C. (1971). The effects of various types of adult responses in the syntactic acquisition of two- to three-year-olds. Unpublished paper, University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Irwin, J., Ward, M., Greis, A., Deen, C., Cooley, V. & Auvenshire, A. (1974). The Lexington developmental scale. Lexington, Kentucky: United Cerebral Palsy of the Bluegrass, 1974.Google Scholar
Leonard, L., Schwartz, R., Chapman, K., Rowan, L., Terrell, B., Prelock, P., Weiss, A. & Messick, C. (1982). Early lexical acquisition in children with specific language impairment. JSHR 25. 554–64.Google ScholarPubMed
Nelson, K. E. (1977). Facilitating children's syntax acquisition. DevPsychol 13. 101–7.Google Scholar
Nelson, K. E., Carskaddon, G. & Bonvillian, J. D. (1973). Syntax acquisition: impact of experimental variation in adult interaction with the child. ChDev 44. 497504.Google Scholar
Peters, A. (1983). The units of language acquisition. Cambridge: C.U.P.Google Scholar
Scollon, R. (1976). Conversations with a one year old. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.CrossRefGoogle Scholar