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Vocabulary growth in late talkers: lexical development from 2;0 to 3;0

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2000

LESLIE RESCORLA
Affiliation:
Bryn Mawr College
JENNIFER MIRAK
Affiliation:
Bryn Mawr College
LEHER SINGH
Affiliation:
Brown University

Abstract

Vocabulary growth from 2;0 to 3;0 was studied in 28 late talkers using expressive vocabulary inventories reported bimonthly on the Language Development Survey (LDS). Group milestones were 18 words at 2;0, 89 words at 2;6, and 195 words at 3;0. A sub-group of 11 children (Group 1) showed a rapid vocabulary spurt between 2;2 and 2;8, reached the 150–180 word mark by 2;6, and attained the LDS ceiling of about 300 words by 2;10. In contrast, the 17 children in Group 2 still had a mean vocabulary of fewer than 30 words at 2;6, had less of a vocabulary spurt when they did start acquiring words, and attained the 150–180 vocabulary mark at 3;0. All 3;0 language outcome measures were significantly predicted by LDS vocabulary size from 2;2 to 2;4.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This research was supported by grants to the first author from the Bryn Mawr College Faculty Research Fund and from the National Institute of Health (NICHD AREA Grant 1-R15-HD22355; and NIDCD R01-DC00807). Portions of this paper were presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, March, 1997. The authors wish to thank the children and parents who made this research possible.