Hills, Thomas Trenholm (2013) The company that words keep: comparing the statistical structure of child- versus adult-directed language. Journal of Child Language, Volume 40 (Number 03). pp. 586-604. doi:10.1017/S0305000912000165 ISSN 0305-0009.

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Abstract

Does child-directed language differ from adult-directed language in ways that might facilitate word learning? Associative structure (the probability that a word appears with its free associates), contextual diversity, word repetitions and frequency were compared longitudinally across six language corpora, with four corpora of language directed at children aged 1 ; 0 to 5 ; 0, and two adult-directed corpora representing spoken and written language. Statistics were adjusted relative to shuffled corpora. Child-directed language was found to be more associative, repetitive and consistent than adult-directed language. Moreover, these statistical properties of child-directed language better predicted word acquisition than the same statistics in adult-directed language. Word frequency and repetitions were the best predictors within word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives and function words). For all word classes combined, associative structure, contextual diversity and word repetitions best predicted language acquisition. These results support the hypothesis that child-directed language is structured in ways that facilitate language acquisition.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Language acquisition, Psycholinguistics, Language awareness in children, Children -- Language
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Child Language
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0305-0009
Official Date:	June 2013
Dates:	Date Event June 2013 Published
Volume:	Volume 40
Number:	Number 03
Page Range:	pp. 586-604
DOI:	10.1017/S0305000912000165
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit:	25 December 2015
Date of first compliant Open Access:	25 December 2015
Funder:	Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung [Swiss National Science Foundation] (SNSF)
Grant number:	100014 130397/1 (SNSF)

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