Linguistic and Cultural Factors in Toddlers’ Word Learning Through Overhearing

• In Event: 1-099 - Factors that promote third-party learning in young children

Integrative Statement

Though toddlers are able to learn new words by observing 3rd party interactions (Akhtar, Jipson, & Callanan, 2001), there are limitations to this learning. Specifically, previous research has found that toddlers need to have visual evidence of overt social cues (e.g., handing over a toy) exchanged between 3rd-party participants in order for learning to take place. However, this research had been done with samples of monolingual, primarily European-American toddlers (O’Doherty, Troseth, Shimpi, Goldenberg, Akthar, & Saylor 2011). Recent evidence suggests that multilingual children might rely less on overt social cues (Yow & Markman, 2011). Further, 3rd party word learning may also be influenced by children’s social experiences (Shneidman, Sootsman-Buresh, Shimpi, Knight-Schwarz, & Woodward, 2009). The current study directly examines the role of linguistic experience in toddlers’ learning from 3rd party interactions using both overt and subtle cues, and further explores potential social and cultural influences in this type of learning.

Participants were 2.5-year-old children (N = 52). There were four between-subjects conditions, crossing social cue (Overt (N = 28) or Subtle (N = 24) and linguistic experience (half of the children in each condition were multilingual). In Overt conditions, the experimenter handed each object to the confederate; in Subtle conditions, the confederate simply watched. Multilingualism was defined as having at least 30% exposure to a language other than English, and was measured using parent questionnaires.

After a warmup, toddlers watched an experimenter show a confederate each of 4 novel objects. For the target object, the experimenter used a novel label (“modi”). For non-target objects, she used a neutral label (“this one”). Objects were labeled 3 times per demonstration in three rounds, for 9 total object labels. In testing, children were asked to identify the target object. On a separate trial, they were asked to choose their favorite.

Learning was defined as choosing the target object for the comprehension, controlling for preference choice. The percent of children who learned was above chance for bilingual children in the Overt (55%, p < .01) and Subtle (64%, p < .001) conditions. However, for monolingual children, learning was only above chance only in the Overt condition (40%, p <.01; Subtle (21%, p > .05).

Further, in-depth semi-structured interviews with the children’s parents were conducted to understand potential relations between families’ social and cultural practices and children’s linguistic experiences. Parents (N = 40) were asked about parent-child communication behaviors, discipline, involvement with immediate and extended family and community, and engagement in social and cultural activities. Qualitative data from these interviews will be discussed; findings help contextualize differences in learning between the monolingual and multilingual groups.

Authors

• Priya Shimpi, Mills College
  Presenting Author

• Katherine O'Doherty, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rosalie Odean, Florida International University
  Non-Presenting Author