Longitudinal Analysis of Mexican, Dominican and African-American Mothers’ and Children’s Manner and Path Verb Use

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Language, Communication

Abstract

One in four U.S. preschoolers are dual language learners (DLLs) who are exposed to a language other than English at home, and the majority of U.S. DLLs learn Spanish at home (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). Cross-linguistic differences between English and the home language can influence DLLs’ language learning (NASEM, 2017). Here we focused on the different lexicalization biases of motion verbs in English and Spanish. Motion verbs encode either the manner of actions (i.e., how agents move in space, e.g., run) or path of actions (i.e., the trajectory of the motion, e.g., exit). Typologically, English is considered a manner language because it often encodes the manner in the main verb and uses a “satellite” such as a preposition to portray the path (Slobin, 2004; Talmy, 1985), as in “The woman ran out of the house.” In contrast, Spanish is a path language, frequently conflating path in the main verb while optionally expressing the manner in a satellite adverb (e.g., “Una mujer sale de la casa corriendo” [The woman exits the house running]).

Monolingual 3- to 5-year-old children attach novel verb labels to motion events in agreement with the lexicalization bias of their native language (Maguire et al., 2010). Here we expand on such research by documenting the development of lexicalization biases among monolingual and DLL children in a longitudinal design.

In this study, DLL Mexican (N=33), DLL Dominican (N=30), and monolingual African-American (N=36) mother-child dyads were video-recorded sharing a wordless book, Frog, where are you? (Mayer, 1969) in their homes when children were 3, 4 and 5 years of age. Mother’s and children’s use of manner and path verbs were identified from transcriptions. A 2 (person: mother vs. child) × 3 (age) × 3 (ethnicity) repeated measures ANOVA was conducted, with proportion of manner verb tokens out of total manner and path verb tokens as a dependent variable. Results showed a significant main effect of ethnicity, F(2,96)=50.43, p<.001, with African American dyads using a higher proportion of manner verbs compared to Dominican and Mexican dyads, which did not differ from each other (Figure 1). Across ethnicities, mothers used a greater proportion of manner verbs than did children at all ages, F(1,192)=9.29, p=.003. As indicated by a significant main effect of age, F(2,192)=4.21, p=.016, and person×age interaction, F(2,192)=4.05, p=.016, mothers showed continuity in the proportion of manner use over time (ps=1.00). Comparably, children increased in their proportion of manner use from age 3 to 4 (p=.002) and marginally from age 3 to 5 (p=.061), but showed no significant change between age 4 and 5.

These results show that Latino and African-American mothers’ and children’s relative manner and path verb use is consistent with the lexicalization bias of their home language. Furthermore, children across the ethnic groups appear to be “catching up” with their mothers’ relative manner verb use between 3 to 5 years. Ongoing analyses will address potential intra-ethnic differences in manner and path use in the two Latino groups based on individual differences in English and Spanish exposure.

Authors

• Sandy L Gonzalez, New York University
  Presenting Author

• Lulu Song, Brooklyn College CUNY
  Non-Presenting Author

• Catherine S Tamis-Lemonda, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joseph Perricone, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author