Poster #123 - Parent-Child Language Quality in Three Play Activities and its Relation to Children's Language Development

• In Event: Poster Session 13

Abstract

Objectives: Children develop language as they engage in playful and social interactions with parents (Vygotsky, 1978). Variations in language interactions at home profoundly impact children’s language development (Rowe, 2012). While much attention has been placed on the structure and functions of parental language input, the contexts of language interactions have been largely overlooked. Language, as a form of human action, is embodied and embedded in the contexts (Van & Walqui, 2012). The present study investigated Spanish and English-speaking parent and child language interactions in three different play activities. The purpose was to understand how play contexts shape the quality of parent and child language use, and how language use in different play contexts is uniquely associated with children’s language development.

Methods: 34 parent-child dyads (Mage= 67mo, 50% boys, 61.8% Hispanic; 67.6% maternal education > some college, 17.6% parent mainly spoke Spanish) from Southern California participated in a 10-minute semi-structured play interaction at home, including exploratory play (magnet set), manipulative play (tangram puzzle), and dramatic play (puppets). Video-recorded interactions were transcribed verbatim using Codes for the Human Analysis of Transcripts (CHAT; MacWhinney, 2000). Parent and child language quality were analyzed using the Computerized Language Analysis program (CLAN; MacWhinney, 2000). Parent-child language quality was measured by Number of Different Words (NDW) per minute and Mean Length of Utterance by word (MLUw). Children’s language outcomes were assessed using subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Early Cognitive and Academic Development (ECAD IV; LeForte et al., 2015); measures included Expressive Vocabulary, Sentence Repetition, and Rapid Picture Naming.

Results: English-speaking parents had significantly higher MLUw and NDW than Spanish-speaking parents in exploratory and manipulative play, but not in dramatic play (see Table 1). Parent MLUw in exploratory play was significantly higher than in dramatic and manipulative play (see Table 2). Child NDW in dramatic play was significantly higher than in manipulative play and marginally higher than in exploratory play. Parent MLUw and NDW were positively associated with child MLUw (r = .38, p < .05) and NDW (r = .49, p < .01) only in manipulative play. Parent MLUw and NDW in the manipulative play were positively associated with child Sentence Repetition (r = .37, p < .05; r = .37, p < .05; respectively); child NDW in dramatic play was positively associated with Expressive Vocabulary (r = .53, p < .05), Sentence Repetition (r = .44, p < .05), and Rapid Picture Naming (r = .44, p < .05).

Discussion: Findings suggest that children’s language development is a socio-cultural process that is nested within contexts. Play activities and artifacts moderated the nature of parent-child language interactions. Language interactions in different play contexts are uniquely associated with children’s language development. Children’s language development is shaped by the demands of the social contexts and the interlocutors within that context. Future research should develop more nuanced measures of how contexts and individuals impact child language development. Practitioners should consider how to meaningfully structure learning contexts and use cultural artifacts to facilitate children’s language development.

Authors

• Yan Jiang, University of California - San Diego
  Presenting Author

• Alison Wishard Guerra, University of California - San Diego

• Shana R Cohen, University of California, San Diego

• Monica Molgaard, University of California - San Diego

• Naomi T Lin, University of California - San Diego