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Child-directed speech plays a part in the vocabulary development of a young child. To support the acquisition of vocabulary and language learning, parents can consider improving two aspects of child-directed speech, namely quality and quantity of speech.

Rowe (2012) suggests that at age 2, the quantity of child-directed speech is most important while the complexity of child-directed speech is key at age 3. Before age 2, a wide variety of vocabulary could be useful in the child’s future development as this provides the child exposure to different and rare words which might allow them to pick up the word faster later in life. By age 3.5, rare and different words used in interactions have shown influence on the vocabulary size of the child.

From ages 2 to 3, the child might find it difficult to understand their parents’ explanation of the world. While the initial logical connections between concepts or objects are tough, these same children seem to link ideas better a year later. Going beyond the quantity of speech could help influence the acquisition of vocabulary which are more challenging and sophisticated.

To improve the quality of speech, parents could try explaining, playing pretend, and narrating. An example of an explanation could be “The toy is not working because it needs batteries”.

• By explaining, children can gradually learn to draw connections and be curious to ask the question ‘Why?’
• Parents can also pretend by assuming the role of a character in a book or attribute actions, thoughts, or feelings to an inanimate object. Parents could try mimicking the heroes in a book by saying “I’m going to save you from the robber!”.
• Alternatively, parents can narrate situations that have happened or will happen. If a trip to the doctor is going to happen, parents can consider conversations that prepare the child for the visit by saying “The doctor will check your eyes, throat, and nose!”.

These 3 types of conversations can help parents to inject a variety of vocabulary to improve the vocabulary acquisition and language skills of a child.

In summary, as the child transitions from age 2 to age 3, parents can consider shifting the focus of their child-directed speech from quantity to quality. Bearing in mind the 3 areas of explanations, pretend and narrative, parents can try these options to encourage language learning in their toddlers! 

Glossary:

Input quantity: total number of words produced by parents during the 90-min interaction

Input quality: includes vocabulary diversity (total number of word types produced by parents during the 90-min interaction), vocabulary sophistication (total number of different rare words produced by parents in the 90-min interaction) and decontextualized utterances (explanation, pretend and narrative).

This post was written by our intern, Tammy, and edited by our lab manager Fei Ting.

References:

Rowe, M. L. (2012). A Longitudinal Investigation of the Role of Quantity and Quality of Child-Directed Speech in Vocabulary Development. Child Development, 83(5), 1762–1774. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01805.x