The company that words keep: comparing the statistical structure of child- versus adult-directed language

Journal of Child Language
Thomas Hills

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.

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Citations

Oct 25, 2016·Developmental Science·Arielle BorovskyJeffrey L Elman
Mar 1, 2016·Cognitive Science·Tomas Engelthaler, Thomas T Hills
Feb 24, 2015·Cognition·Erica H Wojcik, Jenny R Saffran
Jul 28, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Brendan T JohnsVanessa Taler
Jul 4, 2018·Psychonomic Bulletin & Review·Brendan T JohnsD J K Mewhort
Feb 18, 2017·Frontiers in Psychology·Ivana KajićChris Eliasmith
Aug 19, 2018·Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools·Amanda J Owen Van HorneMarc E Fey
Oct 20, 2018·Nature Human Behaviour·Ann E SizemoreDanielle S Bassett
Nov 27, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·María José RodrigoManuel de Vega
Mar 6, 2018·Journal of Memory and Language·Martin ZetterstenJenny Saffran
May 20, 2021·Journal of Child Language·Lena V KreminKrista Byers-Heinlein

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