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Mothers and Fathers Child-addressed Speech Varies by Race and SES

2. Background. It has frequently been hypothesized that child-directed speech (CDS) from parents has an important effect on the child's language learning. Several studies have shown a distinct contrast between maternal and paternal CDS. Fathers, on average, spend more time away from the home and

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Mothers and Fathers Child-addressed Speech Varies by Race and SES

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    1. 1 Mothers’ and Fathers’ Child-addressed Speech Varies by Race and SES Jairus-Joaquin Matthews Miami University, Ohio 1 Iyelli Ichile Columbia University 2 Rochelle Newman & Nan Bernstein Ratner The University of Maryland, College Park

    2. 2 Background It has frequently been hypothesized that child-directed speech (CDS) from parents has an important effect on the child’s language learning. Several studies have shown a distinct contrast between maternal and paternal CDS. Fathers, on average, spend more time away from the home and less time with their children when they are at home, therefore:

    3. 3 Background (continued) Fathers have more difficulty comprehending their children’s speech (Perlmann & Gleason, 1993). Fathers tend to talk less when interacting with children, and use more directives, which indicates a more authoritarian style (Bernstein Ratner, 1988). Fathers are thought to use more “sophisticated” lexicons with children than mothers (Bernstein Ratner, 1988).

    4. 4 Background (continued) Interaction with mothers typically involves caretaking activities, whereas father-child interaction is predominated by play activities (Perlmann & Gleason, 1993). Fathers have shorter mutual dialogues with their children (Perlmann &Gleason, 1993). Fathers respond less frequently to a child’s utterances (Perlmann & Gleason, 1993).

    5. 5 Relevant Hypotheses The Differential Experience Hypothesis states that mothers provide more linguistic support for the child, adjusting their language to the child’s needs, whereas, fathers are less sensitive to the child’s linguistic abilities, putting more demands on the child, and in so doing, improving performance (McLaughlin, White, McDevitt & Raskin, 1983). Similarly, the Bridge Hypothesis maintains that fathers are generally less familiar with their children’s communication patterns, thus, they create a bridge for children to communicate with strangers; they speak more simply to children than to adults, but not as simply as mothers do (Tomasello, Conti-Ramsden & Ewert, 1990).

    6. 6 How might parental language demand be measured? Lexical rarity - studying parents’ lexical rarity is a way to evaluate the complexity of parental speech Interrogatives (wh- words and “how”) – parents’ use of questions has been shown to demand more complex responses from children Literacy Terms - parents’ use of literacy terms in the home may indicate an increased emphasis on a child’s literacy

    7. 7 Purpose Although there has been much research about the effect of gender on CDS, there has been little interest in how CDS is influenced by race and socio-economic status (SES). The purpose of this study is to examine the differences between maternal and paternal CDS, and to determine if these differences are further affected by SES and/or race.

    8. 8 Hypotheses In accordance with the Differential Experience Hypothesis and the Bridge Hypothesis, fathers should use more lexically rare terms than mothers, more question words, and fewer literacy terms due to the amount of time spent and the type of activities they engage in with their children.

    9. 9 Participants and database We analyzed a large database of conversational interactions from 39 nuclear family units, each with a child aged 4;6 to 5;0 (Hall database, CHILDES Archives: http://www.childes.psy.cmu.edu). Participating families were divided approximately equally according to race, and socio-economic status as follows: middle class Black, middle class White, working class Black, working class White. These database transcripts contain approximately 24,000 utterances by mothers and fathers. We analyzed the transcripts using CLAN (MacWhinney, 2000).

    10. 10 Analyses To examine lexical rarity: We utilized a list of over 10,000 of the most common spoken words, and filtered them from the transcripts, leaving the lexically rare words that the parents used. We then further filtered out proper names, numbers, fillers, misspellings, etc. to derive actual rare lexical items. To examine use of questions and literacy terms: We identified all possible literacy terms and question words found in the transcripts. We then searched the transcripts for the frequency with which these terms occurred for each participant, as well as the mean length of turn (MLT) for each parent.

    11. 11 Analyses (cont.) We proportioned all results over each parent’s sample size in words We analyzed lexical rarity, literacy terms, and question words using a 2x2x2 ANOVA (analysis of variance), with 2 between-subject factors (child’s race and child’s SES), and one within-subject factor (parent gender). Thus, we analyzed 3 factors, each with 2 levels: Race: Black and White SES: Professional and Working class Parent Gender: Male and Female

    12. 12 Findings: word usage and lexical rarity On average, when talking to their children, mothers used almost four times as many words as fathers (mothers=202,278; fathers= 56,807). SES was shown to have a significant effect on lexical rarity (F(1,25)=18.16, p<.0005); professional class parents used more rare terms than working class parents. Additionally, an interaction was found between SES and parent gender (F(1,25)=4.35, p<.05): professional class fathers used more rare terms than mothers, while working class fathers used fewer than working class mothers.

    13. 13 Findings for Lexical Rarity

    14. 14 Findings: use of questions SES had a significant (F(1,25)=9.40, p<.05); effect on the frequency of interrogatives; professional class parents used more question words than working class parents. SES and gender showed an interaction (F(1,25)=8.26, p<.05): Professional fathers used more question words than professional mothers, but working class fathers used fewer question words than working class mothers.

    15. 15 Findings for Interrogatives

    16. 16 Findings: literacy terms SES, gender, and race each exhibited a significant independent effect (SES; (F(1,25)=10.86, p<.005) ; gender (F(1,25)=16.50, p<.0005); race; (F(1,25)=5.47, p<.05)) on the frequency of literacy terms used by parents. Professional class parents, mothers, and Whites, all used literacy terms more frequently than their counterparts.

    17. 17 Findings for Literacy Terms

    18. 18 Discussion In every category, there was a marked disparity between the performance of professional class and working class fathers. Our findings for lexical rarity were consistent with the literature in that fathers used more rare words than mothers; however, this only occurred in the professional class. Working class fathers used more common words than mothers, which does not correspond with either the Differential Experience Hypothesis or the Bridge Hypothesis.

    19. 19 Discussion (continued) Consistent with the literature that maintains that fathers are more demanding, fathers were found to ask more questions than mothers, again, with the exception of working class fathers, whose results contradicted our hypotheses.

    20. 20 Implications for future research Further research is necessary to determine how child-directed speech varies across different racial and SES groups, as well as the potential effects such variations have on the receptive and expressive lexicon of children. In this study, SES was found to be a critical influence on parents’ CDS. For this reason, research on child-directed speech and other important aspects of parent-child interaction should be done with a greater focus on the impact of SES.

    21. 21 References Bernstein Ratner, Nan. (1988). Patterns of parental vocabulary selection in speech to very young children. Journal of Child Language, 15, 481-492. Ely, R., Gleason, J.B., McCabe, A. (1996). “Why Didn’t You Talk To Your Mommy, Honey?” : Parents’ and children’s talk About talk. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 29(1), 7-25. Gleason, J.B., Ely, R. (1997). Input and the acquisition of vocabulary: Examining the parental lexicon. The Problem of Meaning: Behavioral and Cognitive Perspectives, 221-259. Gleason, Jean Berko. (1975). Fathers and other strangers: Men’s speech to young children. Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1975, 289-297. Golinkoff, R.M. and Ames, G.J. (1979). A comparison of fathers’ and mothers’ speech with their young children. Child Development, 50, 28-32. Perlmann, R.Y. and Gleason, J.B. (1993). The neglected role of fathers in children’s communicative development. Seminars in Speech and Language, 14, 314-324.

    22. 22 Acknowledgments This work was supported by the University of Maryland, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Summer Research Initiative. 1 At the time this study was conducted, Mr. Matthews was a student at Tennessee State University. 2 At the time this study was conducted, Ms. Ichile was a student at Howard University.

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