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Minimal Pair Word Learning and Vocabulary Size: Links with Later Language Skills

Cambridge University Press

There is increasing interest in the link between early linguistic skills and later language development. In a longitudinal study, we investigated how infants’ a) ability to use speech sound categories to guide word learning in the habituation-based minimal pair “Switch” task, and b) early productive vocabulary, related to their concurrent and later language task performance. The participants at Phase 1 were 64 infants aged 16-24 months (25 with familial risk of language/speech impairment), followed up at 27 months (Phase 2) and at three years (Phase 3). Phase 1 productive vocabulary was correlated with Phase 2 productive vocabulary, and with concurrent and later (Phase 3) tests of language production and comprehension scores (standardized tool), and phonology. Phase 1 Switch task performance was correlated with concurrent productive vocabulary and language production scores, but not by Phase 3. However, a combination of early low vocabulary score and a preference for looking at an already-habituated word-object combination in the Switch task may show some promise as an identifier for early speech-language intervention. We discuss how these relations can help us better understand the foundations of word learning.

Text

2019-12-19

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/72878

Kemp, N., Scott, J., Bernhardt, B.M., Johnson, C.E., Siegel, L.S., & Werker, J.F. (2017). Minimal Pair Word Learning and Vocabulary Size: Links with Later Language Skills. Applied Psycholinguistics, 38(2), 289-314.

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/