Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Nov 18;8(11):e80646.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080646. eCollection 2013.

When do caregivers talk? The influences of activity and time of day on caregiver speech and child vocalizations in two childcare environments

Melanie Soderstrom  1 , Kelsey Wittebolle
Affiliations

When do caregivers talk? The influences of activity and time of day on caregiver speech and child vocalizations in two childcare environments

Melanie Soderstrom et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

The importance of the language environment in influencing language outcomes is well known, but few studies have addressed the contextual factors that influence the amount of speech heard and vocalizations produced by a young child under naturalistic conditions. We analyze effects of type of activity engaged in by the child and time of day on quantitative measures of the language environment. We found effects of both activity and time of day. Structured activities generated the highest levels of adult language, but not necessarily the most child vocalizations. Home and daycare environments looked overall very similar on these measures, however there were important differences across the two environments with respect to the specific effects of activity and time of day.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Time spent in activity.
The percentage of time spent engaged in each activity type in the two environments.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Language Measures by Child.
The number of adult words (top) and child vocalizations (bottom) per 5-min block, by child. Error bars indicate standard error. N for each child is indicated at the bottom of their respective bars. C022 and C023 are the same child.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Language Measures by Activity.
The number of adult words (top) and child vocalizations (bottom) per 5-min block, by activity. Error bars indicate standard error. N for each child is indicated at the bottom of their respective bars.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Language Measures by Time of Day.
The number of adult words (top) and child vocalizations (bottom) per 5-min block, by time of day. Error bars indicate standard error. N for each child is indicated at the bottom of their respective bars.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Huttenlocher J, Vasilyeva M, Cymerman E, Levine SC (2002) Language input and child syntax. Cognitive Psychology 45: 337–374. - PubMed
    1. Pan BA, Rowe ML, Singer JD, Snow CE (2005) Maternal correlates of growth in toddler vocabulary production in low-income families. Child Development 76: 763–782. - PubMed
    1. Hoff E (2003) The specificity of environmental influence: socioeconomic status affects early vocabulary development via maternal speech. Child Development 74: 1368–1378. - PubMed
    1. Hart B, Risley TR (1992) American Parenting of Language-learning Children: Persisting Differences in Family-Child Interactions Observced in Natural Home Environments. Developmental Psychology 28: 1096–1105.
    1. Hart B, Risley TR (1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore: Paul H Brookes Publishing Co.

Publication types