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Variation sets in the speech directed to toddlers in Argentinian households.SES and type of activity effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2021

Florencia ALAM Open the ORCID record for Florencia ALAM [Opens in a new window] ,
Celia Renata ROSEMBERG ,
Leandro GARBER  and
Alejandra STEIN Open the ORCID record for Alejandra STEIN [Opens in a new window]
Florencia ALAM*
Affiliation:
National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CIIPME-CONICET) University of Buenos Aires
Celia Renata ROSEMBERG
Affiliation:
National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CIIPME-CONICET) University of Buenos Aires
Leandro GARBER
Affiliation:
National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CIIPME-CONICET) University of 3 de Febrero
Alejandra STEIN
Affiliation:
National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CIIPME-CONICET) University of Buenos Aires
*
Address for correspondence: Florencia Alam National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CIIPME-CONICET)florenciaalam@gmail.com
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Abstract

The study adopts a naturalistic perspective, looking at the relationship between socio-economic status (SES), activities and variation sets in child-directed speech (CDS) to Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers. It aims to determine the effect of SES and type of activity on the proportion of words and utterances in variation sets and on the pragmatic function they serve in interaction. Thirty two children (mean: 14.3 months) and their families were audio-recorded for four hours and the middle two hours were analyzed using CLAN. We developed an automatic algorithm for variation sets extraction that compares noun, verb and adjective lexemes in successive utterances. Mixed-effects beta regression showed SES and activity type effects on the proportion of variation sets and on the pragmatic function served by variation sets. Findings revealed that the contextual variables considered impact on how interlocutors organize the information to young children at the local level of natural at home interactions.

Keywords

toddlerspartial self-repetitionsSESinputnaturalistic study
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , July 2022 , pp. 799 - 823
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Presidente Teniente General Juan Domingo Perón 2158, C1040AAH, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. 54-11-4953-1477

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