ERIC Number: ED104054
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1973-Dec
Pages: 30
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Interrogative Types in Parental Speech to Language Learning Children: A Linguistic Universal? Research Report No. 56.
Buium, Nissan
The verbal interactions of eight mother-child pairs (four Hebrew-speaking mothers and four English-speaking mothers with their 24-month-old language learning children) were recorded and analyzed to determine the frequency of occurrence of various interrogative forms in the mothers' language. Results indicated that English-speaking mothers produced significantly more questions that required the child to respond with a yes-no answer, while Hebrew-speaking mothers produced significantly more Wh type questions such as who, what, where, and why which placed the cognitive burden of the verbal interaction on the child. Both groups of mothers produced more why questions of the first level (about people or things) than the second level (about place, quantity, action, or purpose), and more second level than third level (about time or manner) questions. (Author/LH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (DHEW/OE), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis. Research, Development, and Demonstration Center in Education of Handicapped Children.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A