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Minimal pair word learning and vocabulary size: Links with later language skills

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

NENAGH KEMP ,
JULIANNE SCOTT ,
B. MAY BERNHARDT ,
CAROLYN E. JOHNSON ,
LINDA S. SIEGEL  and
JANET F. WERKER
NENAGH KEMP*
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania
JULIANNE SCOTT
Affiliation:
Ottawa–Carleton District School Board
B. MAY BERNHARDT
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
CAROLYN E. JOHNSON
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
LINDA S. SIEGEL
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
JANET F. WERKER*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Nenagh Kemp, Division of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 30, Hobart 7001, Tasmania, Australia. E-mail: nenagh.kemp@utas.edu.au
Janet F. Werker, Infant Studies Centre, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada. E-mail: jwerker@psych.ubc.ca
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Abstract

There is increasing interest in the link between early linguistic skills and later language development. In a longitudinal study, we investigated 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 3 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.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 289 - 314
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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