Joint attention and language acquisition : A longitudinal study of joint attention in parent-child interaction
Year: 2019
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Joint attention (JA) is the ability to coordinate attention between a conversation partner and an outside object, while being aware of the other’s attention. This study investigates JA in 14 parent-child dyads at the ages 0;9, 1;0, 1;3, 1;6, 1;9 and 2;0, and aims to examine how the initiation of JA develops with age, as well as the relationship between JA and later vocabulary size and syntactic level. The strategies for initiating JA were recorded for both parents and children, and the total amount of JA, as well as child-initiated JA, was calculated for each age point. The results show that children with a higher language level, calculated as a composite score of vocabulary at 4;0 and syntactic level at 3;0, spent on average more time in JA than children with a lower language level. In line with previous research, the present study found a positive relationship between JA and vocabulary. Furthermore, the results suggest a relationship between JA and syntactic development. Especially the amount of child-initiated JA was related to both vocabulary size at the age of 4;0 and syntactic level at the age of 3;0, which indicates the importance of this type of interaction for language acquisition.
Author: Freya Eriksson
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2949757616