Work

Referential transparency of verbs in child-directed input by Japanese and American caregivers

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Children acquiring Japanese differ from those acquiring English with regard to the rate at which verbs are learned (Fernald & Morikawa, ). One possible explanation is that Japanese caregivers use verbs in referentially transparent contexts, which facilitate the form-meaning link. We examined this hypothesis by assessing differences in verb usage by Japanese and American caregivers during dyadic play with their infants (5-22 months). We annotated verb-containing utterances for elements associated with referential transparency and compared across groups. Contrary to our hypotheses, we found that Japanese caregivers used verbs in fewer referentially transparent contexts than American caregivers, or did not significantly differ from American caregivers, depending on the measure. These findings cast doubt on cross-cultural differences in referential transparency between Japanese and American child-directed input.

Source: Journal of Child Language

DOI: 10.1017/s0305000924000382

Authors: Allison Fitch, Amy M. Lieberman, Michael C. Frank, Jessica Brough, Matthew Valleau, Sudha Arunachalam