Exam 9: Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

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Interaction with more skilled speakers is vital in early childhood. Conversational give-and-take with adults is consistently related to language progress. Sensitive, caring adults use techniques that promote language skills. When children use words incorrectly or communicate unclearly, they give helpful, explicit feedback. But they do not overcorrect, especially when children make grammatical mistakes. Criticism discourages children from freely using language in ways that lead to new skills. Instead, adults often provide indirect feedback about grammar by using two strategies, often in combination: recasts-restructuring inaccurate speech into correct form, and expansions-elaborating on children's speech, increasing its complexity. For example, if a child says, "I gotted new red shoes," the parent might respond, "Yes, you got a pair of new red shoes." However, the impact of such feedback has been challenged. The techniques are not used in all cultures and, in a few investigations, had no impact on children's grammar. Rather than eliminating errors, perhaps expansions and recasts model grammatical alternatives and encourage children to experiment with them. Adults respond to children's desire to become competent speakers by listening attentively, elaborating on what children say, modeling correct usage, and stimulating children to talk further.