The Role of Audiovisual Speech in Fast-Mapping and Novel Word Retention in Monolingual and Bilingual 24-Month-Olds.

Drew Weatherhead,Maria M Arredondo,Loreto Nácar Garcia,Janet F Werker

doi:10.3390/brainsci11010114

Drew Weatherhead, Maria M Arredondo + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11010114

Copy DOI

Abstract

Three experiments examined the role of audiovisual speech on 24-month-old monolingual and bilinguals’ performance in a fast-mapping task. In all three experiments, toddlers were exposed to familiar trials which tested their knowledge of known word–referent pairs, disambiguation trials in which novel word–referent pairs were indirectly learned, and retention trials which probed their recognition of the newly-learned word–referent pairs. In Experiment 1 (n = 48), lip movements were present during familiar and disambiguation trials, but not retention trials. In Experiment 2 (n = 48), lip movements were present during all three trial types. In Experiment 3 (bilinguals only, n = 24), a still face with no lip movements was present in all three trial types. While toddlers succeeded in the familiar and disambiguation trials of every experiment, success in the retention trials was only found in Experiment 2. This work suggests that the extra-linguistic support provided by lip movements improved the learning and recognition of the novel words.

Highlights

One of the hallmarks of language acquisition is the remarkable ease with which children acquire new words
Referent pairs were retained when the labels were presented in an audiovisual modality, but only if they were tested in an audiovisual modality
To account for the present findings, we suggest that at 24 months, auditory information on its own—while sufficient for disambiguation—may not be sufficient to support word learning in a fast-mapping procedure

Summary

Introduction

One of the hallmarks of language acquisition is the remarkable ease with which children acquire new words. From a very young age, infants are sensitive to both the acoustic and visual properties of spoken language [1,2]. By 6 months, infants recognize highly familiar words such as their name [3,4], and by 17–18 months, they map unfamiliar words to novel items [5]. To become masters of their native language(s), it is imperative that children determine the mappings between words and their referents, yet evidence suggests that children may not often retain word–referent mappings. Bilingual-learning toddlers may not use similar word–referent mappings as a word learning strategy in a similar manner to monolinguals, since they regularly learn two words for one referent. The present studies investigate whether audiovisual cues support the retention of a new word in both bilingual and monolingual toddlers

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion