Children's Utterances Research Articles

Analisis Pemerolehan Bahasa pada Anak Usia 38 Bulan Berdasarkan Mean Longh of Utterance

Language acquisition is a natural process where children acquire language without meaning to. Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) is used to measure language acquisition in a child's speech. MLU measures the average length of a child's utterances which reflects the language products produced. The aim of this research is to determine first language development in children aged 3 years 2 months. The research method used was descriptive qualitative with the subject being a child named Arabella. Data was collected through documentation techniques, namely recording and transcribing children's speech. The analysis results show that Arabella has 100 utterances with 210 morphemes. The MLU is 2.1 which means Arabella is in stage III for 27-28 months of age according to Brown's theory. Arabela's age should be at Stage VIII MLU. In terms of phonological acquisition, Arabella has mastered the pronunciation of vowels and some consonants well. However, some consonants such as /f/, /q/, /r/, /v/, /x/, and /z/ are still difficult for Arabella to pronounce.

Child-Centric Robot Dialogue Systems: Fine-Tuning Large Language Models for Better Utterance Understanding and Interaction.

Dialogue systems must understand children's utterance intentions by considering their unique linguistic characteristics, such as syntactic incompleteness, pronunciation inaccuracies, and creative expressions, to enable natural conversational engagement in child-robot interactions. Even state-of-the-art large language models (LLMs) for language understanding and contextual awareness cannot comprehend children's intent as accurately as humans because of their distinctive features. An LLM-based dialogue system should acquire the manner by which humans understand children's speech to enhance its intention reasoning performance in verbal interactions with children. To this end, we propose a fine-tuning methodology that utilizes the LLM-human judgment discrepancy and interactive response data. The former data represent cases in which the LLM and human judgments of the contextual appropriateness of a child's answer to a robot's question diverge. The latter data involve robot responses suitable for children's utterance intentions, generated by the LLM. We developed a fine-tuned dialogue system using these datasets to achieve human-like interpretations of children's utterances and to respond adaptively. Our system was evaluated through human assessment using the Robotic Social Attributes Scale (RoSAS) and Sensibleness and Specificity Average (SSA) metrics. Consequently, it supports the effective interpretation of children's utterance intentions and enables natural verbal interactions, even in cases with syntactic incompleteness and mispronunciations.

Validation of the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) Automated Speech Processing Algorithm Labels for Adult and Child Segments in a Sample of Families From India.

The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) technology uses automated speech processing (ASP) algorithms to estimate counts such as total adult words and child vocalizations, which helps understand children's early language environment. This ASP has been validated in North American English and other languages in predominantly monolingual contexts but not in a multilingual context like India. Thus, the current study aims to validate the classification accuracy of the LENA algorithm specifically focusing on speaker recognition of adult segments (AdS) and child segments (ChS) in a sample of bi/multilingual families from India. Thirty neurotypical children between 6 and 24 months (M = 12.89, SD = 4.95) were recruited. Participants were growing up in bi/multilingual environment hearing a combination of Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, and/or English. Daylong audio recordings were collected using LENA and processed using the ASP to automatically detect segments across speaker categories. Two human annotators manually annotated ~900 min (37,431 segments across speaker categories). Performance accuracy (recall and precision) was calculated for AdS and ChS. The recall and precision for AdS were 0.62 (95% confidence interval [CI] [0.61, 0.63]) and 0.83 (95% CI [0.8, 0.83]), respectively. This indicated that 62% of the segments identified as AdS by the human annotator were also identified as AdS by the LENA ASP algorithm and 83% of the segments labeled by the LENA ASP as AdS were also labeled by the human annotator as AdS. Similarly, the recall and precision for ChS were 0.65 (95% CI [0.64, 0.66]) and 0.55 (95% CI [0.54, 0.56]), respectively. This study documents the performance of the ASP in correctly classifying speakers as adult or child in a sample of families from India, indicating recall and precision that is relatively low. This study lays the groundwork for future investigations aiming to refine the algorithm models, potentially facilitating more accurate performance in bi/multilingual societies like India. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.27910710.

The Use of Augmented Reality (AR) Applications in Enhancing Preschool Children's Vocal Pronunciation Skills

The Use of Augmented Reality (AR) Applications in Enhancing Preschool Children's Vocal Pronunciation Skills

Approach to Complementary Feeding and Infant Language Use: An Observational Study.

Emerging research suggests that a more infant-led approach to complementary feeding may confer benefits for child language, but these findings are based on parent report studies. Using an observational approach this study examines whether different complementary feeding experiences relate to infant language exposure and language use. Fifty-eight parents recorded a typical infant mealtime in the home (mean infant age = 14 months, SD = 4.15). Observations were coded to measure the prevalence of infant-led and parent-led feeding using the Family Mealtime Coding Scheme. Caregiver language use (word types and token directed at the child, mean length of utterances in child-directed speech, responsiveness and initiations) and the number of infant vocalisations were coded in ELAN using CHAT conventions and parents completed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory short form as a measure of child language. Greater observed infant self-feeding was significantly associated with greater observed exposure to language from caregivers (r = 0.312 percentage of infant self-feeding correlated with caregiver word types directed at the child) and a greater number of infant vocalisations (r = 0.320 percentage of infant self-feeding correlated with number of child vocalisations produced). Structural Equation Modelling showed the relationship between infant self-feeding and infant vocalisations to be significantly mediated by enhanced quality and quantity of caregiver child-directed speech (model fit: χ2 [5] = 5.01, p = 0.415, CFI = 1.00 [NF = 0.98], RMSEA = 0.006). Differences in the approach to complementary feeding may shape infant's experiences in ways that support language exposure and use. Autonomy associated with infant self-feeding may enhance opportunities for social interaction.

The Relationship Among Theory of Mind, Comprehensionof Mental Verbs State and Mean Length of Utterance in Children With Hearing Impairment

The Relationship Among Theory of Mind, Comprehensionof Mental Verbs State and Mean Length of Utterance in Children With Hearing Impairment

Heritage language development in Spanish-English-speaking preschoolers: Influences on growth and challenges in the first year of English-only instruction.

This study investigates the changes in the Spanish lexical and grammatical skills of 26 Spanish-English dual language learners during their first year of preschool. We also explore the impact of age, gender, and maternal cultural orientation on children's language outcomes over time. The results show that, despite one year of English-only instruction, the children's Spanish productions became more intelligible, lexically diverse, and grammatical between 3;7 and 4;7. However, Spanish productions were mostly limited to sentence fragments and contained errors in grammatical gender, verb morphology, object clitic pronouns, and prepositions. Girls had an advantage over boys, as attested by the higher lexical diversity, mean length of utterance, and grammaticality of their Spanish productions. Both maternal enculturation and acculturation predicted the grammaticality of children's utterances, suggesting that mothers with high levels of orientation to both Latinx and American culture may be the most successful at promoting Spanish in the United States.

Establishing the reliability of metrics extracted from long-form recordings using LENA and the ACLEW pipeline.

Long-form audio recordings are increasingly used to study individual variation, group differences, and many other topics in theoretical and applied fields of developmental science, particularly for the description of children's language input (typically speech from adults) and children's language output (ranging from babble to sentences). The proprietary LENA software has been available for over a decade, and with it, users have come to rely on derived metrics like adult word count (AWC) and child vocalization counts (CVC), which have also more recently been derived using an open-source alternative, the ACLEW pipeline. Yet, there is relatively little work assessing the reliability of long-form metrics in terms of the stability of individual differences across time. Filling this gap, we analyzed eight spoken-language datasets: four from North American English-learning infants, and one each from British English-, French-, American English-/Spanish-, and Quechua-/Spanish-learning infants. The audio data were analyzed using two types of processing software: LENA and the ACLEW open-source pipeline. When all corpora were included, we found relatively low to moderate reliability (across multiple recordings, intraclass correlation coefficient attributed to the child identity [Child ICC], was < 50% for most metrics). There were few differences between the two pipelines. Exploratory analyses suggested some differences as a function of child age and corpora. These findings suggest that, while reliability is likely sufficient for various group-level analyses, caution is needed when using either LENA or ACLEW tools to study individual variation. We also encourage improvement of extant tools, specifically targeting accurate measurement of individual variation.

A Comparative Analysis of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy Procedures Used to Facilitate Verbalizations by Children with Autism

The current study conducted a comparative analysis of the effects of select components of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy, labeled praise, behavior descriptions, and reflections on child vocalizations in two children with autism spectrum disorder and accompanying language delays using a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design. The frequency of verbalizations, the frequency of different verbalizations, and the mean length of utterance of words (MLUw) were measured during a baseline condition followed sequentially by two experimental conditions during a free play environment. The total number of therapist–child interactions remained consistent across all experimental conditions such that only the topography of the interactions varied across conditions. During the first experimental condition the clinician used labeled praise and behavior descriptions during child play. After establishing stability of changes under these conditions, the therapist systematically added reflections of child vocalizations in the second experimental condition. Total verbalizations, different verbalizations, and MLUw increased following the introduction of labeled praise and behavior descriptions. Total verbalizations and different verbalizations increased and the frequencies accelerated following the systematic introduction of reflections. The study showed the relative value of reflections of child verbalizations as a powerful component of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy procedures to facilitate verbalizations by children with autism.

Acquisition of a rare variant: ne-realization in the negative utterances of French children and their caregivers

ABSTRACT A growing body of evidence suggests children acquire linguistic variation and follow grammatical constraints on its use from a young age. While prior research predominantly focuses on variables for which both variants are well-attested, stable variation in natural language often includes variants with an unbalanced distribution. In many cases, one variant is extremely rare, which poses a learning challenge for children and may require revision of accounts of children’s acquisition of variation. The negative morpheme ne in French is one such rare variant as it is only rarely realized (<10%) in adult speech. While previous research suggests clear constraints on ne-realization in interadult speech, less is known about ne in French children’s early production and input. In the current study, we analyze ne-realization in the conversational speech of 14 monolingual French-learning children (ages 0.10–8.01) and their caregivers. We found that, for both French children and their caregivers, ne-realization was rare and followed the same linguistic constraint found in interadult speech. Importantly, children showed probabilistic production following the constraint extremely early on – at age 2.05 on average. Further, we found a strong influence of input on variation acquisition: caregivers with higher ne-realization rates had children who used more ne and from a younger age. Taken together, our results suggested that young children can acquire statistically rare but systematically patterned variants, adding further evidence that they are skilled and sophisticated language learners.

Child-directed speech in a large sample of U.S. mothers with low income.

Research on early language input and socioeconomic status typically relies on correlations in small convenience samples. Using data from Baby's First Years, this paper assesses the causal impact of monthly, unconditional cash transfers on child-directed speech and child vocalizations among a large, racially diverse sample of low-income U.S. mothers and their 1-year-olds (N = 563; 48% girls; 2019-2020). The monthly, unconditional cash transfers did not impact mothers' child-directed speech during a 10-min at-home play session (effect sizes range from -.08 to .02), though there was wide variability within this sample. Future work will assess the impact of the continued cash transfer on children's language input and development over time.

Prosody in narratives: An exploratory study with children with sex chromosomes trisomies

Although language delays are common in children with sex chromosome trisomies [SCT], no studies have analysed their prosodic abilities. Considering the importance of prosody in communication, this exploratory study aims to analyse the prosodic features of the narratives of 4-year-old children with SCT.Participants included 22 children with SCT and 22 typically developing [TD] children. The Narrative Competence Task was administered to elicit the child's narrative. Each utterance was prosodically analysed considering pitch and timing variables.Considering pitch, the only difference was the number of movements since the utterances of children with SCT were characterised by a lower speech modulation. However, considering the timing variables, children with SCT produced a faster speech rate and a shorter final syllable duration than TD children.Since both speech modulation and duration measures have important syntactic and pragmatic functions, further investigations should deeply analyse the prosodic skills of children with SCT in interaction with syntax and pragmatics.

Adult Verbal Responses Facilitating Child Vocalizations

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether adults in the vicinity of children respond differently to various child vocalization types within three-event sequences of “child vocalization-adult verbal response-child vocalization” occurring in everyday life. Additionally, this study examined the types of adult verbal responses that facilitate child vocalizations within the series of three-event sequential interactions between children and adults. Methods: Data was collected using the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) from 30 children aged 12 to 18 months and their families. Three-event sequences of interactions between children and adults were selected from twenty 5-minute recorded segments with the highest conversational turn counts. Child vocalizations before and after adult verbal responses were broadly classified into canonical babblings and non-canonical babblings, and then coded into subcategories for each babbling type. Adult verbal responses were classified into different pragmatic types. Results: Adults responded differently depending on children’s non-canonical and canonical babblings. Among pragmatic types of adult verbal responses, imitation, recast, and expansion were prominently observed following canonical babblings with more than two syllables. Adult verbal responses such as acknowledgment and recast facilitated children in producing more advanced vocalization forms. Conclusion: This study supports bi-directional relationships in interactions between children and adults and provides insights into which child-adult vocal exchanges facilitate child vocalizations and early speech-language development.

The Impact of Parent-Mediated Naturalistic Interventions with the Addition of Speech-Generating Devices on Vocalizations of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Complex Communication Needs

The Impact of Parent-Mediated Naturalistic Interventions with the Addition of Speech-Generating Devices on Vocalizations of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Complex Communication Needs

Electronic media exposure, parental language input, and child vocalizations in rural and peri-urban China

To examine the association between electronic media exposure and parental language input, Language Environment Analysis technology was used to collect data on electronic media exposure and parental language input in 158 peri-urban and rural households with children aged 18–24 months in southwestern China. The sounds children made and the sounds they heard were quantified. Multiple linear regression and quantile linear regression were used to determine the relationship between electronic media and the outcomes of interest. The results showed that each hour of electronic media exposure was associated with reduced conversational turn count (p < .05) and child vocalization count (p < .05). A large share of the reduction was driven by the higher quantile of children. Reductions associated with electronic exposure were also observed in number of segments and conversational turns. These results may help explain the association between child electronic media exposure and language delay in an under-studied and at-risk population.

Weaving the Fabric of Social and Emotional Learning in the Context of Teaching: A Study in Hong Kong Kindergarten Classrooms

Abstract This study investigated how children’s social and emotional learning (SEL) might reflect their teachers’ social and emotional teaching (SET) by means of social learning. To this end, the research team conducted 20 videotaped observation sessions of four teachers’ SET and 71 children’s SEL during whole-group instruction in four kindergarten classrooms in Hong Kong. The research team coded SET and SEL based on teacher and child utterances for evidence of the CASEL’s five key social and emotional competencies (Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision-Making). Additionally, we coded a one-on-one correspondence between each competency and one of the four strategies identified (Telling/Commanding/Directing, Explaining, Asking Questions, and Affirming/Confirming). Both the teachers and children evidenced Responsible Decision-Making the most. Except for Social Awareness, the teachers’ SET and children’s SEL in the other four competencies were correlated significantly and strongly. Furthermore, among the five strategies, teachers primarily utilized the Asking Questions strategy, while children predominantly corresponded with the Telling strategy. Significant correlations were observed among the strategies: between teachers’ Asking Questions and children’s Telling, between teachers’ Asking Questions and children's Explaining, between teachers’ Explaining and children's Explaining, Asking Questions, and Affirming/Confirming, and between teachers’ Affirming/Confirming and children’s Telling. These findings suggest that social learning was at work to guide children’s SEL in the context of their teachers’ SET.

The Predictability of Naturalistic Evaluation of All-Day Recordings for Speech and Language Development.

The study aimed to investigate the predictive potential of language environment and vocal development status measures obtained through integrated analysis of Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) recordings during the prelinguistic stage for subsequent speech and language development in Korean-acquiring children. Specifically, this study explored whether measures from both LENA-automated analysis and human coding at 6-8 months and 12-14 months of age predict vocabulary and phonological development at 18-20 months. One-day home recordings from 20 children were collected using a LENA recorder at 6-8 months, 12-14 months, and 18-20 months. Both LENA-automated measures and measures from human coding were obtained from recordings at 6-8 months and 12-14 months. The number of different words, consonant inventory, and utterance structure inventory were identified from recordings of 18-20 months. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were performed to investigate whether measures related to early language environment and child vocalization at 6-8 months and 12-14 months were predictive of vocabulary and phonological measures at 18-20 months. The results showed that the two main LENA-automated measures, conversational turn count (CTC) and child vocalization count, were positively correlated with all vocabulary and phonological measures at 18-20 months. Multiple regression analysis revealed that CTC during the prelinguistic stages was the most significant predictor of a number of different words, consonant inventory, and utterance structure inventory at 18-20 months. Also, adult word count in LENA-automated measures, child-directed speech ratio, and canonical babbling ratio measured by human coding significantly predicted some vocabulary and phonological measures at 18-20 months. This study highlights the multifaceted nature of language acquisition and collectively emphasizes the value of considering both quantitative and qualitative aspects of language input to understand early language development in children.

A Fine-Tuned CatBoost-Based Speech Disorder Detection Model

The classification of speech disorders (SDs) is crucial for treating children with speech impairment (SI). An automated SD classification can assist speech therapists in rendering services to children with SI in rural areas. Automated techniques for detecting SDs provide objective assessments of speech attributes, including articulation, fluency, and prosody. Clinical examinations and quantitative assessments provide an in-depth understanding of the patient’s speaking abilities and limitations. Existing deep learning (DL) models for SD detection often lack generalization across diverse populations and speech variations, leading to suboptimal performance when applied to individuals with different linguistic backgrounds or dialects. This study introduces a DL-based model for classifying normal and abnormal speeches using voice samples. To overcome the overfitting and bias, the authors construct convolutional neural network models with the weights of MobileNet V3 and EfficientNet B7 models for feature extraction (FE). To improve performance, they integrate the squeeze and excitation block with the MobileNet V3-based FE model. Similarly, the EfficientNet B7-model-based FE is improved using the structure pruning technique. The enhanced CatBoost model differentiates the normal and abnormal speeches using the extracted features. The experimental analysis is performed using the public dataset that contains 4620 utterances of healthy children and 2178 utterances of children with SI. The comparative study reveals the exceptional performance of the proposed SD classification model. The model outperforms the current SD classification models. It can be employed in clinical settings to support speech therapists. Substantial training with diverse voice samples can improve the generalizability of the proposed model.

Effects of a Contingent Responses Intervention on the Quantity and Quality of Vocalizations of Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Multiple contemporary theories emphasize the quantity and quality of child vocalizations for promoting spoken language acquisition. Yet, empirical evidence for facilitating vocal development is strikingly lacking including for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have difficulty developing language. We evaluate use of contingent responses and vocal enhancement strategies to increase the quantity and quality of child vocalizations to which adults can respond with language-facilitating input for children with ASD. Three preschool children with ASD and minimal verbal skills participated. Using an alternating treatments design embedded within a multiple probe across participants design, we compared using contingent responses with and without vocal enhancement strategies versus a non-contingent control condition. Based on visual analysis and effect sizes, all participants showed a functional relation between both active intervention conditions and quantity of vocalizations, as predicted. For quality of vocalizations, changes under the active intervention conditions were less pronounced than those observed for quantity. Two participants showed a functional relation between at least one quality variable and the active interventions. Our hypothesis that vocal enhancement strategies would exhibit a value-added effect was partially supported for quantity and quality. Findings support using contingent responses to improve the quantity and to some degree the quality of vocalizations in young children with ASD and minimal verbal skills. Support for the added value of vocal enhancement strategies was mixed. Refining the intervention strategies is warranted to meet the needs of the understudied population of children with ASD and minimal verbal skills.

Comparing parent-child interaction during wordless book reading, print book reading and imaginative play.

This study investigated differences in adult-child language interactions when parents and their three-to-four-year old children engage in wordless book reading, text-and-picture book reading and a small-world toy play activity. Twenty-two parents recorded themselves completing each activity at home with their child. Parent input was compared across contexts, focusing on interactive and conceptual domains: use of open prompts, expansions or extensions of children's utterances, and use of decontextualised (abstract) language. Use of linguistic expansions was greater during book reading than toy play. Parents used open questions and added contingent conceptual information more often when reading wordless books than in both other conditions. Findings suggest that wordless books may combine the benefits of open-endedness and linguistic content based around a narrative. Parents' use of abstract language also varied by condition. This study extends understanding of the role of activity context in shaping children's language learning environments.