Lexical repetitions and repair initiation in mother–child talk
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rcsi.33065Keywords:
Conversation analysis, interactional linguistics, mothers’ repetitions to initiate repair, mother-child interactions and language acquisitionAbstract
This study examines the linguistic and interactional organization of repair in Brazilian Portuguese playtime conversations between six mothers and their children (mean age 2;6). Following both interactional phonetics and conversation analytic methodological approaches, this investigation focuses on how children and mothers negotiate the action done by the mother's lexical repetition used to initiate repair on the child's previous turn. The results suggest that children's ability to understand mothers' lexical repetitions addressing pronunciation problems comes before their ability to understand repetitions that address problems of lexical choice.
References
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Brown, R. & Hanlon, C. (1970). Derivational complexity and order of acquistion in child speech. In J. R. Hayes (ed.), Cognition and the development of language (pp. 11–53). New York: Wiley.
Chomsky, N. (1959). Verbal behaviour. Language, 35(26), 26–58. https://doi.org/10.2307/411334
Chomsky, N. & Morris, H. (1965). Some controversial questions in phonological theory. Journal of Linguistics, 1(1), 97–138. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226700001134
Corrin, J. (2010). ‘Hm? What?’ Maternal repair and early child talk. In H. Gardner & M. Forrester (eds), Analysing Interactions in Childhood: Insights from conversation analysis (pp. 23–41).West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Couper-Kuhlen, E. (1996). The prosody of repetition: on quoting and mimicry. In E. Couper-Kuhlen & M. Selting (eds), Prosody in Conversation: Interactional Studies (pp.405–435). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511597862.011
Demetras, M. J., Post, K. N. & Snow, C. E. (1986). The role of repetitions and clarification questions. Journal of Child Language, 13, 275–292. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900008059
Ferguson, C. (1964). Baby talk in six languages. American Anthropologist, 66, 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1964.66.suppl_3.02a00060
Fester, C. B. & Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement. East Norwalk, CT: Appleton-Century-Crofts. https://doi.org/10.1037/10627-000
Filipi, A. (2009). Toddler and parent interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.192
Forrester, M. A. (2008). The emergence of self-repair: A case study of one child during early preschool years. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 41(1), 99–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351810701691206
Forrester, M. A. (2015). Early social interaction: A case of comparison of developmental pragmatics and psychoanalyst theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hall, J. K. (2007). Redressing the roles of correction and repair in research on second and foreign language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 511–526. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00619.x
Harris, M. (1992). Language experience and early language development: From input to uptake. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Treiman, R. & Schneiderman, M. (1984). Brown and Hanlon revisited: Mother’s sensitivity to ungrammatical forms. Journal of Child Language, 11, 81–88. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900005596
Jefferson, G. (1974). Error correction as an interactional resource. Language in Society, 3(2), 181–199. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500004334
Kendrick, K. H. (2015). Other-initiated repair in English. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 164–190. https://doi.org/10.2478/opli-2014-0009
Kitzinger, C. (2013). Repair. In J. Sidnell & T. Stivers (eds), The handbook of conversation analysis (pp. 229–256). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Laakso, M. (2010). Children’s emerging and developing self-repair practices. In H. Gardner & M. Forrester (eds), Analyzing interactions in childhood: Insights from conversation analysis (pp. 229–256). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723710370534
Laakso, M. & Soininen, M. (2010). Mother-initiated repair sequences in interactions of 3-year-old children. First Language, 30, 329–353.
Moerk, E. (1991). Positive evidence for negative evidence. First Language, 11, 219–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/014272379101103202
Morgan, J. L., Bonamo, K. M. & Travis, L. L. (1995). Negative evidence on negative evidence. American Psychological Association, 31(21), 180–197. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.31.2.180
Nelson, K., Camarata, S. M., Welsh, J., Butkovsky, L. & Camarata, M. (1996). Effects of imitative and conversational recasting treatment on the acquisition of grammar in children with specific language impairment and younger language-normal children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 39, 850–859. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3904.850
Nolan, F. (2003). Intonational equivalence: An experimental evaluation of pitch scales. In M. Solé, D. Recasens & J. Romero (eds), Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp. 771–774). Barcelona: Casual Productions.
Pine, J. M. (1994). The language of primary caregivers. In C. Gallaway & B. J. Richards (eds), Input and interaction in language acquisition (pp. 15–37). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620690.003
Rossi. G. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Italian. Open Linguistics, 1, 256–282. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2015-0002
Saxton, M. (1997). The contrast theory of negative input. Journal of Child Language, 24, 139–161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500099600298X
Saxton, M. (2000). Negative evidence and negative feedback: Immediate effects on the grammaticality of child speech. First Language, 20, 221–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/014272370002006001
Schegloff, E. A. (1992). Repair after next turn: The last structurally provided defense of intersubjectivity in conversation. American Journal of Sociology, 97(5), 1295–1345. https://doi.org/10.1086/229903
Schegloff, E. A. (1997). Third Turn Repair. In R. G. Gregory, F. Crawford, D. Schiffrin & J. Baugh (eds), Towards a social science of language: Papers in honor of William Labov. volume 2: Social interaction and discourse structures (pp. 31–40). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.128.05sch
Schegloff, E. A. (2000). When ‘others’ initiate repair. Applied Linguistics, 21, 205–243. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/21.2.205
Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G. & Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53, 361–382. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.1977.0041
Snow, C. E. (1994). Beginning from baby talk: Twenty years of research on input in interaction. In C. Gallaway & B. J. Richards (eds), Input and interaction in language acquisition (pp. 3–12). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620690.002
Svennevig, J. (2000). Getting acquainted in conversation: A study of initial interactions. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.64
Svennevig, J. (2008). Trying the easiest solution first in other-initiation of repair. Journal of Pragmatics, 40, 333–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.11.007
Tarplee, C. (1993). Working on talk: The collaborative shaping of linguistic skills within adult–child interaction. DPhil thesis, Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, UK.
Tarplee, C. (1996). Working on young children’s utterances: Prosodic aspects of repetition during picture labelling. In E. Couper-Kuhlen & M. Selting (eds), Prosody in conversation: Interactional studies (pp. 405–435). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511597862.012
Tarplee, C. (2010). Next turn and intersubjectivity in children’s language. In H. Gardner & M. Forrester (eds) Analysing interactions in childhood: Insights from conversation analysis (pp. 23–41). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Walker, T. (2017). Phonetic and sequential differences of other-repetitions in repair initiation. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 50(4), 330–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2017.1340717
Wells, B. (2010). Tonal repetition and tonal contrast in English carer–child interaction. In D. Barth-Weigngarden, E. Reber & M. Selting (eds), Prosody in interaction (pp. 243–262). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.23.20wel
Wells, B. & Stackhouse, J (2016). Children’s intonation: A framework for practice and research. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Wilkinson, R. & Beeke, S. (2012). The conversation analysis transcription template and instructions on its use. Unpublished manuscript prepared for students, University of Sheffield.
Wootton, A. (1994). Object transfer, intersubjectivity and 3rd position repair: Early developmental observations of one child. Journal of Child Language, 21, 543–564. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900009454
Bohannon, J. N. & Stanowicz, L. B. (1988). The issue of negative evidence: Adult responses to children’s language errors. Developmental Psychology, 24(5), 684–689. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.24.5.684
Brown, R. & Hanlon, C. (1970). Derivational complexity and order of acquistion in child speech. In J. R. Hayes (ed.), Cognition and the development of language (pp. 11–53). New York: Wiley.
Chomsky, N. (1959). Verbal behaviour. Language, 35(26), 26–58. https://doi.org/10.2307/411334
Chomsky, N. & Morris, H. (1965). Some controversial questions in phonological theory. Journal of Linguistics, 1(1), 97–138. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226700001134
Corrin, J. (2010). ‘Hm? What?’ Maternal repair and early child talk. In H. Gardner & M. Forrester (eds), Analysing Interactions in Childhood: Insights from conversation analysis (pp. 23–41).West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Couper-Kuhlen, E. (1996). The prosody of repetition: on quoting and mimicry. In E. Couper-Kuhlen & M. Selting (eds), Prosody in Conversation: Interactional Studies (pp.405–435). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511597862.011
Demetras, M. J., Post, K. N. & Snow, C. E. (1986). The role of repetitions and clarification questions. Journal of Child Language, 13, 275–292. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900008059
Ferguson, C. (1964). Baby talk in six languages. American Anthropologist, 66, 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1964.66.suppl_3.02a00060
Fester, C. B. & Skinner, B. F. (1957). Schedules of reinforcement. East Norwalk, CT: Appleton-Century-Crofts. https://doi.org/10.1037/10627-000
Filipi, A. (2009). Toddler and parent interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.192
Forrester, M. A. (2008). The emergence of self-repair: A case study of one child during early preschool years. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 41(1), 99–128. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351810701691206
Forrester, M. A. (2015). Early social interaction: A case of comparison of developmental pragmatics and psychoanalyst theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hall, J. K. (2007). Redressing the roles of correction and repair in research on second and foreign language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 511–526. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00619.x
Harris, M. (1992). Language experience and early language development: From input to uptake. Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Treiman, R. & Schneiderman, M. (1984). Brown and Hanlon revisited: Mother’s sensitivity to ungrammatical forms. Journal of Child Language, 11, 81–88. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900005596
Jefferson, G. (1974). Error correction as an interactional resource. Language in Society, 3(2), 181–199. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500004334
Kendrick, K. H. (2015). Other-initiated repair in English. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 164–190. https://doi.org/10.2478/opli-2014-0009
Kitzinger, C. (2013). Repair. In J. Sidnell & T. Stivers (eds), The handbook of conversation analysis (pp. 229–256). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Laakso, M. (2010). Children’s emerging and developing self-repair practices. In H. Gardner & M. Forrester (eds), Analyzing interactions in childhood: Insights from conversation analysis (pp. 229–256). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723710370534
Laakso, M. & Soininen, M. (2010). Mother-initiated repair sequences in interactions of 3-year-old children. First Language, 30, 329–353.
Moerk, E. (1991). Positive evidence for negative evidence. First Language, 11, 219–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/014272379101103202
Morgan, J. L., Bonamo, K. M. & Travis, L. L. (1995). Negative evidence on negative evidence. American Psychological Association, 31(21), 180–197. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.31.2.180
Nelson, K., Camarata, S. M., Welsh, J., Butkovsky, L. & Camarata, M. (1996). Effects of imitative and conversational recasting treatment on the acquisition of grammar in children with specific language impairment and younger language-normal children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 39, 850–859. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3904.850
Nolan, F. (2003). Intonational equivalence: An experimental evaluation of pitch scales. In M. Solé, D. Recasens & J. Romero (eds), Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (pp. 771–774). Barcelona: Casual Productions.
Pine, J. M. (1994). The language of primary caregivers. In C. Gallaway & B. J. Richards (eds), Input and interaction in language acquisition (pp. 15–37). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620690.003
Rossi. G. (2015). Other-initiated repair in Italian. Open Linguistics, 1, 256–282. https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2015-0002
Saxton, M. (1997). The contrast theory of negative input. Journal of Child Language, 24, 139–161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500099600298X
Saxton, M. (2000). Negative evidence and negative feedback: Immediate effects on the grammaticality of child speech. First Language, 20, 221–251. https://doi.org/10.1177/014272370002006001
Schegloff, E. A. (1992). Repair after next turn: The last structurally provided defense of intersubjectivity in conversation. American Journal of Sociology, 97(5), 1295–1345. https://doi.org/10.1086/229903
Schegloff, E. A. (1997). Third Turn Repair. In R. G. Gregory, F. Crawford, D. Schiffrin & J. Baugh (eds), Towards a social science of language: Papers in honor of William Labov. volume 2: Social interaction and discourse structures (pp. 31–40). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.128.05sch
Schegloff, E. A. (2000). When ‘others’ initiate repair. Applied Linguistics, 21, 205–243. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/21.2.205
Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G. & Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53, 361–382. https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.1977.0041
Snow, C. E. (1994). Beginning from baby talk: Twenty years of research on input in interaction. In C. Gallaway & B. J. Richards (eds), Input and interaction in language acquisition (pp. 3–12). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620690.002
Svennevig, J. (2000). Getting acquainted in conversation: A study of initial interactions. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.64
Svennevig, J. (2008). Trying the easiest solution first in other-initiation of repair. Journal of Pragmatics, 40, 333–348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2007.11.007
Tarplee, C. (1993). Working on talk: The collaborative shaping of linguistic skills within adult–child interaction. DPhil thesis, Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, UK.
Tarplee, C. (1996). Working on young children’s utterances: Prosodic aspects of repetition during picture labelling. In E. Couper-Kuhlen & M. Selting (eds), Prosody in conversation: Interactional studies (pp. 405–435). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511597862.012
Tarplee, C. (2010). Next turn and intersubjectivity in children’s language. In H. Gardner & M. Forrester (eds) Analysing interactions in childhood: Insights from conversation analysis (pp. 23–41). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Walker, T. (2017). Phonetic and sequential differences of other-repetitions in repair initiation. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 50(4), 330–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2017.1340717
Wells, B. (2010). Tonal repetition and tonal contrast in English carer–child interaction. In D. Barth-Weigngarden, E. Reber & M. Selting (eds), Prosody in interaction (pp. 243–262). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/sidag.23.20wel
Wells, B. & Stackhouse, J (2016). Children’s intonation: A framework for practice and research. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Wilkinson, R. & Beeke, S. (2012). The conversation analysis transcription template and instructions on its use. Unpublished manuscript prepared for students, University of Sheffield.
Wootton, A. (1994). Object transfer, intersubjectivity and 3rd position repair: Early developmental observations of one child. Journal of Child Language, 21, 543–564. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000900009454
Published
2018-08-03
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Xavier, C. C. M., & Walker, T. (2018). Lexical repetitions and repair initiation in mother–child talk. Research on Children and Social Interaction, 2(1), 49-73. https://doi.org/10.1558/rcsi.33065
