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Verbal and nonverbal aspects of mothers' directives*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

H. R. Schaffer ,
Anne Hepburn  and
G. M. Collis
H. R. Schaffer
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde
Anne Hepburn
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde
G. M. Collis
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde
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Abstract

Maternal directives to children aged 10 and 18 months were analysed with respect to both verbal and concomitant nonverbal aspects. The findings emphasize the multimodal nature of mothers' communicative messages and draw attention to the way in which language occurs in an action context and not as an isolated output. No indication was found for this age range that verbal devices come to replace nonverbal ones. At both ages most utterances were accompanied by some form of nonverbal behaviour; the precise nature of the association, however, gives little support to the idea of parallel coding. The child's own behaviour is also shown to form part of the context in which maternal speech takes place.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , June 1983 , pp. 337 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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Footnotes

[*]

This research was supported by a grant from the Social Science Research Council. The authors are grateful for the help and advice given by Margaret Hunter, Christine Liddell, Rhian Powell, Norman Sharp and Charmaine Whitehouse. Address for correspondence: H. R. Schaffer, Department of Psychology, University of Strathclyde, Turnbull Building, 155 George Street, Glasgow, G1 1RD, Scotland.

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