MOTHER-CHILD INTERACTION IN TWO YEAR OLD DEAF AND HEARING

The ten mother-child pairs in this investigation participate in a longitudinal study, from 2.5 to 24 months reported on before, in order to establish in which respect the sound productions of deaf children are influenced by lack of auditory perception. Previously, differences in vocalizations between deaf and hearing children were found with regard to number of spoken utterances and type of articulation and phonation. The missing auditory perception may seem the most obvious factor in explaining the differences, but various patterns in visual and vocal mother-infant-toddler interaction must not be neglected. Here we report on a verbal as well as a non-verbal evaluation of mother-child interaction at the age of two in five deaf and five hearing children. We used and adapted Kaye and Charney’s method (1980). A video recording was made in free play and instructed situations at home. This study focusses on verbal and non-verbal pragmatic aspects in mother-child interaction. It gives suggestions for further research with regard to the linguistic level of communicative turns.