,233- Linguistic skills of 16- and 23-month-old twins and singletons in a triadic context* HÉLÈNE TREMBLAY-LEVEAU

Previous studies of twins ’ language development have failed to control for possible context effects. We examined 16- and 23-month-old twins ’ and singletons ’ language productions in a triadic context. The triads included either two same-age toddlers and an adult experimenter, or a set of twins and the same adult experimenter. Since there are only two communicative roles- agent and recipient- for three participants, each child in turn experienced momentary exclusion as the consequence of the conversation between the other two. Explicit verbal attempts to tackle exclusion and participate in dyadic or triadic conversations were investigated. Results showed that 23-month-old twins’ language production outstripped singletons ’ in terms of quantity and quality. The specific developmental course of linguistic skills for children living mostly in a multi-participant context is discussed. Recent research suggests that children’s interactions with their siblings and their mothers have considerable influence on their understanding of others and on the development of their expressive language skill