Fathers\u27 Language Influence On Their Six-month-old Infants\u27 Vocalization During Free-play

Data for this study were derived from videotapes of 26 father-infant dyads, specifically from a five minute period of free-play. The first step was the creation of a literal transcription of the father-infant dyads interaction. Subsequently, nine variables of fathers\u27 language characteristics and one infant characteristic were coded employing the literal transcriptions and observing the videotapes. The fathers\u27 language variables were number of : (1) father utterances, (2) father words, (3) father contingent responses, (4) father teaching utterances, (5) father descriptive teaching utterances, (6) father directive teaching utterances - making commands, (7) father directive teaching utterance - asking questions, (8) percentage of father teaching utterances, and (9) mean length of father utterances (MLU). The infant variable was number of vocalizations. Eight out of the nine variables were positively correlated to infant vocalizations, indicating the importance of fathers input in child language development. The only negative correlation in the present study was between Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) and infant vocalizations and the possible reasons are discussed. The findings support the idea that there are positive relationships between fathers\u27 language characteristics and infant vocalizations. Recommendations are made that fathers should be involved in early intervention programs