The Role of Context in Early Language Development

Early word learning takes place across different contexts. For example, in a single day a child may hear the noun “cup” in a wide range of places (e.g., in the car, at the playground, in the stroller) and from a wide range of speakers (e.g., mother, father, sibling). Understanding the role of spatial and speaker context in word learning is important because context affects learning and memory (Godden & Baddeley, 1975; Hayne, MacDonald, & Barr, 1997; Rovee-Collier & Default 1991; Smith 1982; Smith, Glenberg, & Bjork, 1978 and Vlach & Sandhofer, 2011). By examining the role of context using two methodologies to examine multiple contexts, this dissertation suggests context is an integral component of the basic characteristics of word learning. In Paper 1, I experimentally asked what role visual attention plays in an infant’s category generalization in a new context. Forty-eight English monolingual infants, ages 16-20 months (25 males, Mage = 17.42 months, SDage= 1.46 months), were presented with eight novel noun generalization categories. During the learning phase infants were presented with five category exemplars in either: (1) all of the same background context, (2) all varied background contexts, or (3) a combination of same and varied background contexts. All infants’ category generalization performance was tested in a never before seen context. Results suggest that visual attention during learning is associated with category generalization abilities in a new context only for infants whose learning took place in a combination of same and varied background contexts. In Paper 2, I used naturalistic methods to examine what contexts children were in when they (a) were exposed to nouns and (b) produced nouns. Eight families, whom were selected from a larger study conducted by the UCLA Sloan Center on Everyday Lives of Families (CELF: Ochs & Kremer-Sadlik, 2013), participated in the current study. All families had a focal child who was between the ages of 1.5-4.5 years old. Families were filed over multiple days as they carried out everyday-family activities. Video recordings were coded for the spatial and speaker contexts in which the focal child’s language input and output took place. The results describe the spatial and speaker contexts in which children are exposed to and produce nouns. Further, results suggest a positive association between the number of spatial and spatial contexts in which children were exposed to words and the children’s rate of production of those words. By examining how contextual factors affect word learning, this dissertation elucidates some of the learning mechanisms children use to learn language. Moreover, by demonstrating the effect of context on language, this dissertation will validate the need to include contextual factors in word learning research. Together, the results of these studies add to a small but growing body of research suggesting the environmental factors in children’s early learning environments that may support early language learning