Language in the context of motor activity: Gross and fine motor differences.

The present study tested a portion of McCabe\u27s (1989) model which predicts that a child\u27s level of motor development may influence speech produced by both parents and child and subsequently the language acquisition style the child will develop. Subjects were eight boys and eight girls, and their mothers. Mothers were given the Motor Skills Domain of the Vineland Behavior Adaptive Scales to measure the child\u27s current motor ability. Two out of three children who were at higher levels of motor development and lower levels of language development used an expressive style of speech. It was suggested that measures other than MLU be used to determine linguistic maturity due to characteristics of the expressive style. Contexts of gross and fine-motor activity were also created to see if different motor activity produces different speech. Context influenced types of speech produced in both mother and child, although not always in accompaniment. When responding to their mothers\u27 speech, children did not respond to object labels to the same degree as their mothers had produced them. Motor development is a contextual influence on language development and children appear to contribute independently to the language-learning context. However, interaction of parent, child, and context appears to be even more subtle and indirect than McCabe\u27s model proposes.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1990 .M679. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 30-03, page: 0893. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1990