Grant Supported Research

Synopsis of NIH/NICHD grant titled, “The Acquisition of Temporal  Patterns in Child Speech and Language,” 
directed by Melissa A. Redford. (Grant period 2009-2016)

 The long-term research goal of the current project is to model the  structures and strategies that underlie the acquisition of  suprasegmentals in the context of a developing system. The current  project is laying the foundation for this long-term goal by  characterizing a full range of prosodic patterns in 5- to 11-year-old  English-speaking children’s speech, with an emphasis on temporal  patterns. We are seeking to identify the rate at which different  patterns are acquired in a relatively understudied age group whose  language is functional and complex but prosodically immature (Wells et  al., 2004). We are also seeking to identify interactions between timing,  intonation, and syntax in children’s production of prosody, and the  language and nonlanguage factors that explain why children’s prosodic  speech patterns are different from those of adults. Our working  hypothesis is that children’s rhythmic speech is increasingly modulated  over time to highlight conceptual and structural aspects of the message  for listeners, which is a major function of adult prosody (Cutler et  al., 1997; Frazier et al., 2006). This developmental process is assumed  to unfold as children overcome motoric constraints and become more  sensitive to their listeners' needs. Moreover, the speech plan that  underlies the production of suprasegmental patterns is assumed to evolve  with developing memory and syntactic abilities.

Return to Top of Page