Language And Cognitive Development Based On A Longitudinal...

The following is a review of the article â€Å"New Evidence About Language and Cognitive Development Based on a Longitudinal Study: Hypotheses for Intervention† (Goldin-Meadow et al., 2014). The article discusses the research that was done on language learning in toddlers. I will summarize the purpose of the research, the methods used, and an interpretation of the findings. I will then discuss the findings in relation to developmental theories as discussed by Berger (2014). I will conclude with a reflection on how this relates to my own experience. Purpose of the Research The authors undertook this research in order to better understand the factors that affect language learning. The findings obtained through this research may help predict†¦show more content†¦The researches did 90-minute home observations every four months for four years (total of 12 visits per child). The children were observed from the age of 14 months to 58 months. The researches also observed 40 children with unilateral brain injury (BI). There was no demographic related selection for these 40 children and they varied in age from 14 to 54 months. At least four visits were done with these 40 families. Parent-child interactions were videotaped for 90 minutes during each visit. All parent and child gestures and speech were then transcribed. Interpretation of Findings The authors discussed three outcomes in their research. The first is that SES and BI can cause variance in child gestures. The use of gestures can be an indicator of later language use in both typically developing children and children with brain injuries. In the group of typically developing children, it was found the use of gestures varies based on the SES. A difference in gesture use was found in children at 14 months of age, and that different in gesture use affected later language learning. The amount of parental gestures was related to SES and affected the amount of child gestures. Although parent gestures do not impact language learning, early child gestures do. Therefore, if the amount of parent gestures, impacts the amount of child gestures, language learning can be impacted as a result of fewer child gestures. The