Englund, K. & Skaug, S.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Interactive media is increasingly used by toddlers, and there is a need for research on how it affects language development. Speech interaction with adults is important for language development and it has been shown that mothers' interactive behaviour by more contingent responding is positive for phoneme learning. It has also been shown that mothers' interactive behaviour differs in different media settings and the question remains if there are differences in the speech toddlers experience in these settings. The main aim of the current experiment was therefore to explore the characteristics of mothers' child directed speech (CDS) in different media settings. Recordings were made of 22 mothers' IDS to their toddlers during tablet play, watching TV and free play. Since phoneme learning seem to be easier from CDS with an expanded vowel space and mothers are more responsive during tablet use, one of the predictions were that vowel space would be larger during tablet use compared to the other two situations. Results did not support this, instead the largest vowel space appeared during free play. Possible explanations are discussed.