Major
Communicative Disorders
Advisor
Flippin, Michelle
Advisor Department
Communicative Disorders
Date
5-2017
Keywords
Speech; Communication; LENA; Technology; Children; Language
Abstract
Children are exposed to language in a variety of ways and by a multitude of people - parents, teachers, friends, etc. Language input that a child receives has been a significant area of study for researchers to determine the cognitive, linguistic, and social developmental levels of speech clients. Traditionally, maternal speech input has been viewed as more influential than paternal speech input. The purpose of this study is to use the Bridge Hypothesis of paternal speech to compare the speech between child and mother vs. child and father through the use of LENA technology. Gathering a speech sample can be a tedious task; however, with the technology of LENA devices, data from a speech sample is sorted and analyzed. Specific information can then be extrapolated from the data to analyze further. This pilot study uses LENA technology to examine the associations between parental input of mothers and fathers and the language skills of preschoolers. The results of this study will aid in determining the value of paternal input on a typically developing child.