http://hdl.handle.net/1808/530 Search the Channel search http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/simple-search http://hdl.handle.net/1808/549 Title: ON THE MOTIVATION AND STRUCTURE OF A STRENGTHENING PROCESS IN TSWANA<br/><br/>Authors: Schaefer, Ronald P<br/><br/>Abstract: A synchronic morphophonemic pattern of alternation constituting a single phonological process in Tswana, a Southeastern Bantu language, is examined.2 In order to account tentatively for this process, a discussion of its motivation and structure is undertaken. Two motivating conditions are identified: the Reflexive morpheme and a syllabic nasal consonant. Restricting subsequent discussion to the nasal condition, a hierarchical strength structure is postulated to underlie the process. This postulated strength hierarchy appears to follow from two principles, an Intersyllable Principle derived from Hooper (1976) and the Inertial Development Principle found in Foley (1977). http://hdl.handle.net/1808/548 Title: DEVELOPMENT OF TURN TAKING IN A YOUNG CHILD IN RELATIONSHIP TO PAUSES IN THE MOTHER'S SPEECH<br/><br/>Authors: Finch, Amy<br/><br/>Abstract: The development of turn taking skills was analyzed during interactions of one mother child pair. This analysis investigated the frequency and length of dyadic pauses in the mother's speech. It was hypothesized that these dyadic pauses were turn yielding signals that the mother used to cue her child to take her turn in the conversational interaction. It was further hypothesized that there would be changes in the frequency and length of dyadic pauses as the child became a more active participant in the turn taking process. The results of this study indicated that both the frequency and length of pauses changed with increases in the linguistic skills of the child. These results are discussed in light of the methodological procedure used as well as to the changes in the: child's responses. http://hdl.handle.net/1808/547 Title: THE ROLE OF GESTURE IN COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT<br/><br/>Authors: Romski, Mary Ann<br/><br/>Abstract: This study investigated the role of gesture in communication development. Gestural categories, based on communicative function, were identified from longitudinal videotapes of one mother-child pair. The results of the study indicated that gestures can be reliably delineated. In addition, they served a number of communicative functions: 1) attention directing; 2) referent specifying; 3) requesting information or action; 4) supporting the verbal message and 5) answering yes/no questions. Although the pair's activity influenced the gestural category utilized, a developmental pattern emerged. As the child's linguistic sophistication increased, the mother's use of gestures decreased and the child's increased. The results are discussed with respect to the available literature. http://hdl.handle.net/1808/546 Title: DECREMENTS IN CHILDREN'S RESPONSES TO BIG AND TALL: A Reconsideration of the Potential Cognitive and Semantic Causes<br/><br/>Authors: Gathercole, V.C. Mueller<br/><br/>Abstract: The potential causes of decrements in children's understanding of big and tall (Maratsos, 1973, 1974) are reconsidered. Five hypotheses are examined in detail. Two of them, the strong cognitive hypothesis and the strong semantic hypothesis, offer the most viable explanations for the decrements, but it is impossible to choose between them on the basis of the evidence presently available. However, it is argued that one type of evidence would prove instrumental in choosing between the two hypotheses: data on the acquisition of spatial adjectives in other languages. The implications that such evidence would have for the acquisition of word meaning in general are discussed.