By Lauren Lowry Hanen SLP and Clinical Staff Writer For many of us, working with families from diverse cultures is the norm. When presented with a child from a cultural or linguistic background that is different from our own, we might initially think about things like: Do I need an interpreter? Is there a standardized assessment tool in the child s language? Do my assessment materials and toys reflect the child s real-life experiences at home? How will the family s culture influence their goals for their child? Does the family play and talk regularly with their child or would this be unusual for them? Will my recommendations fit with the family s parenting values? (Norbury & Sparks, 2013) These are all valid considerations and give us a starting point when thinking about how to practice in a culturally sensitive manner. But another, potentially less obvious factor to consider is the influence of the parents communicative behaviours on the child s early language development. We know that the everyday interactions that children have with their parents strongly influence their language development. What is still under investigation, however, is the way cultural differences in these early interactions shape infants emerging communication skills. For example, do parents and infants from different cultural backgrounds vary in the way they use gesture and language with one another and, if so, how does this impact infants emerging communication skills? This information can help us determine whether a young child whom we are assessing presents with a language delay or whether this is simply a language difference. Study Comparing Three Different Cultures In a study of 226 mothers and their infants, Tamis-LeMonda and her colleagues examined how cultural differences in mother and child communicative behaviours related to the infants emerging skills (Tamis- LeMonda, Song, Smith Leavell, Kahana-Kalman & Yoshikawa, 2012). They studied three groups of mothers and babies living in the Northeast United States with the following respective cultural backgrounds: Mexican, Dominican, and African American. Each group of mothers differed according to their cultural background and their immigrant status (how long they had lived in the United States and how many generations of their family had lived in the United States). Previous studies have suggested that these three groups of parents may differ in their parenting views and practices, and Tamis-LeMonda and her colleagues predicted that this may influence the way they used gestures and language with their infants.
In order to determine the similarities and differences in mothers and infants communicative behaviours, the authors examined their gestures and language/vocalizations when the infants were 14 months and 24 months old. They videotaped the mothers interacting with their infants with the following three items: A wordless number book with pictures of common objects A wordless emotion book with pictures of infants displaying various emotions Colourful wooden beads and a string for threading These items were chosen to elicit different communicative behaviours. For example, books may elicit more referential language and/or gestures, and beads may elicit more regulatory language as mothers instruct their babies about how to string the beads. The authors assessments of the infants included: At 14 months, they looked at the infants gestures and vocabulary via the English and/or Spanish version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI) (Fenson, Dale, Reznick, Thal, Bates, Hartung, Pethick, & Reilly, 2004) At 24 months, they examined the infants expressive and receptive language using the MCDI and via direct testing. In addition, they looked at the children s action sequencing and imitation, which is the ability to carry out and/or imitate a sequence of actions when provided with a demonstration (such as copying how someone uses a crayon to draw a square). The authors hypothesized that frequent exposure to gestures may promote infants skills in this area. Study Results Tamis-LeMonda et al. (2012) noticed some similarities between the groups, such as: Mothers used the same amount of language with their children. They used more referential language during books and more regulatory language with the beads. Mothers regulatory language was not related to infant outcomes Mothers and infants gestured most while sharing the number book, and infants also vocalized most during the number book Infants gestured with the same frequency, and girls used more gestures than boys The authors also noted many differences between the three groups: Differences in mothers and infants behaviour Gestures: o Mexican mothers gestured more frequently, especially at 14 months, and were more likely to pair their vocalizations with gestures. By 24 months, the Dominican mothers were gesturing as often as the Mexican mothers. African American mothers remained low in their relative gesture use. o Mothers differed in the type of language they paired with gestures. African American mothers were more likely than the other mothers to pair their referential language with gestures, while Mexican and Dominican mothers were more likely to pair their regulatory language with gestures.
o Mexican and Dominican infants had larger gestural vocabularies at 14 months than the African American babies. The Mexican infants also varied their gesture use according to the activity (they used more gestures while sharing the number book and fewer gestures during the beads). The other infants didn t alter their use of gestures according to the activity. Vocalizations/Language o African American mothers used more referential language than the other mothers. Mexican and Dominican mothers used more regulatory languageand talked most while stringing the beads. o Mexican infants had the lowest expressive language scores and vocalized the least. However, these infants also had the strongest receptive language (which resulted in the largest receptive-expressive gap). Dominican infants vocalized more than the other two groups. Action sequencing and imitation o Mexican and Dominican infants had stronger action sequencing and imitation at 24 months than African American infants. After looking at the groups similarities and differences, the authors then looked for associations between the mothers and infants communicative behaviours and the infants 24 month skills. Some of the associations they found include: Associations with infants 24 month skills Mothers gestures were associated with infants gesture use Mothers gestures at 24 months were associated with infants vocalizations Mothers gestures at 14 months were associated with infants action sequencing and imitation, and receptive language skills Mothers referential language was associated with infants vocalizations, gestures, and expressive language skills Infant vocalization at 14 months was associated with their receptive language, and at 24 months it was associated with their expressive language Putting This All Together The behaviours observed by Tamis-LeMonda and her colleagues revealed some interesting patterns: Mothers who gestured more had infants with larger gesture vocabularies and who were better at action sequencing and imitation The authors suggest that gestural communication requires keen observation and the ability to decipher the meanings conveyed by others hand movements (p. 386). This is likely why exposure to a lot of gestures as an infant promotes infants ability to sequence and imitate a string of actions.
Greater gesture exposure resulted in stronger receptive language but weaker expressive skills Mexican infants, who were exposed to the most gestures, met this profile. This is a somewhat surprising result since other research has found that children s own gesture use is associated with expressive language development (Goldin-Meadow, 2015; Capone Singleton & Saks, 2015). Tamis-LeMonda et al. (2015) speculate that gestures may have promoted receptive skills more than expressive skills because gestures convey meaning and are often aimed at eliciting an action from the listener (e.g. to look where the mother is pointing, or to follow a simple command such as go get the cup ). In this way, the infants comprehension may have been encouraged by such gestures. Mothers from different cultures varied in their use of referential and regulatory language, and this influenced their infants development African American mothers used more referential language, which had many benefits as it was associated with several infant outcomes at 24 months (vocalizations, gestures, and expressive language skills). Mexican and Dominican mothers, however, used more regulatory language, and this was not associated with any infant outcomes. The type of language used by mothers may have been influenced by cultural beliefs about parenting. For example, the authors suggest that the Mexican and Dominican mothers use of regulatory language (giving directions, etc.), might reflect Latino values of proper behavior and the importance of being tranquilo and respectful (p. 394). Interestingly, the Latino mothers talked most during the stringing beads, an activity which requires more directions and regulatory language. Summarizing, Tamis-LeMonda et al. (2012) explain: "Variations in mothers and infants gestures and language/vocalizations were associated with specific skills at 2 years of age, supporting the idea that early interactions with mothers shape children s developmental trajectories (p. 395). Providing Culturally-Sensitive Practice Tamis-LeMonda and her colleagues provide suggestions for working with families from diverse cultural backgrounds: Assess a variety of communication skills if an infant s expressive language skills are used as the primary means to gauge his developmental trajectory, critical information about his actual strengths and weaknesses may be missed. For example, some groups, like the Mexican infants in this study, may evidence a receptive-expressive gap, or dissociation between expressive language and expressive gestures. Acquiring as much information as possible about all communication domains will provide the most accurate picture of a child s development and help us determine whether a child has a language delay or simply a difference due to his exposure. Be aware of parents use of gestures and language from a young age, infants from diverse cultural backgrounds evidence divergent developmental paths, and this is influenced by the way their parents communicate. Mothers gestures and language were both associated with later infant skills, so we need to be cognizant of these different ways of communicating and the different paths infants might take to acquire language. Furthermore, when we make recommendations about how parents communicate with their child, we need to ensure our suggestions fall within parents comfort zone.
Encourage referential language through book sharing because mothers referential language was associated with expressive language, this type of language should be encouraged. The authors explain that referential language provides semantically rich input such as lexical information about objects and events, whereas regulatory language often makes use of less specific labels (e.g. put it over there ). This lexical richness may be what promotes expressive skills. The mothers in this study were most likely to use referential language while sharing books, so this activity should be encouraged with families (as long as it is a familiar, comfortable activity for them). These suggestions are consistent with the Hanen approach, which focuses on fostering referential language and gesture use as a way to build children s expressive and receptive language development. In order to accurately assess and identify children, as well as provide family-centered intervention, we must continually try to broaden our understanding of different cultural practices and perspectives. This begins with gathering as much information as possible from the child s family, which can be accomplished by: Encouraging families to share their perspective Being responsive and respectful of each individuals values Avoiding making assumptions and drawing conclusions based solely on culture Thinking about how cultural dimensions might be a factor when families behaviour or reactions seem unexpected Considering different styles of communication through a cultural lens. For example, the use of referential versus regulatory language, or favouring gestures over language. (College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario, 2016) Furthermore, we too have our own cultural values and biases, and this shapes how we view the world. We need to consider how this may influence our interactions with families (College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario, 2016). The work of Tamis-LeMonda et al. sheds some light on the influence of culture on a child s language development. But we must also keep in mind that every family is unique. Two families from the same cultural background can have very different perspectives about parenting and communicating with their child. We can t make generalizations or assumptions based on a child s culture. It s only through observation, discussion with the family, and keeping an open mind that we will practice in a more culturally-sensitive manner.
References College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario. (2016). Guide for Service Delivery across Diverse Cultures. Retrieved online at: http://www.caslpo.com/sites/default/uploads/files/gu_en_%20service_delivery_across_diverse_culture s.pdf. Fenson, L., Dale, P.S., Reznick, J.S., Thal, D., Bates, E., Hartung, J.P., Pethick, S., & Reilly, J.S. (2004). MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: User s guide and technical manual. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing. Goldin-Meadow, S. (2015). Gesture as a window onto communicative abilities: Implications for diagnosis and intervention. Perspectives on Language Learning and Education, 22, 50-60. Capone Singleton, N. & Saks, J. (2015). Co-speech gesture input as a support for language learning in children with and without early language delay. Perspectives on Language Learning and Education, 22, 61-71. Norbury, C. F. & Sparks, A. (2013). Difference or Disorder? Cultural Issues in Understanding Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 45-58. Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Song, L., Smith Leavell, A., Kahana-Kalman, R., & Yoshikawa, H. (2012). Ethnic differences in mother infant language and gestural communications are associated with specific skills in infants. Developmental Science, 15:3, 384 397.