Does offspring of speech-language pathologist mothers excel in language skills?

Abstract

This study compared the language abilities of typically developing Cantonese-speaking children with Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) mothers and non-SLP mothers in Hong Kong. Mean length of utterance (MLU) and type token ratio (TTR) were compared between the two groups of children matched for age. MANCOVA indicated a significant difference between MLU and TTR in children aged 18-36 months with SLP and non-SLP mothers. The quality and quantity of the linguistic input of the two groups of mothers were therefore analyzed in detail. Results indicated that SLP and non-SLP mothers produced comparable amount of linguistic input, but differed qualitatively. SLP mothers used fewer lower-level language facilitative techniques (LFTs) and more higher-level LFTs. More specifically, SLP mothers used more expansions, expatiations and cues than non-SLP mothers when interacting with their child. These results reinforce the LFTs taught in parent training programmes.