caa a22 4500 386359083 CHVBK 20180307111909.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e198902 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S030500090001343X doi S030500090001343X pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S030500090001343X How the prosodic cues in motherese might assist language learning [Elektronische Daten] The function of motherese has become a pivotal issue in the language-learning literature. The current research takes the approach of asking whether the prosodic characteristics that are distinctive to motherese could play a special role in facilitating the acquisition of syntax. Hirsh-Pasek, Kemler Nelson, Jusczyk, Cassidy, Druss & Kennedy (1987) showed that infants aged 0;7-0;10 are sensitive to prosodic cues that would help them segment the speech stream into perceptual units that correspond to clauses. The present study shows that infants' sensitivity to segment-marking cues in ongoing speech holds for motherese but not for adult-directed speech. The finding is that, for motherese only, infants orient longer to speech that has been interrupted at clausal boundaries than to matched speech that has been interrupted at within-clause locations. This selective preference indicates that the prosodie qualities of motherese provide infants with cues to units of speech that correspond to grammatical units of language - a potentially fundamental contribution of motherese to the learning of syntax. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989 Nelson Deborah G. Kemler Swarthmore College Hirsh-Pasek Kathy Temple University Jusczyk Peter W. University of Oregon and C.N.R.S. & E.H.E.S.S. Cassidy Kimberly Wright Swarthmore College Journal of Child Language Cambridge University Press 16/1(1989-02), 55-68 0305-0009 16:1<55 1989 16 JCL https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500090001343X text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500090001343X text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Nelson Deborah G. Kemler Swarthmore College NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Hirsh-Pasek Kathy Temple University NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Jusczyk Peter W. University of Oregon and C.N.R.S. & E.H.E.S.S NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Cassidy Kimberly Wright Swarthmore College NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Child Language Cambridge University Press 16/1(1989-02), 55-68 0305-0009 16:1<55 1989 16 JCL CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge