%A Camila Scaff
%A Marisa Casillas
%A Jonathan Stieglitz
%A Alejandrina Cristia
%J Infancy
%T Characterization of children's verbal input in a forager-farmer population using long-form audio recordings and diverse input definitions
%X There is little systematically collected quantitative empirical data on how much linguistic input children in small-scale societies encounter, with some estimates suggesting low levels of directed speech. We report on an ecologically-valid analysis of speech experienced over the course of a day by young children (N = 24, 6–58 months old, 33% female) in a forager-horticulturalist population of lowland Bolivia. A permissive definition of input (i.e., including overlapping, background, and non-linguistic vocalizations) leads to massive changes in terms of input quantity, including a quadrupling of the estimate for overall input compared to a restrictive definition (only near and clear speech), while who talked to and around a focal child is relatively stable across input definitions. We discuss implications of these results for theoretical and empirical research into language acquisition.
%N n° 2
%P 196-215
%V vol. 29
%C Hoboken
%D 2023
%I John Wiley & Sons
%R 10.1111/infa.12568
%L publications48412