Journal of Child Language Special Issue:
The influence of input quality and communicative interaction on language development
Guest Editors: Elma Blom and Melanie Soderstrom
While studies on the influence of the input on language development have often focused on the quantity of input, there is a growing recognition of the importance of qualitative aspects of the input and the characteristics of communicative interaction. Papers for the special issue would include studies of any qualitative input and interaction-based aspects of language development in diverse populations of children and youth.
Relevant topics and questions that papers could address are the following:
● Input quality, communicative interaction and language development: What is the role of qualitative characteristics of the input (e.g. child-directed speech, joint attention, responsiveness, turn-taking, reading vs. screentime, computer-mediated communication) in language development? What kinds of input quality and characteristics matter in early development?
● Input quality and communicative interaction in relation to socio-economic, cultural and linguistic diversity: Do qualitative aspects of the input explain the influence of socio-economic status on language development? How can linguistic influences be understood in the context of divergent communicative styles across cultures and individuals? How do the qualitative and structural aspects of nonnative input have an effect on children’s language development?
● Input quality and communicative interaction effects in relation with sources of individual differences in child and/or caregiver: Do individual difference factors of the child and/or caregiver (e.g., age, sex/gender, language proficiency) impact on input quality and communicative interaction?
● Qualitative aspects of the input in the context of children with language and communication disorders: How are input quality and communicative interaction influenced by a language or communication disorder on the part of child or caregiver?
The deadline for submission is September 1, 2018. Papers should be a maximum of 10,000 words, shorter papers preferred. Submissions should be made on Manuscript Central: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jcl. In your covering letter, please state that the manuscript is to be considered for this special issue. Instructions for contributors are available on Manuscript Central.
The papers are expected to be published Autumn 2019. Papers that are accepted earlier will be published earlier online (FirstView). If there are too many accepted submissions for the special issue, the editors will select the most relevant papers to appear in the special issue and the other papers will appear in regular issues.