How much do children's storybooks use Child-Directed-Speech (CDS) to make it easier for a child to read and learn?

Emily Sweetman

 

Word Count: 508

 

I have fond memories of reading children's storybooks as a child. This gave me the idea to expand this existing theory CDS of Jerome Bruner, changing the mode from spoken interaction to written storybooks that I enjoyed as a child.

 

Didn't your mother often use Motherese narrative anyway?

'The speech mothers use in first few months of life, noted they commented on everyday events in a remarkably narrative way, imputing motives and emotions and the rudiments of a plot.'

(Snow 1977)

And books can improve the child's skills greatly:

Storybook reading may enhance written language skills, vocabulary awareness and syntax. (Senchal et al 1998)

In a journalistic article it amazingly promoted children reading storybooks:

"Parents need to know the importance of providing linguistic nutrition and exercise to their young children," Fernald said.

CDS breaks language down into understandable/simplified chunks:

• Repeated sentence frames and expansion

• Embedded in here and now (Concrete nouns/present tense not past/future tense, this is hypothetical and imaginary)

• Restricted range of sentences

• Simple sentences

 

 CDS varies depending on age (Bellinger 1980).

 

I looked at how each storybook uses

CDS.

Firstly 'I Can Read More' by Dick Bruna is a concept book, teaching things familiar to the child's everyday life usually for toddlers aged 1-3. There are simple sentences or complex sentences of only two simple clauses connected by a comma, expectedly showing a restricted range of sentences. Present tense shows it's embedded in here and now. Furthermore mostly common-concrete nouns shows more predictable concepts that are found in the child's immediate world.

Secondly, 'Green Eggs and Ham' by Dr. Seuss is more for older ages 4-8 with an interesting plot and two characters of which one has an issue of being a fussy eater an issue of parents with their young children being addressed here.

There are clear questions 'Would you, could you on a train?' and negative structures 'I do not like green eggs and ham' repeatedly to reinforce them. Contrastingly at the end there is a positive structures like 'I do so like green eggs and ham!' This shows repetition and expansion to show how to form a positive structure without 'not.'

Literally all simple sentences makes it a lot clearer for the children. Additionally very simplified meaning with mostly common-concrete nouns like 'house' and 'mouse,' 'box' and 'fox' and 'goat' and 'boat.' The rhyming pairs are catchy and easier for them to remember.

Hang on, does this mean there is no examples of lack of child-directed speech in these storybooks?

 

Yes! I'm afraid to say there are in fact some examples of lack of child-directed speech. In 'I can read more' it is embedded in here and now in present tense. Unfortunately, in 'Green eggs and ham,' there is future tense 'will' and past tense 'would' and 'could' showing it is not embedded in here and now, this is clearly not a feature of child-directed speech.