This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (13) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Rabain-Jamin, J. Articles by Sabeau-Jouannet, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Maternal Speech to 4-month-old Infants in Two Cultures: Wolof and French

CNRS, Université René Descartes-Paris V, France

Emilie Sabeau-Jouannet

CNRS, Université René Descartes-Paris V, France

The infant-directed speech of Wolof-speaking Senegalese mothers and French-speaking mothers living in Paris were compared to relate infant-directed communicative acts to the value system of the society to which the speaker belongs, and to describe the child’s place in those societies. Mother-infant linguistic interactions with 4-month-old infants were recorded (five dyads in the French group and four in the Wolof group). The discourse variables of the pragmatic and semantic categories in the mothers’ speech were analysed. The cross-cultural analysis included a comparison of the conventional versus shifted use of person markers by the mothers in the two cultures. The results demonstrated some features common to both groups, namely, a high percentage of expressive speech acts and the importance of affect-related statements. Some culture-specific emphases and tendencies were also noted. Whereas the French mothers’ conversational exchanges with their infants were dyadic in organisation and centred on the immediate physical environment, the Wolof mothers frequently expanded the dyadic framework to introduce third parties as conversational partners but talked very little about the immediate physical environment. Thus, it appears that cultural conceptions influence not only the content of mother-infant exchanges but also their participant structure.

International Journal of Behavioral Development, Vol. 20, No. 3, 425-451 (1997)
DOI: 10.1080/016502597385216


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Abels, H. Keller, P. Mohite, H. Mankodi, J. Shastri, S. Bhargava, S. Jasrai, and A. Lakhani Early Socialization Contexts and Social Experiences of Infants in Rural and Urban Gujarat, India Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, November 1, 2005; 36(6): 717 - 738. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Keller, E. Hentschel, R. D. Yovsi, B. Lamm, M. Abels, and V. Haas The Psycho-linguistic Embodiment of Parental Ethnotheories: A New Avenue to Understanding Cultural Processes in Parental Reasoning Culture Psychology, September 1, 2004; 10(3): 293 - 330. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Keller, Z. Papaligoura, P. Kuensemueller, S. Voelker, C. Papaeliou, A. Lohaus, B. Lamm, T. Kokkinaki, E. Chrysikou, and V. Mousouli Concepts of Mother-Infant Interaction in Greece and Germany Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, November 1, 2003; 34(6): 677 - 689. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Rabain-Jamin Language use in mother-child and young sibling interactions in Senegal First Language, January 1, 2001; 21(63): 357 - 385. [Abstract] [PDF]