Collaborative research: language input during parent-child interactions

Emerson College received a $240,801 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences under the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences program (CFDA 47.075), awarded September 1, 2025, with completion targeted by August 31, 2028. This collaborative research project investigates language input during parent-child interactions, specifically examining whether autistic and non-autistic parents employ different language-tuning strategies when communicating with their children. The primary deliverables include a comprehensive dataset of parent-child interactions recorded during structured play sessions, survey data on parental perceptions of language development, and empirical analyses measuring specific language variables including question types, mean length of utterances, and speaking rate. The research dataset will be made publicly available to the broader research community to facilitate additional discoveries in language development science.

This award supports both fundamental research advancing theoretical understanding of language acquisition mechanisms and translational science applications designed to improve interventions supporting children's language development. The project employs dual methodologies combining parental surveys with recorded interactions using protocols designed to elicit varied child behaviors such as turn-taking, pretend play, and request-making. By contributing a shareable research dataset and evidence-based findings on parent-child language interactions, this NSF-funded initiative advances the Foundation's mission of promoting basic research and education in the behavioral and cognitive sciences while generating resources with potential application to clinical practice and educational interventions.

Abstract

Parent language input is crucial for child language development. Therefore, there has been considerable interest in documenting the kinds of language children hear from their parents and other caregivers. Prior research shows that parents tune their language to children?s abilities, and well-tuned input is important for children?s language comprehension. This project is based on a theoretical framework that predicts that the degree of tuning is affected by similarities and differences between parents and children. The project tests this theory by examining whether autistic and non-autistic parents speak differently when interacting with their children. Studying these differences in tuning informs broader theories about the mechanisms supporting language development. This project also supports translational science by laying the groundwork for helping to improve interventions that support language development in children. This project uses two kinds of methods to study language input to children. The first method involves surveying parents to ask them how they talk with their children, and about what kind of language they believe supports their child's language development. The second method involves recording parents and children as they play together using a protocol designed to elicit a variety of child behaviors, including turn-taking, pretend play, and making requests of the parent. Parent language input during these play sessions is analyzed to measure different language variables, such as the number and types of questions they ask, mean length of utterances, and speaking rate. This project contributes a dataset of parent-child interactions that can be shared with other researchers to accelerate further discoveries about language development. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.