Characteristics of motherese in a study with two children of different ages

Abstract

The aim of this research was to analyze, to classify and to compare the characteristics of motherese. The research showed that motherese builds an environment within the interaction where the emotional exchanges, so important to children development, are able to happen and be valorized. It was possible also to notice how the mother makes possible and easier to the kid to go on the dialog, leading and structuring the speech. The criterion was the characteristics quoted by Elliot (1982) and the communicative functions described and quoted by Braz and Salomão (2002) in a mother’s talk with her two kids in different ages. A mother and her two kids were observed in this research ( a 3 years and 9 months old girl and a 1 year old boy) sections of mother-kid interaction were filmed in two different moments, the mother with the girl and the mother with the boy.