"Motherese" of Mr. Rogers: A description of the diaglogue of educational television programs

8/10/2019 "Motherese" of Mr. Rogers: A description of the diaglogue of educational television programs

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Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, Volume 51,282-287,

August 1986

r

M O T H E R E S E O F M R . R O G E R S : A D E S C R I P T I O N O F T H E

D I A L O G U E O F E D U C A T I O N A L T E L E V I S I O N P R O G R A M S

M A B E L L . R IC E P A T T I L . H A IG H T

University o f K ansas, Lawrence

Dialogue f rom 30-min samples each f rom Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was descr ibed . Three aspects o f

langua ge were m easure d: grammar, content, a nd discourse. Th e findings indicate that the dialogue of these p rogram s is well

su i ted to young v iewers , wi th ad justmen ts s imilar to those ev ide n t in adu l ts ' speech to young ch i ld ren . Th e m ean leng th o f

utteran ce is com para ble to that of adults in interactions with children , the ratio of different words to total words is the sa me as that

o f young ch i ld ren ' s language, sen tence s t tuctu re i s s impli f ied , and there i s a heav y emphasis on the here and now (a majo ri ty o f

p resen t tense verbs , a h igh p ropor tion o f u tterances abou t imm ediate ly v is ib le top ics o r referen ts , and a p repondera nce o f

narrat ive abou t shared imm ediate even ts) . The re are rep eated instances o f lingu ist ic emphasis , wi th f re quen t repe t i t ion o f key

terms. Both program s avoid com plex word forms. Overall , the dialogue of educational child ren 's pro gram s follows the constraints

and ad justmen ts ev iden t in adu l ts ' ch i ld -d i rected language.

D y a d i c i n t e r a c t i o n s b e t w e e n a d u l t s a n d c h i l d r e n h a v e

b e e n w i d e l y r e c o g n i z e d a s a s o u rc e o f l i n g ui s t ic i n p u t

t h a t i s w e l l s u i t e d t o c h i l d r e n ' s l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n .

A d u l t s t e n d t o s i m p l i f y t h e i r t a l k t o c h i l d r e n i n a m a n n e r

t h a t h a s c o m e t o b e k n o w n as m o t h e r e s e . A m o n g t h e

f e a t u r e s o f m o t h e r e s e a r e a n e m p h a s i s o n t h e h e r e a n d

n o w , w i t h a r e s t r ic t e d v o c a b u l a r y a n d m u c h p a r a p h r a s -

i n g; s i m p l e , w e l l - f o r m e d s e n t e n c e s ; f r e q u e n t r e p e t i t i o n s ;

a n d a s l ow r a t e o f s p e e c h w i t h l o n g p a u s e s b e t w e e n

u t t e r a n c e s a n d a f t e r c o n t e n t w o r d s ( of . O w e n s , 1 9 84 , p .

2 24 ). R e s e a r c h e r s h a v e e x t e n s i v e l y e x p l o r e d t h e i m p l i c a -

t i on s o f t h e m o t h e r e s e r e g i s t e r a n d h o w i t m a y c o n t r i b u t e

t o c h i l d r e n ' s l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t i o n ( e . g ., H o f f - G i n S b u r g &

S h a t z , 19 82 ). T h e c u r r e n t c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t t h e s i m p l i f i e d

r e g i s t e r i s p r o b a b l y f a c i l i t a t i v e , a l t h o u g h n o t n e c e s s a r y ,

fo r l an g u ag e acq u i s i t i o n (S n o w , 1 9 8 4) .

L i v e i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h a d u l t s a r e n o t t h e s o l e s o u r c e o f

l i n g u is t i c i n p u t f o r y o u n g c h i l d r e n i n W e s t e r n , t e c h n o l o g -

i c a l ly a d v a n c e d s o c i e ti e s . Y o u n g s te r s r e c e i v e l a r g e a m o u n t s

O f e x p o s u r e t o t h e m a s s c o m m u n i c a t i o n m e d i a , C h i l d r e n i n

t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s s p e n d m o r e t i m e w a t c h i n g te l e v i s i o n t h a n

t h e y d o i n school i n so c i a l i n t e r ac t i o n w i th o th e r f am i ly

m em b er s , o r i n an y o th e r w ak in g ac t i v i t y (S in g e r , 1 9 8 3 ) .

C h i l d r e n b e g i n v i e w i n g d u r i n g th e l a n g u a g e a c q u i s i t io n

p e r i o d o f d e v e l o p m e n t . I n f a n t s r e s p o n d t o t h e s i g h ts a n d

s o u n d s o f t e l e v i s i o n ( H o l l e n b e c k & S l a b y , 1 9 79 ). C h i l d r e n

b e t w e e n i a n d 2 y e a r s o f a g e b e g i n t o r e a c t to p a r t ic u l a r

c h a r a c t e r s a n d e v e n t s o n t e l e v i s i o n b y p o i n t i n g , l a b e l i n g ,

a n d s e l e c t i v e l y a t t e n d i n g ( L e m i s h , i n p r e s s ) . B y 3 y e a r s ,

A m e r i c a n c h i l d r e n a r e r e g u l a r v i e w e r s , a v e r a g i n g m o r e

th an 2V 2 h r o f v i ew in g d a i l y , a s r ep o r t ed i n a l o n g i tu d in a l

s t u d y o f 3 2 0 p r e s c h o o l e r s ' h o m e v i e w i n g ( H u s t o n e t a l .,

1 98 3) . F u r t h e r m o r e , y o u n g c h i l d r e n ' s v i e w i n g i s a t t e nt i v e .

I n t h e h o m e , w h e n t h e T V i s o n , c h i l d r e n i n c r e a s e t h e

p e r c e n t a g e o f t i m e l o o k i n g a t t h e s c r e e n f r o m 6 % a t a g e 1 , t o

4 0 % a t ag e 2 , 6 7 % a t ag e 3 --4, an d 7 0 % fo r 5 - t o 6 -y ea r -o ld s

(A n d er so n , L o reh , C o l l i n s , F i e ld , & N a th an , i n p re s s ) .

W h i l e t h e y v i e w , t h e y h e a r a n e x t e n s i v e a m o u n t o f d i a -

l o g u e , i n s o f a r a s c h i l d r e n v i e w f r e q u e n t l y a n d a t t e n t iv e l y ,

t h e m e d i u m i s p o t e n t i a l l y a m a j o r s o u r c e o f v e r b a l i n f o r m a -

t_ io n fo r ch i ld ren a t t h e ag es o f r ap id l an g u ag e ac q u i s i t i o n .

T h e d i a l o g u e o f t e l e v i s i o n h a s b e e n d i s m i s s e d a s in a p -

p r o p r i a t e fo r y o u n g c h i l d r e n b e c a u s e i t i s a l l e g e d t h a t o n

t e l e v i s io n , p e o p l e r a r e l y t a l k a b o u t t h i n gs i m m e d i a t e l y

a c c e s s i b l e to v i e w f o r t h e a u d i e n c e . . . . T h e y [ c h i ld r e n ]

h e a r r a p i d s p e e c h t h a t c a n n o t e a s i l y b e l i n k e d t o f a m i l i a r

s i t u a t i o n s (C la rk & C la rk , 1 9 7 7 , p . 3 3 0 ) . C la rk an d

C l a r k ' s c h a r a c t e r iz a t i o n o f t e l e v i s io n i m p l i e s g e n e r a l f e a -

t u r e s o f d i a l o g u e c o m m o n t o a ll p r o g r a m s . T h e y d i d n o t

l i m i t t h e i r r e m a r k t o p a r t i c u l a r k i n d s o f p r o g r a m s . Y e t

t h e r e a r e s u b s t a n ti a l d i f f e re n c e s b e t w e e n t h e d i a l o g u e o f

p r o g r a m s a i m e d a t a d u lt s a n d c h i l d - o r i e n t e d p r o g r a m s , a s

d o c u m e n t e d i n a d e s c r i p t i v e s t u d y o f t h e d i a l o g u e o f

t e l e v i s i o n p r o g r a m s ( R i c e , 1 9 8 4 ) . I n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e e d u -

c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m s s a m p l e d ( M r . Rogers Neighborhood

a n d

E l e c t r i c C o m p a n y )

e m p h a s i z e d a n d s i m p l i f i e d d i a -

l o g u e in a m a n n e r m u c h l i k e m o t h e r e s e : s l o w ra t e , l o w

r a t e o f d y s f l u e n c ie s , g r a m m a t i c a l c o m p l e t e n e s s , i m m e d i -

a c y o f r e f e r e n c e , f r e q u e n t r e p h r a s i n g s a n d e m p h a s i s o f

k e y w o r d s , a n d a v o i d a n c e o f n o n l i t e ra l w o r d m e a n i n g s .

O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e d i a l o g u e o f a d u l t s i t u a ti o n c o m e -

d i e s a n d S a t u r d a y m o r n i n g c a r t o o n s i s m o r e c o n s i s t e n t

w i t h C l a r k a n d C l a r k ' s a s s u m p t i o n s .

T h e e a r l i e r s t u d y ( R i c e , 1 9 8 4 ) i s l i m i t e d b y a s m a l l

s a m p l e s i z e . S h o r t s e g m e n t s (6 1/2 m i n ) w e r e s e l e c t e d f r o m

s i x d i f f e r e n t p r o g r a m s , r e p r e s e n t i n g e d u c a t i o n a l p r o -

g r a m s , c a r t o o n s , a n d a d u l t s i t u a t i o n c o m e d i e s . T h e p r o -

g r a m s ' n o n l i n g u i s t i c p r o d u c t i o n f e a t u r e s a s w e l l a s l i n -

g u i s t i c f e a t u r e s w e r e d e s c r i b e d . G i v e n t h e f i n d i n g s s u g -

g e s t i n g t h a t e d u c a t io n a l p r o g r a m s f o r y o u n g c h i l d r e n

s i m p l i f y d i a l o g u e t o c o r r e s p o n d t o y o u n g v i e w e r s ' l a n -

g u a g e c o m p e t e n c i e s , i t i s o f i n t e r e s t t o d e t e r m i n e i f t h a t

f i n di n g c a n b e r e p l i c a t e d w i t h a m o r e e x t e n s i v e s a m p l e o f

e d u c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m m i n g .

I t is t h e p u r p o s e o f t h is s t u d y t o d e s c r i b e t h e d i a l o g u e

o f s a m p l e s o f t h e t w o m o s t p o p u l a r e d u c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m s

f o r p r e s c h o o l c h i l d r e n , Mr. Rogers Neighb orhood a n d

Sesame S t ree t , h e r e a f t e r r e f e r r e d t o a s M R a n d S S. T h e s e

1986, Ame rican Speech-Lan guage-Hea r ing Associat ion 282

0022-4677/86/5103-0282501.00/0

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t w o p r o g r a m s a r e b r o a d c a s t n a t i o n a l l y o n p u b l i c t e l e v i -

s i o n . M R i s a i m e d a t c h i l d r e n a g e s 2 to 4 , a n d S S is a i m e d

a t c h i l d r e n 3 t o 6. M R e m p h a s i z e s a f f e c t i v e c o n t e n t ,

w h e r e a s S S f o c u s e s m o r e h e a v i l y o n c o g n i t i v e s k i l l s .

T h e y a r e w i d e l y v i e w e d . F o r e x a m p l e , f or o n e v i e w i n g

w e e k i n 1 98 3, a n e s t i m a t e d 1 0.4 m i l l i o n A m e r i c a n h o u s e -

h o l d s t u n e d i n t o S S , a n d a n e s t i m a t e d 5 . 5 m i l l i o n

h o u s e h o l d s v i e w e d M R ( P a l m e r , 1 9 84 , p . 1 17 ). S S is th e

m o s t p o p u l a r p r o g r a m o f p r e s c h o o l e r s , w i t h 3 - y e a r - o l d

c h i l d r e n a v e r a g i n g 3 h r p e r w e e k o f S S v i e w i n g ( H u s t o n

et a l . , 1985) .

P R O C E D U R E S

S t i m u l u s S e l e c t i o n

F o u r h r o f b r o a d c a s t p r o g r a m m i n g f o r M R a n d S S w e r e

d u b b e d o f f t h e a i r i n J u n e 1 98 4. F r o m t h is 4 - h r s a m p l e f o r

e a c h p r o g r a m , a 3 0 - ra i n s t i m u l u s v i d e o t a p e w a s e d i t e d f o r

e a c h . T h e s e g m e n t s w e r e s e l e c t e d t o m e e t t h e fo l l o w i n g

c r i t e r i a : ( a ) T h e y d i d n o t c o n t a i n s i n g i n g a n d e x t e n d e d

r h y m i n g , a n d ( b) t h e y w e r e j u d g e d b y t w o a d u l t v i e w e r s

a s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e o v e r a l l c o n t e n t o f t h e 4 - h r s a m p l e .

T h e S S s a m p l e c o n s i s t e d o f 1 0 i n d i v i d u a l s e g m e n t s w i t h

a n a v e r a g e s e g m e n t l e n g t h o f 2 .9 m i n . T h e M R s a m p l e

i n c l u d e d 8 s e g m e n t s w i t h a n a v e r a g e s e g m e n t l e n g t h o f

3 . 9 r a i n . S e g m e n t s w e r e d e f i n e d a s w i t h i n t o p i c d i s c u s -

s i o ns b y t h e s a m e c h a r a c t e r s , on t h e s a m e s e t. S e g m e n t

b o u n d a r i e s w e r e e s t a b l is h e d b y c o n s e n s u s o f a g r e e m e n t

b e t w e e n t h e t w o e x p e r i m e n t e r s .

T r a n s c r i p t i o n

T h e t w o s t i m u l u s v i d e o t a p e s w e r e t r a n s c r i b e d v e r b a -

t i m b y o n e o f t h e e x p e r i m e n t e r s . A s e c o n d t r a n s c r i be r , a

g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t , c h e c k e d t h e t r a n s c r i p t s fo r a c c u r a c y .

W o r d - b y - w o r d p e r c e n t a g e o f a g r e e m e n t w a s h i g h f o r b o t h

s a m p l e s a t th e 9 9 % l e v e l .

C o d i n g

T h e t r a n s c r ip t s w e r e c o d e d f o r t h r e e a s p e c t s o f v e r b a l

c o m m u n i c a t i o n : g r a m m a r , c o n t e n t , a n d d i s c o u r s e . T h e

g r a m m a t i c a l a n a l y s i s w a s c o m p l e t e d u s i n g th e L I N G -

Q U E S T c o m p u t e r - a s si s t e d l an g u a g e a s s e s s m e n t p r og r a m

( M o r d e c a i , P a l in , & P a l m e r , 1 98 2) . F o l l o w i n g th e L I N G -

Q U E S T p r o t o c o l , t h e f o l l o w i n g w e r e d e l e t e d f r o m a n a l-

y s is : i n c o m p l e t e s e n t e n c e s , r e p e t i t io n s , a n d v o c a t i v e s . I n

a d d i t io n , s y n t a c t i c a l ly u n s t r u c t u r e d e l e m e n t s w e r e d e -

l e t e d , f o l l o w i n g t h e c o n v e n t i o n s o f B a r n e s , G u t f r e u n d ,

S a t t e r l y , a n d W e l l s ( 19 83 ). T h e y i n c l u d e g r e e t i n g s

(h i ,

bye) ,

p o l i t e n e s s p h r a s e s

( t h a n k yo u ) ,

c o n v e r s a t i o n a l f i ll -

e r s

(yes , good ,

e l l i p i t i c a l d i e c t i c t e r m s s u c h a s

there),

s e n t e n c e s t a rt e r s ( n o w a n d so), a n d e x c l a m a t i o n s (h a h , o h

no).

T h e L I N G Q U E S T p r o gr a m r e q u ir e s p r e li m i n a r y

c o d i n g o f n o u n s , c e r t a i n v e r b s , g e r u n d s , p a r t i c i p l e s , a n d

R IC E & H A IG H T : ' M o t h e r e se o f M r . R o g e r s 2 8 3

p a r t i c l e s . T h e t w o e x p e r i m e n t e r s c o d e d e a c h t r a n s c r i p t

i n d i v id u a l l y , t h e n r e s o l v e d d i f f e r e n c e s b y c o n s e n s u s .

T h e c o n t e n t c o d i n g w a s b a s e d o n t h e c a t e g o r i e s d e v e l -

o p e d f o r t h e R i c e ( 1 9 84 ) s t u d y . I t c o n s i s t e d o f c o u n t s o f

t h e f o l l o w i n g c a t e g or i e s : i m m e d i a c y , e m p h a s i s , n o n l i t e r -

a l m e a n i n g s , n o v e l w o r d s , a n d e x p l i c i t i n s t r u c t i o n s r e -

g a r d i n g h o w t h e v i e w i n g a u d i e n c e i s s u p p o s e d t o i n t e r -

p r e t c o n t e n t .

I m m e d i a c y

i n v o l v e d c o d i n g c o m m e n t s a c -

c o r d i n g t o t h e p r e s e n c e o r a b s e n c e o f r e f e r e n t s ( r e f e r e n t

i m m e d i a t e l y p r e s e n t o n s c r e e n , r e m o v e d f r o m s i g h t, o r

n o n r e f e r e n t i a l c o m m e n t s ) .

E m p h a s i s

w a s d e f i n e d a s a

m e a n s o f g i v i n g s e l e c t e d p r o m i n e n c e t o a l i n g ui s ti c

c o n s t i t u e n t f o r s o m e s o r t o f c o m m u n i c a t i v e p u r p o s e . I t

c o u l d b e a c c o m p l i s h e d b y o n e o r m o r e o f t h e f o l l o w i n g

l i n g u i s t i c d e v i c e s : s y n t a c t i c / p r a g m a t i c o p e r a t i o n s s u c h a s

I t i s

,

T h i s i s a ~

;

p r i m a r y s t r e s s ; r e p e t i -

t i o n ; a n d r e c a s t i n g i n d i f f e r e n t l i n g u i s t i c c o n t e x t s i n v o l v -

i n g a p a r t i a l o r c o m p l e t e r e p e t i t i o n o f a p a r t i c u l a r l i n g u i s -

t i c f o r m i n a n e w c o m m u n i c a t i v e a n d / o r l i n g u i s t i c c o n -

t e x t. A n e x a m p l e o f r e c a s t i n g i s :

Mr. Rogers:

Bob:

Mr. Rogers:

Bob:

Just ve ry fine dust.

It 's wood dust, isn ' t i t?

Wood dust is right.

Dust that comes from tile wood.

Somet ime s you get b ig cu r ls o f wood.

I n t h is e x a m p l e , t h e r e w e r e f o u r in s t a n c e s o f e m p h a s i s :

t h r e e r e p e t i t i o n s / r e c a s t s o f

w o o d d u s t

a n d o n e f i n a l r e p -

e t i t i o n p l u s s t r e s s o f w o o d . N o n l i t e r a l m e a n i n g s i n c l u d e d

m e t a p h o r s a n d p u n s . N o v e l w o r d s a r e t h o s e m a d e u p f o r

t h e o c c a s i o n , s u c h a s K e r m i t s a y i n g , T h i s i s K e r f r o g

s i g n i n g o f f .

C o d i n g o f t h e c o n t e n t c a t e g o r i e s w a s d o n e b y t h e t w o

e x p e r i m e n t e r s i n d i v id u a l l y . R e l i a b i l i t y w a s c a l c u l a t e d b y

d i v i d i n g th e n u m b e r o f a g r e e m e n t s b y t h e t o ta l n u m b e r o f

a g r e e m e n t s a n d d i s a g r e e m e n t s . R e l i a b i li t y fo r c o d i n g

e m p h a s i s w a s 8 0 % , a n d f o r im m e d i a c y , 8 3 % . R e l i a b i l it y

w a s n o t c a l c u l a t e d f o r n o n l i t e r a l m e a n i n g s , e x p l i c i t in -

s t r uc t i on s , o r n o v e l w o r d s b e c a u s e o f v e r y l o w f r e q u e n -

c i e s w i t h i n t h e s e c a t e g o r i e s . D i f f e r e n c e s w e r e a l m o s t

a l w a y s d u e t o o v e r s i g h t a n d w e r e r e s o l v e d b y c o n s e n s u s

b e t w e e n t h e t w o c o d e r s .

T h e d i s c o u r s e c a t e g o r i e s w e r e f o u r t y p e s o f na r r a t iv e s

p r o p o s e d b y H e a t h a n d B r a n s c o m b e ( i n p r e s s ): r e c o u n t s ,

a c c o u n t s , e v e n t c a s t s , a n d s t o r i e s . R e c o u n t s a r e r e t e l l i n g s

i n w h i c h i n f o r m a t i o n i s k n o w n t o b o t h t h e t e l l e r a n d t h e

l i s t e n e r .

A c c o u n t s

a r e n a r r a t i v e s g e n e r a t e d b y e i t h e r t h e

t e l l e r o r a n o t h e r p a r t y t o p r o v i d e n e w i n f o r m a t i o n o r n e w

i n t e r p r e ta t i o n s o f i n f or m a t i o n t h a t m a y a l r e a d y b e k n o w n

t o b o t h t h e t e l l e r a n d t h e l i s t e n e r . A n e v e n t c a s t is a

r u n n i n g n a r r a t i v e o n e v e n t s c u r r e n t l y i n t h e a t t e n t i o n o f

t h e t e l l e r a n d l i s t e n e r . T h i s n a r r a t i v e m a y b e s i m u l t a -

n e o u s w i t h t h e e v e n t s o r p r e c e d e t h e m .

S to r i es

i n c l u d e

a n a n i m a t e b e i n g w h o m o v e s t h r o u g h a s e r i e s o f e v e n t s

w i t h g o a l - d i r e c t e d b e h a v i o r . E a c h s e g m e n t w a s c a t e g o -

r i z e d a c c o r d i n g t o t h e d o m i n a n t n a r r a t i v e t y p e . T h e t w o

e x p e r i m e n t e r s c o d e d t h e s e g m e n t s i n d e p e n d e n t l y .

A g r e e m e n t w a s 1 00 % .



3/6

284 Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 51 282-28 7 August 1986

T A BL E 1 M e a n g r a m m a t i c a l f e a tu r e s p e r s e g m e n t f o r Sesam e S t ree t a n d M r . Roger s N e i g h bo r -

hood.

Verbs a

Total Total

MLU TTR words utterances Pres Past Future

Sesame Street 6.91 .45 280 43.6 77% 12% 11%

Range 5.89-8.00 .38- .59 144- -449 19-69 47-92 0-45 0-19

(N of segments = 10)

Mr Rogers 7.42 .45 367 55.5 68% 15% 17%

Range 6.23-8.42 .34-.56 127-766 16--12 8 62-86 0-29 9--33

(N of segments = 8)

aCaleulated as total number of instances per category divided by the total number of utterances

for the grand mean, divided by the number of segments for the segment mean.

R E S U L T S A N D D I S C U S S I O N

G r a m m a r

The LINGQUEST analysis generated the following

variables for each segmen t: mean l ength of utterance in

words (MLU); type/token ratio (TTR), total number of

words, and total number of utterances; percentage of

present, past, and future tense verbs; four different cate-

gories of sentence types; and three different categories of

questions. The results are presented in Table 1 where

they are reported as segment means.

The average MLU for an SS segment was 6.91 and for

an MR segment was 7.42. The observed MLU for MR is

comparable to the earlier sample, where the MLU in

words was 7.21 (Rice, 1984). The range was relatively

restric ted, from 5.89 to 8.00 for SS and 6.23 to 8.42 for MR.

The res tricted range is related in part to the el imination of

unstructured utterances such as exclamations and polite-

ness phrases. The short utterances that did occur were of

the unstructured type, although it was possible for short

structured utterances to have occurred.

The MLU of the televi sion characters compare s favor-

ably to observe d MLUs of adults talking to children.

Kindergarten teachers' utterances directed toward their

students range d from an MLU in words of 7.52 to 8.80, in

contrast to the same teachers' utterance length in conver-

sations with their adult colleagues of 11.78 to 18.48

(Granowsky & Krossner, 1970). Bohannon and Marquis

(1977) rep orted an M LU in mo rphe mes of 6.43 for unfa-

miliar adults talking to a 3-year-old child, comp ared to an

MLU of 6.95 for the 3-year-old child's mother; they

reported an MLU of 13.8 for adults talking to adults.

Newport, G[eitman, and Gleitman (1977) obtained mean

MLUs in words of 4.24 for mothers talking to their 12- to

27,month-old children, compared to mean MLUs of 11.94

for mothers' speech to the adult experimenter.

The ratio of different words to total words used

(Type/To ken Ratio) was .45 for both programs. Compara-

tive data are available in Templin (1957), who reports a

ratio of .45 for children ages 3-4 years and a range from

.44 to .47 for yearly increments up to age 8 years.

The analysis of verb tenses indicates that the majority

of verbs are in the pres ent tense, 77% for SS and 68% for

MR. Past and future tenses were less frequent and

roughly equal in probabili ty. The majority of utterances

were phrases or simple sentences of the Noun Phrase

(NP) + Verb Phrase (VP) (+ NP) or NP + copula + NP

structure. For SS, 10% of the u tterance s were phrases,

and 23% were simple sentences; for MR, 15% were

phrases, and 18% were simple sentences. An additional

10% of utterances for SS and for MR fell into one of the

follo wing types: NP + auxili ary + VP, or NP (+ aux) +

catenative (+ VP), or NP + modal (+ aux) + VP (+ NP).

Sentences with infinitives were infrequent, as were com-

pound sentences. The percenta ge of utterances unidenti-

liable by LINGQUEST (generally more complex struc-

tures, such as embeddings, complex questions, and com-

plex structure combination s) was 27% for SS and 23% for

MR.

Questions were analyzed according to three categories:

reversals, such as Are you comi ng? ; rising intonation

questions, such as You want it? ; and questions formu-

lated with Wh words, such as What is that? A total of 80

questions appeared in the SS sample, and 67 in MR. For

SS, 27% were reversals, 22% were rising intonations, and

51% were Wh questions. For MR, 69% were reversals,

21% were rising intonations, and 10% were Wh ques-

tions. Reversals are closely related to the yes/no ques-

tions that Newport et al. (1977) found to be positively

associated with children's auxiliary acquisition. Also,

Hoff-Ginsberg (1986) report ed that the freq uenc y of some

Wh questions in mothers' speech predicted auxiliary

growth in their children's speech.

Conten t

Results of the co ntent cod ing are reported in Table 2 as

mean percentages of use of each content category per

segment. For the category of immediacy, the majority of

utterances for both SS and MR were about referents

immediately present on the screen, with 58% for SS and

63% for MR. This suggests a strong focus on the here and

now in the programming, especially when combined with

the earlier finding of a large proportion of present tense

verbs.



4/6

R I C E & H A I G H T : 'Mot herese ' o f Mr . R ogers

T A B LE 2 . M e a n p e r c e n t a g e o f u s e o f e a c h c o n t e n t c a t e g o r y p e r s e g m e n t f o r Sesame Street a n d Mr.

Rogers Neighborhood.

Immediacy a Emphasis b N o n l i t e r a l

I m m e d i a t e R e m o v e d O t h e r m e a n i n g s

Sesame

Street

58% 33% 9% 0.94 1%

Range 21-8 8 9 -68 3 - -16 0 .60- -1 .16 0 -7

Mr. Rogers 63% 26% 10% 0 .77 0%

Rang e 11--88 10-70 0 -29 0 .57-1 .22 0 -0

Direct addresses

Novel words Direct instructions (Proper name s)

Sesame

Street 1% 3% 22%

R a n g e 0 - 4 0 - 1 3 0 -- 43

Mr. Rogers 1% 17% 14%

Range 0 -2 2 - -51 0 -36

a C a l c u l at e d a s to t a l n u m b e r o f i n st a n c e s p e r c a t e g o r y d i v i d e d b y t o t a l n u m b e r o f u t t e ra n c e s f o r t h e

g r a n d m e a n s , d i v i d e d b y n u m b e r o f se g m e n t s f o r th e s e g m e n t m e a n . b C a l c u l a t e d a s t h e t o t a l n u m b e r

o f o c c u r r en c e s o f e m p h a s i s d i v i d e d b y t h e t o t al n u m b e r o f u tt e r a n c es . B e c a u s e i t w a s p o s s i b l e t o h a v e

m o r e t h a n o n e i n s t a n c e o f e m p h a s i s p e r u t t e r a n c e , t h e p r o p o r t io n s c a n e x c e e d 1 .0 0 .

2 8 5

T h e r e w e r e f r e q u e n t i n s t a n c e s o f l i n g u i s t i c e m p h a s i s i n

b o t h p r o g r a m s . T h e p r o p o r t i o n w a s . 9 4 f o r S S a n d . 7 7 f o r

M R . T h i s c a n b e i n t e r p r e t e d a s a lm o s t o n e i n s t a n c e o f

e m p h a s i s p e r u t t e r a n c e f o r S S , o n t h e a v e r a g e . T h e

m e a s u r e a ls o i n d ic a t e s t h e c o n s i d e r a b l e r e d u n d a n c y o f

l i n g u i s t i c fo r m s a n d a s s o c i a t e d c o n t e n t t h a t is e v i d e n t i n

t h e p r o g r a m s . K e y t e rm s a p p e a r r e p e a t e d l y t h r o u g h o u t a

s e g m e n t , o f t e n r e c a s t i n d i f f e r e n t l i n g u i s t i c fr a m e s . F o r

e x a m p l e , i n a 4 - r a in s e g m e n t o f M R w i t h a t o ta l o f 4 5

u t t e r a n c e s , t h e r e w e r e 2 9 o c c u r r e n c e s o f t h e w o r d

bal l

( o r

bal l s) .

A n o t h e r a s s i s t t o t h e v i e w e r i s t h e f r e q u e n t u s e o f

p r o p e r n a m e s a s d i r e c t a d d r e s s e s b e t w e e n t w o in t e r l o c -

u t o rs . G i v e n t h e f a c t t h a t t h e c h a r a c t e rs o n t h e p r o g r a m s

a r e v e r y f a m i l i a r w i t h e a c h o t h e r , i t c e r t a i n l y i s n o t

n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e m t o u s e e a c h o t h e r ' s n a m e s i n c as u a l

c o n v e r s a t i o n . Y e t a l m o s t a l w a y s t h e i n i t i a l a p p e a r a n c e o f

a c h a r a c t e r i s a c c o m p a n i e d b y o n e o r s e v e r a l i n s e r t io n s o f

t h e c h a r a c t e r ' s n a m e i n t h e o p e n i n g c o n v e r s a t i o n a l i n te r -

a c t io n s . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , b o t h p r o g r a m s p o i n t e d l y

a v o i d a d u l t - l i k e c o m p l e x w o r d f o rm s . N o n l i t e r a l m e a n -

i n g s s u c h a s s a r c a sm , p u n s , o r s l an g w o r d s a n d n o v e l

w o r d s a r e r a r e o c c u r r e n c e s

E x p l i c i t a c k n o w l e d g m e n t o f t h e h o m e v i e w e r i s ev i -

d e n t i n t h e 3 % o f S S u t t e r a n c e s t h a t w e r e d i r e c t i n s tr u c -

t i o n s, a n d t h e 1 7 % o f f e r e d b y M R . E x a m p l e s a r e : N o w

t e l l m e w h e n i t g o e s o ff ; . . . . N o w t e l l m e w h i c h o n e I ' m

g o i n g t o p u t o n n o w ; a n d N o w , w h i c h o n e i s t h i s o n e ?

T h e i n s t r u c t i o n s a r e f o l l o w e d b y p a u s e s l o n g e n o u g h f o r

a r e s p o n s e , a n d u s u a l l y , b u t n o t a l w a y s , t h e a n s w e r i s

t h e n p r o v i d e d . T h i s t e c h n i q u e h a s b e e n r e f e r r e d to a s

t h e p h a n t o m r e i n f o r c e r ( P a l m e r , 1 97 8) . T h e e s t i m a t e

f or f r e q u e n c y o f u s e i n S S p r o b a b l y u n d e r r e p r e s e n t s t h e

a c t u a l f r e q u e n c y , i n s o f ar a s m a n y o f th e r e c u r r e n t f o r m a t s

o f S S t h a t p r o v i d e a p a u s e f o r a u d i e n c e p a r t i c i p a t i o n

a p p e a r i n s o n g s, w h i c h w e r e o m i t t e d f r o m t h i s s a m p l e . A n

e x a m p l e i s t h e w e l l k n o w n c a t e g o r i z a t i o n s o n g th a t b e -

g i n s o n e o f t h e s e t h in g s is n o t l i k e t h e o t h e r . . . a n d

l e a v e s a b l a n k i n t h e s o n g f o r t h e c h i l d t o f i ll w i t h t h e

n a m e o f t h e o d d o b j e c t . O b s e r v a t i o n s o f y o u n g c h i l d r e n

v i e w i n g i n t h e i r h o m e s i n d i c a t e t h a t o f t e n th e y d o r e -

s p o n d ( L e m i s h , i n p r e s s ).

D i s c o u r s e

T h e e m p h a s i s o n t h e h e r e a n d n o w i s e v i d e n t a t t h e

l e v e l o f n a r r a t i v e t y p e . O f t h e 1 0 S S s e g m e n t s , 9 w e r e

e v e n t c a s ts i n v o l v i n g a r u n n i n g n a r r a t i v e o r c o n v e rs a -

t i o n a l i n t e r c h a n g e a b o u t e v e n t s c u r r e n t l y i n t h e a t t e n t i o n

o f t h e t e l l e r a n d t h e o b s e r v e r s . I n o n e o f t h e s e s e g m e n t s ,

a r e m e m b e r e d p a s t e v e n t w a s p r e s e n t e d a s a n e v e n t ca s t

b y m e a n s o f a f la s h b a c k to a n e a r l i e r ti m e . T h e v i e w e r s a w

t h e r e m e m b e r e d e v e n t s a n d i n t e r a c t i o n s , w i t h a v o i c e -

o v e r n a r ra t i o n . T h i s s t r o n g r e l i a n c e o n e v e n t c a s ts i s

p o s s i b l e b e c a u s e o f t e l e v i s i o n ' s a b i l i t y to t r a n s c e n d t e m -

p o r a l c o n s tr a i n ts . T h e o t h e r S S s e g m e n t w a s a n a c c o u n t ,

a l t h o u g h a r a t h e r o d d o n e . I t w a s a p a r o d y o f a c o m m e r -

c i a l w i t h a s p e a k e r a d v e r t i s i n g r a i n b y e x t o l li n g t h e

v i r t u e s o f r a i n , a c c o m p a n i e d b y c h a r a c t e r s w a l k i n g i n t o

t h e a n n o u n c e r ' s o f fi ce s e t t i n g w e a r i n g v a r i o u s r a i n a t t i re .

A l l t h e M R s e g m e n t s w e r e e v e n t c a s ts . O n e s t a r t ed

w i t h a b r i e f r e c o u n t o f t h e p r e v i o u s d a y ' s e v e n t s , a n d t w o

h a d e m b e d d e d s h o rt a cc o u n ts .

C o m p a r i s o n o f S e s a m e S t r e e t a n d M r . R og e r s '

N e i g h b o r h o o d

A s e r ie s o f t t e s ts w e r e c o n d u c t e d o n t h e g r a m m a r a n d

c o n t e n t v a r i a b l e s t o i n v e s t i g a t e p o s s i b l e d i f f e r e n c e s b e -



5/6

286

Journal of S/geech and Hearing Disorders 51

282-28 7 August 1986

tween the two programs. Differences were apparent for

the foll owing variables: Reversal questions, t(16) = 4.183,

19 < .001; Wh quest ions, t(16) = 5.916, p < .001. There is

a highe r proportion of reversal questi ons and f ewer Wh

questions on MR as compared to SS.

Overall, the extent o f the similarity of dialogue charac-

teristics of the two programs is striking, especial ly when

we consider how the programs are produced. MR and SS

are produced by different production companies with

different writers and different goals. SS, produced by

Children's Television Workshop, has a heavy emphasis

on cognitive content, whereas MR focuses on young

children's social and emotional development. Further-

more, neither program focused explicitly on children's

language development at the time the experimental pro-

grams were produ ced. Given the a bsence of formal pro-

fessional linkages between the two programs, the similar-

ity in dialogue adjustments is presumably attributable to

the writers' reliance upon their common cultural intui-

tions about how to communieate with young viewers.

C O N C L U S I O N S

One of children's favorite activities is viewing televi-

sion. Among the most popular programs for young chil-

dren in the United States are the educational programs

broadcast on public television, Sesame Street and Mr.

Rogers Neighborhood.

As children view, they experi-

ence dialogue as well as visual information. The dialogue

of these programs is well suited to the yo ung viewer, with

adjustments similar to those evident in adults' speech to

young children. The mean length of utterance is reduced,

the ratio of different words to total words is compara ble to

that of youn g children, s entence structure is simplified,

and there is a heavy emphasis on the here and now (a

majority of pres ent te nse verbs, a high proportion of

utterances about immediately visible topics or referents,

and a prep onde ranc e of eve nt casts as narrative structure).

The questions used are of the two types previously

reported to be associated with children's acquisition of

auxiliaries: those of reversals (yes/no questions) and Wh

questions.

Furthe rmore, there are indications of explicit attempts

to ensure children's comprehension of linguistic forms.

There are frequent instances of linguistic emphasis

where targeted linguistic forms are stressed, repeated in

new linguistic frames, or otherwise emphasized in the

dialogue. Key terms appear repeatedly. The proper

names of characters are u sed consistently near the begin-

ning of conversat ional interactions. In addition, both

programs avoid complex word forms, such as ones with

nonliteral meanings or novel forms.

Although the medium does not allow interaction be-

tween viewer and television character, there are, never-

theless, attempts to evoke responses from the viewers.

These appear as explicit directions to the viewer, a device

used in dialogue more by MR than SS, although SS often

uses songs to do this.

Overall, the dialogue of these two children's educa-

tional television programs provid es a model of language

form, structure, and use that is well suited to the young

viewer's linguistic eompeteneies. Observations of chil-

dren's responses and comments in the home viewing

situation indicate that they readily assume that the dia-

logue is meaningful and that they comp rehen d what they

hear (Lemish & Rice, in press).

Children's ability to extract from the dialogue linguistic

information that they apply to their own mastery of

language remains to be seen. To some extent, the same

arguments that have been proposed for the facilitative

effects of motherese can be applied to television viewing.

On the other hand, there are some significant differences

betwee n live interactions and the viewi ng circumstances.

The major one is that in live conversations adults can

respond to what a child says by repeating, expanding, or

extending a child utterance. This feature of semantic

contingency has been linked with children's language

acquisition (e.g., Snow, 1984; Wells, 1985). Facilitative

effects are attributed to adults' provision of linguistic

models for what the child is trying to express, the content

of immediat e in terest to the child. Wells (1985) pointe d

out that adult-child interactions are embedded in a con-

versational setting in which the two parties are trying to

communicate with each other. Adults generally do not

intend to model linguistic forms to children. Expansions

are often attempts to interpret what the child means to say

and to arrive at a mutual understanding of a common

topic. Nor does the child model his speech on what he

hears in any sort of straightforward way. The critical

features of live interactions are joint atten tion to the same

topic, mutual comp rehension of content, and encourage-

ment for conversation. According to Wells, the provision

of child-appropri ate language, the lin guistic adjustments

of adults, are secondary consequenc es of the communi-

cative context. The dialogue of child ren's television pro-

grams also focuses on successful communication with the

child viewer. Although the television characters do not

follow up on topics initiated by the child viewer, the

conte nt is evidentl y of interest to children, insofar as it

maintains their attention. Furthermore, the program con-

tent is comprehensible. In short, educational programs

create an attentive situation in which they present com-

prehensible information to young viewers. In this regard,

educational programs share with live interactions fea-

tures regarded as facilitative of language acquisition.

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Portions of this work were supported by g rants from the

Spencer Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health

to Aletha Huston and John Wright, codireetors of the Center for

Research on the Influences of Television on Children. Prepara-

tion of the manuscript was supported by Training Grant

NICHHD HD07255, which also supported graduate training

for Patti Haight. We appreciate Catherine Snow's helpful com-

ments on an earlier draft.



6/6

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