Relationship of maternal language to language development and language delay of children.

Maternal language characteristics associated with language-delayed children were examined. Two age groups of Down syndrome children were matched on mean length of utterance (MLU) with two groups of nonretarded, language-delayed children and two groups of "normal" children, mostly from middle-class families. Twenty-minute audio tapes were recorded for each dyad in the home during free play, and the first 10 minutes were transcribed and coded into functional types of maternal language. Mothers of nonretarded, language-delayed children used more language irrelevant to the interaction than did mothers of Down syndrome children, who, in turn, used more irrelevant language than did mothers of "normal" children. Mothers of nonretarded, language-delayed children focused less on their children's utterances than did other mothers and more on their physical behavior. Maternal language patterns appeared to be related more to language problems for nonretarded, language-delayed children than for Down syndrome children.