Table 1a.

Mothers’ Language Use and Corresponding Examples

Maternal language measure	Examples
Label	This is a cow
Description	That is a big horse
Open-ended question	What do pigs eat?
Closed-ended question	Is the pig hungry?
Reframe	This is called a sheep, not a goat
Affirmation	Child says, “the horse jumped over the fence”; mother says, “yes it did!”
Repetition	Child says, “neigh”; mother repeats, “neigh”
Request for repetition	What was that?
Expansion	Child says, “pig hungry”; mother says, “the pig is hungry”
Extension	Child says, “horse thirsty”; mother says, “the horse is thirsty, so it drank some water”
Recast	Child says, “duck water”; mother says, “is the duck swimming in the water?”
Direct action request	Put the fence there
Indirect action request	Can you put the fence there?
Attention directive	Here it is
Positive feedback	That’s wonderful!
Negative feedback	That’s not acceptable!