Coordinated attention and parent labelling during free play predicts children’s language skills in the first two years

This study examines how coordinated gaze and parent’s labelling during naturalistic play scaffold language development. Sixty-two, 15- to 18-month-olds (n = 28 female) and their mothers (n = 43 White) played for 15 minutes. Coordinated gaze was micro-coded and parents’ speech was transcribed. Children’s language skills were measured directly during the lab visit and via parent-report at 24 months. Results showed that frequency of parents’ ‘play monitoring’ – jointly looking to an object with their child and briefly looking to their object-focused child – positively predicted children’s language skills at 15- to 18- and 24 months. Referential labelling during children’s sustained attention to objects also predicted receptive language. These findings emphasise the importance of well-coordinated, child-sensitive parental behaviours in supporting toddlers’ emerging communication skills.