Korean J Child Stud. 2004; 25(2): 19-39.
Vocabulary in Korean-Speaking Toddlers: A Preliminary Analysis of Word Class, Composition, Gender, and Individual Variation
걸음마기 한국아동의 어휘발달: 단어유목, 어휘구성, 성 차 및 개인차에 관한 기초분석
박성연
Park Seong Yeon , Marc H. Bornstein , Linda R. Cote
ABSTRACT
Mothers of 58 20-month-olds in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, completed vocabulary checklists for their children. When vocabulary level was taken into account, children`s vocabularies contained relatively greater proportions of nouns than other word classes, and more verbs than adjectives or closed-class words. Correlations among word classes showed that each word class was consistently positively correlated with every other class. Girls` vocabularies were found. Factors that influence vocabulary size and can account for gender and individual differences are discussed. Noun prevalence in the vocabularies of children learning to speak Korean, and the merits of several theories that may account for this word-class prevalence pattern, are evaluated.
Key words :
Korean toddler, vocabulary, word class, vocabulary composition, individual variation
