Florencia Alam
Biographic Data
| ID | 3904303 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Florencia Alam |
| GIVEN NAMES | Florencia |
| FAMILY NAME | Alam |
| SIGNATURE | ALAM F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3893-7873 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Cross-Linguistic and Socioeconomic Differences in the Use of Variation Sets in Children’s Communicative Environments
This study examines variation sets (VS) – structured repetitions of words in different morphosyntactic contexts – in child-directed speech (CDS) compared to adult-directed speech (ADS) across two communities (Argentinian Spanish and North American English) and socioeconomic groups. Drawing on naturalistic recordings from 101 families, results show that VS are more frequent in CDS than in ADS. In Argentinian Spanish, they are more prevalent in mid…
Little voices, rising conversations: A study of group interactions in nursery classrooms
This study examines the verbal participation of two-year-old children during structured group activities in Spanish nursery schools, with a particular focus on the characteristics of Child-Directed Speech (CDS). The sample comprised 208 children and 31 teachers across 21 classrooms in Madrid and Toledo. The study analyzes how children's verbal participation, as well as teachers' individual and group CDS, relate to group size, vocabulary level and…
How teachers emphasize their speech: Gestures and self-repetitions during group interaction with toddlers
When interacting with young children, adults often self-repeat their own utterances that vary in sequences of adjacent utterances called variation sets (VS) (Küntay and Slobin Citation1996). These repetitions benefit children’s linguistic development because they emphasize form and meaning. This paper analyzes the use of VS during group interaction and from a multimodal point of view. Sixteen teachers were video-recorded during interaction with t…
A cross-linguistic examination of young children’s everyday language experiences
We present an exploratory cross-linguistic analysis of the quantity of target-child-directed speech and adult-directed speech in North American English (US & Canadian), United Kingdom English, Argentinian Spanish, Tseltal (Tenejapa, Mayan), and Yélî Dnye (Rossel Island, Papuan), using annotations from 69 children aged 2–36 months. Using a novel methodological approach, our cross-linguistic and cross-cultural findings support prior work suggesting…
Gesture and speech in variation sets directed to Spanish-learning toddlers in adult–child interactions
The study adopts a multimodal perspective, looking at adults’ use of gestures in variation sets (VS; i.e. sequences of partial self-repetitions occurring in successive utterances of varying form) addressed to Spanish-learning toddlers in adult–child interactions. We seek to address the following question: Do adults make simultaneous use of VS and gestures to amplify their effect while interacting with toddlers? We consider the proportion of bimod…
Putting multiparty interactions back into multimodal language development studies: A commentary on Karadöller, Sümer, and Özyürek
Karadöller, Sümer, and Özyürek review a significant body of research underscoring the need to approach early communication as an integrated multimodal system shaped by developmental and interactional dynamics. However, most studies focus on dyadic interactions, overlooking the impact of multiparty communicative contexts not only in Indigenous and low-SES communities but also in daycare settings. Drawing on data from 98 children, we illustrate how…
La composición léxica del vocabulario infantil en niños de cuatro años de distintos grupos sociales y su relación con el entorno lingüístico
El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la composición léxica del vocabulario productivo infantil y su relación con el input lingüístico al que los niños de cuatro años de distintos grupos sociales están expuestos. A partir de un corpus de habla espontánea, se seleccionaron las transcripciones de 19 niños de dos grupos sociales distintos (n= 38), correspondientes a 456 horas de grabación, y se analizó la cantidad total y los tipos distintos de su…
Impacto de las actividades cotidianas, las circunstancias socioeconómicas y el input lingüístico en el vocabulario de niños argentinos de 4 años
Este trabajo analiza las circunstancias socioeconómicas, las actividades cotidianas y el input lingüístico en la composición léxica de niños de cuatro años de distintos contextos urbanos de Argentina. Sobre una muestra de 37 transcripciones, se calculó la cantidad total y los tipos distintos de sustantivos, adjetivos y verbos. Se realizaron dos series de regresiones beta para calcular el impacto de estos factores contextuales sobre el input y sob…
Variation sets in the speech directed to toddlers in Argentinian households.SES and type of activity effects
The study adopts a naturalistic perspective, looking at the relationship between socio-economic status (SES), activities and variation sets in child-directed speech (CDS) to Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers. It aims to determine the effect of SES and type of activity on the proportion of words and utterances in variation sets and on the pragmatic function they serve in interaction. Thirty two children (mean: 14.3 months) and their families w…
Socioeconomic disparities in the comprehension of lexical categories. A study with Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers
Other children’s words in the linguistic environment of infants and young children from distinct social groups in Argentina ( Las palabras de otros niños en el entorno lingüístico de bebés y niños peq…
This present research analyses the linguistic environmental setting in homes of children under the age of two years from different social groups and looks at the extent to which the speech from other children contributes to shaping that environment. The corpus includes recordings of spontaneous speech from middle-class households in residential urban areas, from lower socioeconomic classes in marginalized urban areas and from impoverished semi-ru…
Nouns and verbs in the linguistic environment of Argentinian toddlers: Socioeconomic and context-related differences
This article examines the input to Argentinian Spanish-learning children from low and middle socioeconomic status (SES). It aims to determine whether the vocabulary composition (nouns and verbs) of their input varies as a function of SES, the addressee and other contextual variables such as the type of activity and the pragmatic orientation of the utterances. Thirty children (mean: 14.3 months) and their families were audio-recorded for four hour…
"Uy, no! ¡Mirá lo que pasó!". Uso de recursos evaluativos en narrativas de ficción por niños pequeños de poblaciones urbano-marginadas
This work aims to analyze the evaluative resources (Labov, 1972) that 4-year-old children from marginalized urban populations employ when they tell a fictional account in different contexts of production: interaction with a same age child, interaction with an older child and individual performance. The corpus is made up of 99 narratives elicited from a sequence of images to 33 4-year-old children in the three conditions mention. The narratives we…
At Home and at School: Bridging Literacy for Children from Poor Rural or Marginalized Urban Communities
This study presents three pedagogical strategies that give a socio-cultural anchor to children's literacy in impoverished rural communities and with marginalized urban populations in Argentina. The strategies are: elaboration and use of ethnographic reading books, design and implementation of a family early literacy program for children from urban-marginalized populations, and implementation of a program of child tutors. The design of these strat…
"Uy, no! ¡Mirá lo que pasó!". Uso de recursos evaluativos en narrativas de ficción por niños pequeños de poblaciones urbano-marginadas
This work aims to analyze the evaluative resources (Labov, 1972) that 4-year-old children from marginalized urban populations employ when they tell a fictional account in different contexts of production: interaction with a same age child, interaction with an older child and individual performance. The corpus is made up of 99 narratives elicited from a sequence of images to 33 4-year-old children in the three conditions mention. The narratives we…
At Home and at School: Bridging Literacy for Children from Poor Rural or Marginalized Urban Communities
This study presents three pedagogical strategies that give a socio-cultural anchor to children's literacy in impoverished rural communities and with marginalized urban populations in Argentina. The strategies are: elaboration and use of ethnographic reading books, design and implementation of a family early literacy program for children from urban-marginalized populations, and implementation of a program of child tutors. The design of these strat…
"Uy, no! ¡Mirá lo que pasó!". Uso de recursos evaluativos en narrativas de ficción por niños pequeños de poblaciones urbano-marginadas
This work aims to analyze the evaluative resources (Labov, 1972) that 4-year-old children from marginalized urban populations employ when they tell a fictional account in different contexts of production: interaction with a same age child, interaction with an older child and individual performance. The corpus is made up of 99 narratives elicited from a sequence of images to 33 4-year-old children in the three conditions mention. The narratives we…
Nouns and verbs in the linguistic environment of Argentinian toddlers: Socioeconomic and context-related differences
This article examines the input to Argentinian Spanish-learning children from low and middle socioeconomic status (SES). It aims to determine whether the vocabulary composition (nouns and verbs) of their input varies as a function of SES, the addressee and other contextual variables such as the type of activity and the pragmatic orientation of the utterances. Thirty children (mean: 14.3 months) and their families were audio-recorded for four hour…
Socioeconomic disparities in the comprehension of lexical categories. A study with Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers
Other children’s words in the linguistic environment of infants and young children from distinct social groups in Argentina ( Las palabras de otros niños en el entorno lingüístico de bebés y niños peq…
This present research analyses the linguistic environmental setting in homes of children under the age of two years from different social groups and looks at the extent to which the speech from other children contributes to shaping that environment. The corpus includes recordings of spontaneous speech from middle-class households in residential urban areas, from lower socioeconomic classes in marginalized urban areas and from impoverished semi-ru…
Variation sets in the speech directed to toddlers in Argentinian households.SES and type of activity effects
The study adopts a naturalistic perspective, looking at the relationship between socio-economic status (SES), activities and variation sets in child-directed speech (CDS) to Spanish-speaking Argentinian toddlers. It aims to determine the effect of SES and type of activity on the proportion of words and utterances in variation sets and on the pragmatic function they serve in interaction. Thirty two children (mean: 14.3 months) and their families w…
Impacto de las actividades cotidianas, las circunstancias socioeconómicas y el input lingüístico en el vocabulario de niños argentinos de 4 años
Este trabajo analiza las circunstancias socioeconómicas, las actividades cotidianas y el input lingüístico en la composición léxica de niños de cuatro años de distintos contextos urbanos de Argentina. Sobre una muestra de 37 transcripciones, se calculó la cantidad total y los tipos distintos de sustantivos, adjetivos y verbos. Se realizaron dos series de regresiones beta para calcular el impacto de estos factores contextuales sobre el input y sob…
La composición léxica del vocabulario infantil en niños de cuatro años de distintos grupos sociales y su relación con el entorno lingüístico
El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la composición léxica del vocabulario productivo infantil y su relación con el input lingüístico al que los niños de cuatro años de distintos grupos sociales están expuestos. A partir de un corpus de habla espontánea, se seleccionaron las transcripciones de 19 niños de dos grupos sociales distintos (n= 38), correspondientes a 456 horas de grabación, y se analizó la cantidad total y los tipos distintos de su…
How teachers emphasize their speech: Gestures and self-repetitions during group interaction with toddlers
When interacting with young children, adults often self-repeat their own utterances that vary in sequences of adjacent utterances called variation sets (VS) (Küntay and Slobin Citation1996). These repetitions benefit children’s linguistic development because they emphasize form and meaning. This paper analyzes the use of VS during group interaction and from a multimodal point of view. Sixteen teachers were video-recorded during interaction with t…
A cross-linguistic examination of young children’s everyday language experiences
We present an exploratory cross-linguistic analysis of the quantity of target-child-directed speech and adult-directed speech in North American English (US & Canadian), United Kingdom English, Argentinian Spanish, Tseltal (Tenejapa, Mayan), and Yélî Dnye (Rossel Island, Papuan), using annotations from 69 children aged 2–36 months. Using a novel methodological approach, our cross-linguistic and cross-cultural findings support prior work suggesting…
Gesture and speech in variation sets directed to Spanish-learning toddlers in adult–child interactions
The study adopts a multimodal perspective, looking at adults’ use of gestures in variation sets (VS; i.e. sequences of partial self-repetitions occurring in successive utterances of varying form) addressed to Spanish-learning toddlers in adult–child interactions. We seek to address the following question: Do adults make simultaneous use of VS and gestures to amplify their effect while interacting with toddlers? We consider the proportion of bimod…
Putting multiparty interactions back into multimodal language development studies: A commentary on Karadöller, Sümer, and Özyürek
Karadöller, Sümer, and Özyürek review a significant body of research underscoring the need to approach early communication as an integrated multimodal system shaped by developmental and interactional dynamics. However, most studies focus on dyadic interactions, overlooking the impact of multiparty communicative contexts not only in Indigenous and low-SES communities but also in daycare settings. Drawing on data from 98 children, we illustrate how…
Cross-Linguistic and Socioeconomic Differences in the Use of Variation Sets in Children’s Communicative Environments
This study examines variation sets (VS) – structured repetitions of words in different morphosyntactic contexts – in child-directed speech (CDS) compared to adult-directed speech (ADS) across two communities (Argentinian Spanish and North American English) and socioeconomic groups. Drawing on naturalistic recordings from 101 families, results show that VS are more frequent in CDS than in ADS. In Argentinian Spanish, they are more prevalent in mid…
Little voices, rising conversations: A study of group interactions in nursery classrooms
This study examines the verbal participation of two-year-old children during structured group activities in Spanish nursery schools, with a particular focus on the characteristics of Child-Directed Speech (CDS). The sample comprised 208 children and 31 teachers across 21 classrooms in Madrid and Toledo. The study analyzes how children's verbal participation, as well as teachers' individual and group CDS, relate to group size, vocabulary level and…
Psychology (10 works) · Language Development and Disorders (7 works) · Linguistics (7 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Reading and Literacy Development (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (4 works) · Literacy and Educational Practices (4 works) · Phonetics and Phonology Research (4 works)