Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.31724/rihjj.50.1.2

Lexical and Diversity in Picture Books Intended for Early Childhood

Kristina Milolaža orcid.org/0009-0002-7945-4883 ; Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet, Zagreb
Maja Cepanec ; Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet, Zagreb
Gordana Hržica orcid.org/0000-0001-6067-9148 ; Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet, Zagreb

Abstract

Picture books play an important role in children’s language and speech development. It is necessary to adapt the picture books to the language level of the child in order to create optimal language input. Age labelling can be used as a guide when choosing a picture book, whereby such labels should mean that there are differences in the linguistic complexity of the text in relation to the age for which they are intended. The aim of this paper was to analyse and compare the linguistic features of picture books with age labels 18+ and 24+ months. The analysis was performed on a sample of 12 Croatian picture books. Lexical features were assessed using measures of lexical diversity, (vocabulary diversity index D) and the moving-average type-token ratio (MATTR). The results show that the vocabulary diversity of picture books increases with age, with the lexical diversity index proving to be a more accurate measure for distinguishing between groups than the MATTR. Unexpectedly, however, the sophistication of nouns decreases with age – picture books aimed at younger children contain more rare, sophisticated nouns than picture books aimed at older children.

Keywords

picture book; age labels; lexical diversity; moving average type-token ratio

Hrčak ID:

328015

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/328015

Publication date:

30.12.2024.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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