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Alignment Development Is Not a Unitary Phenomenon: A Comparison of Speech Rate and Lexical Alignment in Children.

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Title: Alignment Development Is Not a Unitary Phenomenon: A Comparison of Speech Rate and Lexical Alignment in Children.
Authors: Jing Chieng, Adriana Chee1 adrianajanicechieng@gmail.com, Wynn, Camille J.2, Wong, Tze Peng1, Borrie, Stephanie A.2
Source: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Mar2026, Vol. 69 Issue 3, p891-905. 15p.
Subject Terms: *Conversation, *Data analysis, *Phonological awareness, *Verbal behavior testing, *Communication, *Ability, *Comparative studies, *Articulation (Speech), *Language acquisition, *Training, Research funding, Questionnaires, Physiological aspects of speech, Pediatrics, Statistics
Geographic Terms: Malaysia
Abstract: Purpose: Conversational alignment, the phenomenon in which interlocutors exhibit similar communicative behaviors as one another, has been documented across many levels of communication. There has been a growing recognition of the need to understand the relationship between alignment at various levels. Here, we add to the body of literature by exploring the trajectories of alignment development at different communication levels in children. Using a conversational corpus in which early school-aged children demonstrated robust lexical alignment, we examined whether they also demonstrated similar patterns of speech rate alignment. Method: In this corpus, children (n = 45) aged 5-8 years participated in two experimental sessions. In one session, they interacted with their parents (i.e., all mothers), and in the other, they interacted with the university students. During each session, the child engaged in two 10-min conversations: a problem-solving task and a play-based task. A total of 180 conversational samples were collected. Results: Linear mixed-effects models showed that the children did not align their speech rates across multiple contexts (i.e., different partners and tasks). Furthermore, there was no relationship between lexical and speech rate alignment. Conclusions: These findings suggest that alignment development in children is not a unitary phenomenon. Rather, alignment at different levels of communication may require different underlying skills and may be driven by different levels of automaticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Speech%2C+Language+%26+Hearing+Research%22">Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 69 Issue 3, p891-905. 15p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Conversation%22">Conversation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis%22">Data analysis</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phonological+awareness%22">Phonological awareness</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Verbal+behavior+testing%22">Verbal behavior testing</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Communication%22">Communication</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ability%22">Ability</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Articulation+%28Speech%29%22">Articulation (Speech)</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Training%22">Training</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Questionnaires%22">Questionnaires</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Physiological+aspects+of+speech%22">Physiological aspects of speech</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pediatrics%22">Pediatrics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistics%22">Statistics</searchLink>
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  Data: Purpose: Conversational alignment, the phenomenon in which interlocutors exhibit similar communicative behaviors as one another, has been documented across many levels of communication. There has been a growing recognition of the need to understand the relationship between alignment at various levels. Here, we add to the body of literature by exploring the trajectories of alignment development at different communication levels in children. Using a conversational corpus in which early school-aged children demonstrated robust lexical alignment, we examined whether they also demonstrated similar patterns of speech rate alignment. Method: In this corpus, children (n = 45) aged 5-8 years participated in two experimental sessions. In one session, they interacted with their parents (i.e., all mothers), and in the other, they interacted with the university students. During each session, the child engaged in two 10-min conversations: a problem-solving task and a play-based task. A total of 180 conversational samples were collected. Results: Linear mixed-effects models showed that the children did not align their speech rates across multiple contexts (i.e., different partners and tasks). Furthermore, there was no relationship between lexical and speech rate alignment. Conclusions: These findings suggest that alignment development in children is not a unitary phenomenon. Rather, alignment at different levels of communication may require different underlying skills and may be driven by different levels of automaticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=192310454
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        Value: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00149
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        Text: English
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Conversation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Phonological awareness
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      – SubjectFull: Verbal behavior testing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Communication
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      – SubjectFull: Ability
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      – SubjectFull: Statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Malaysia
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    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Alignment Development Is Not a Unitary Phenomenon: A Comparison of Speech Rate and Lexical Alignment in Children.
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              Text: Mar2026
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