Fathers' Speech to Their Children: Perfect Pitch or Tin Ear?

This paper reviews the literature on the similarities and differences in child-directed speech (CDS) employed by fathers and mothers. The contributions that fathers are thought to make to their chil-dren’s language and communicative development are discussed, and factors influencing the findings and interpretations of empiri-cal studies of fathers ’ CDS are presented. Key Words: child directed speech, fathers ’ contribution, children’s language development The purpose of this paper is to review research findings as they pertain to fathers’ verbal interactions with their young children to determine whether they provide unique language learning models for their youngsters. The impetus to this review is the ever-expanding concern for the condition of the American family. These con-cerns are manifest in the national preoccupation with the quality of public educa-tional institutions and violence in the schools and with the omnipotence and possible deleterious influences of mass media. Research has revealed the importance of the family in the overall intellectual, social, and emotional development of children (Berger, 2001). The role of the father in the family has become of increasing concern to professionals from many disciplines. Pleck and Pleck (1997) traced the major stages in the evolution of fatherhood in the American family: the stern patriarch, the distant breadwinner, what the authors