Iverson, J.M. (2010). Developing language in a developing body: The relationship between motor development and language development. Journal of Child Language, 37(2), 229-261. https://doi.org/doi:10.1017/S0305000909990432
This article is a review of the literature and research on this topic rather than the report of a single research study. The author, Jana Iverson, holds a Ph.D., is a professor and researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, and has authored a number of research studies in this field. In her review, she examines the relationship between movement in young children and their acquisition of language. Relying on research on early movement and the acquisition of words and sounds, she contends that changes in movement and play skills during the early years alter the ways children move through their environment and affect the way they communicate about the world. For example, children learn motor skills that allow them to move under, around, and through spaces, skills which in turn support their learning of the words for these ideas. Their increasing ability to cause events to occur with their bodies such as throwing a ball to another person, guides their use of casual statements (e.g., "If you push that harder, it rolls really far.") Motor play leads an infant to discover new objects and people and, as a result, their names. Social interactions in motor play provide the motivation to improve communications with others. In conclusion, she suggests that one way to enhance children's language development may be to engage them in play with peers on the playground. Another might be to create challenges so children can "play their prepositions" (e.g. climb over, under, and around).
I discovered this article while browsing physical copies of the Journal of Child Language, which I am finding to be a highly regarded journal in the field. I used this article as a starting point for my literature review examining the connection between motor and language development. I found that this particular study complements other articles I have selected in that Iverson focuses on a broad range of motor skills related to socialization in toddlers, in constrast to Oudgenoeg-Pax and Volman (2012), for example, who focus on the special motor skills of walking and sitting in infants. Additionally, I have identified a few research studies in Iverson's reference list which I would like to locate. I also located a citation for this article in the ERIC database and will use some of the following subject headings from this article to search for additional research articles: language research, child language, infants, motor development, language acquisition, and psychomotor skills.
