In this study vocabulary development of a sample of 42 Italian children was evaluated through monthly administration of the Italian version of the CDI. Data collection started at 1;0–1;1 for 32 children and at 1;3–1;4 for the remaining subjects and continued until children’s vocabulary reached 200 words. At fixed stages of vocabulary size (50, 100 and 200 words), individual differences in percentile scores and vocabulary composition were examined. Individual growth curves were analysed in order to verify the presence of a vocabulary spurt and the type of lexical items which contributed most to rapid acceleration in vocabulary growth. Stylistic differences in vocabulary composition were examined regarding the ‘referential–expressive’ distinction, controlling vocabulary size. Data have shown that general trends in vocabulary development are quite similar to those obtained for other languages using CDI adaptations. Moreover, all children in this sample eventually exhibited a vocabulary spurt, even if some can be defined as ‘late spurters’. The type of lexical items which are learned during the spurt depend on both infant vocabulary size and referential score. About 28% of infants in this sample were defined ‘referential’ when their vocabulary size was about 50 words, but the stylistic differences disappeared at the 100- and 200- word stages. Composition of vocabulary did not differ in relation to precocity in reaching different stages of vocabulary development. The only exception was that infants who reached the 50-word stage first also had a vocabulary with a lower proportion of function words

Fourteen Italian infants were observed during play-interaction with their mothers in six laboratory sessions taking place about every two months from 7 to 21 months of age. They were video- recorded and transcribed to obtain data on the frequency of mothers' verbal behaviour and its pragmatic and semantic charac teristics. Infants' productions were also classified as babbling, words or multi-word utterances. Analyses were performed to assess: (a) variations in characteristics of maternal speech with infants' increasing age; (b) stability of individual characteristics of mothers' verbal behaviour; (c) the contribution of children's individual characteristics and mothers' interactive style to language acquisition at 12 and 21 months. Results revealed that both infants' and mothers' individual characteristics make a relevant contribution to the first steps of language acquisition. However, after the first year of age, infants' individual differences are more responsible for the outcomes of the second year.

Communication in 32 mother-infant dyads (18 mother-preterm infants and 14 mother-full-term infants) was observed during semi-structured play sessions when the children were 6 months of age. Maternal speech directed to the child was assessed in terms of complexity, verbal productivity and function of the utterances. This study also analysed turn-taking interaction structure and the children's prelinguistic development. The results show differences between the interactive patterns of term and preterm mother-infant dyads. In particular, mother-preterm infant conversations were characterized by high maternal responsiveness and lack of activity on the part of the infant.

The study showed the importance of early detection of language risk factors in children with SCT, while also considering the use of compensatory strategies (e.g., the use of communicative gestures).

This paper compares the proportions of different word classes present in 30 Italian children at two specific stages of vocabulary development (200 and 500 words). The Italian version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory and spontaneous speech samples produced during an observation session were both used to examine the extent to which these children produce quantitatively different vocabulary compositions. Both methods revealed a greater presence of nouns than other word classes in the sample studied, although significant differences were found in the noun/other word class proportions.