The Preverbal Negotiation of Failed Messages: Insights into the Transition Period

Little theoretical or empirical research has been conducted on the transition period between prelinguistic and linguistic communication as compared to the vast amount of research on communication development in the first year of life (see Bullowa, 1979; Lewis & Rosenblum, 1974; Lock, 1978; Schaffer, 1977; Stern, 1977) and language development in the latter half of the second year (see Dale, 1976; Fletcher & Garman, 1979; Nelson, 1978). Therefore, I was surprised and initially unprepared to consider the impressive communicative complexity that characterizes mother-infant communicative interaction during the transition period from approximately 12 to 18 months of age.