ERIC Number: ED616430
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Beyond Talk: Contributions of Quantity and Quality of Communication to Language Success across Socioeconomic Strata
Masek, Lillian R.; Patterson, Sarah J.; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Bakeman, Roger; Adamson, Lauren B.; Owen, Margaret Tresch; Pace, Amy; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy
Grantee Submission, Infancy v26 p123-147 2020
Infants from low-socioeconomic status (SES) households hear a projected 30 million fewer words than their higher-SES peers. In a recent study, Hirsh-Pasek et al. (Psychological Science, 2015; 26: 1071) found that in a low-income sample, fluency and connectedness in exchanges between caregivers and toddlers predicted child language a year later over and above quantity of talk (Hirsh-Pasek et al., "Psychological Science," 2015; 26: 1071). Here, we expand upon this study by examining "fluency and connectedness" in two higher-SES samples. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, we sampled 20 toddlers who had low, average, and high language outcomes at 36 months from each of 2 groups based on income-to-needs ratio (INR; middle and high) and applied new coding to the mother-toddler interaction at 24 months. In the high-INR group, the quality of mother-toddler interaction at 24 months accounted for more variability in language outcomes a year later than did quantity of talk, quality of talk, or sensitive parenting. These results could not be accounted for by child language ability at 24 months. These effects were not found in the middle-INR sample. Our findings suggest that when the quality of interaction, "fluency and connectedness," predicts language outcomes, it is a robust relation, but it may not be universal.
Descriptors: Socioeconomic Status, Social Differences, Child Language, Language Acquisition, Language Skills, Child Development, Child Care, Toddlers, Infants, Vocabulary Development, Caregiver Child Relationship, Low Income Groups, Prediction, Mothers, Parent Child Relationship, Language Fluency, Parenting Styles, Video Technology, Longitudinal Studies, Computational Linguistics, Family Income, Measures (Individuals), Receptive Language, Expressive Language
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A110284; R324A160241