ERIC Number: EJ1344430
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Dec
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1750-8592
EISSN: EISSN-1750-8606
Beyond Counting Words: A Paradigm Shift for the Study of Language Acquisition
Masek, Lillian R.; Ramirez, Alexus G.; McMillan, Brianna T. M.; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick
Child Development Perspectives, v15 n4 p274-280 Dec 2021
"The 30-million-word gap," the quantified difference in the amount of speech that children growing up in low-resourced homes hear compared to their peers from high-resourced homes, is a phrase that has entered the collective consciousness. In the discussion of quantity, the complex and nuanced environments in which children learn language were distilled into a singular metric--number of words. In this article, we propose examining children's language environments by focusing on "what" caregivers communicate to children and "how" they communicate it. Focusing on the features of the language environment promotes a more inclusive approach to understanding how children learn and the diverse contexts in which that learning occurs.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A110284; R324A160241