Predictors of preschool language environments and their relations to children's vocabulary

Despite support for the importance of early language environments, little is known about the naturally occurring experiences children have in preschool settings. The current study sample included 91 children (Mage = 4.72 years; 56% male; 67% White) from 23 preschool classrooms and nearly 1500 h of l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infant and child development 2023-01, Vol.32 (1), p.n/a
Main Authors: Duncan, Robert J., Anderson, Kirsten L., King, Yemimah A., Finders, Jennifer K., Schmitt, Sara A., Purpura, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child Development
Classroom Communication
Classrooms
Correlation
early childhood education
Families & family life
Family Income
Language
Language Acquisition
LENA
Parent-child relations
Predictor Variables
preschool
Preschool Children
Preschool Education
Sociodemographics
Specification
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Skills
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Summary:Despite support for the importance of early language environments, little is known about the naturally occurring experiences children have in preschool settings. The current study sample included 91 children (Mage = 4.72 years; 56% male; 67% White) from 23 preschool classrooms and nearly 1500 h of language environment data from three waves throughout the preschool year. Of the sociodemographic characteristics, family income is most closely related to children's preschool language environments. A standard deviation increase in family income was related to children hearing approximately one million more adult words in their preschool classroom. However, conversational turns were the more robust predictor of vocabulary skills with effect sizes around 0.20, depending on model specification. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.
ISSN:1522-7227
1522-7219
DOI:10.1002/icd.2381