6 research outputs found
A year in words: The dynamics and consequences of language experiences in an intervention classroom
<div><p>Children from low SES backgrounds hear, on average, fewer words at home than those from high SES backgrounds. This word gap is associated with widening achievement differences in children’s language abilities and school readiness. However relatively little is known about adult and child speech in childcare settings, in which approximately 30% of American children are enrolled. We examined the influence of teacher and peer language input on children’s in-class language use and language development in an intervention classroom for low-SES, high-risk 2- to 3-year-olds. Over the course of a year, day-long recordings of the classroom were collected weekly with LENA recorders. Using LENA software algorithms, we found that language input from peers was positively related to children’s in-class language use, both in-the-moment and over the course of each day, as were the number of conversational turns in which children and teachers engaged Both peer input and conversational turns with teachers were also positively related to children’s language development rates, as indexed by increases in vocabulary size. Together these results indicate the importance of child-specific rates of classroom language input in the language development of high-risk, preschoolers.</p></div
Characteristics of each child in the classroom.
<p>Characteristics of each child in the classroom.</p
Results of linear mixed effects regression models predicting children’s in-the-moment vocalizations based on LENA coded 5-minute bins.
<p>Results of linear mixed effects regression models predicting children’s in-the-moment vocalizations based on LENA coded 5-minute bins.</p
The relationship between time and the number of vocalizations children heard from their peers (log per hour averages).
<p>Error bands represent standard error of the mean. Each point represents 1 recording day for 1 child.</p
Average number of vocalizations made by adults, children, and peers, average number of conversational turns, and average amount of overlap in vocalizations per 5-minute segment of each type of activity context.
<p>Error bars represent standard errors of the mean. See the text for mixed effects models of these effects.</p
Results of separate linear mixed effects regression models examining effects of activity type on each of language experiences.
<p>Results of separate linear mixed effects regression models examining effects of activity type on each of language experiences.</p