Coordination of Caregiver Naming and Children's Exploration of Solid Objects and Nonsolid Substances

When a caregiver names objects dominating a child's view, the association between object and name is unambiguous and children are more likely to learn the object's name. Children also learn to name things other than solid objects, including nonsolid substances like applesauce. However, it is unknown how caregivers structure linguistic and exploratory experiences with nonsolids to support learning. In this exploratory study of caregivers and children (n = 14, 8 girls; M = 20.50 months) we compare caregiver-child free-play with novel solid objects and novel nonsolid substances to identify the linguistic and exploratory experiences associated with children's word learning. We found systematic differences in interactions with novel objects, such that children performed more manual actions on solids than nonsolids and caregivers named solids more than nonsolids. Additionally, there was less synchrony between caregivers' naming and children's manual and visual exploration of nonsolids than solids. Consistent with prior work, we found that synchronous naming was associated with accurate recognition of solid object names. However, naming synchrony was not associated with recognition of nonsolid substance names or with generalization. Together these findings, though exploratory, suggest the coordination of caregiver-child play can shape what children remember about novel word-object associations for solid objects, but not nonsolid substances

Language input and development during a year in an early intervention classroom

By the time they are three-years-old, children raised in poverty hear 30 million fewer words than their socioeconomi-cally advantaged peers. This word gap predicts later school readiness outcomes and sets the stage for achievement gaps that canfollow the child through life. Although parent speech has become a subject of increasing study and intervention, less is knownabout speech in childcare settings. We conducted a longitudinal study in an early-intervention classroom for 2-3-year-old chil-dren from low-income, at-risk backgrounds. We examine the relationship between language input from teachers and peers andchildren’s language skills over one year. Results show that vocabulary knowledge influences children’s talkativeness in theclassroom, and talkativeness and the amount of language they hear positively relates to increases in their language abilities.Our application of automated measurement provides new insight into the dynamics of the classroom language environment andconsequences for language development in at-risk children

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

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

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

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