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Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children's Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers.

ABSTRACT: This study explored the relations between Spanish-English dual language learner (DLL) children's home language and literacy experiences and their expressive vocabulary and oral comprehension abilities in Spanish and in English. Data from Spanish-English mothers of 93 preschool-age Head Start children who resided in central Pennsylvania were analyzed. Children completed the Picture Vocabulary and Oral Comprehension subtests of the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz and the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Results revealed that the language spoken by mothers and children and the frequency of mother-child reading at home influenced children's Spanish language abilities. In addition, the frequency with which children told a story was positively related to children's performance on English oral language measures.The findings suggest that language and literacy experiences at home have a differential impact on DLLs' language abilities in their 2 languages. Specific components of the home environment that benefit and support DLL children's language abilities are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Lewis K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4941823 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children's Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers.

Lewis Kandia K Sandilos Lia E LE Hammer Carol Scheffner CS Sawyer Brook E BE Méndez Lucía I LI

Early education and development 20150925 4

<h4>Research findings</h4>This study explored the relations between Spanish-English dual language learner (DLL) children's home language and literacy experiences and their expressive vocabulary and oral comprehension abilities in Spanish and in English. Data from Spanish-English mothers of 93 preschool-age Head Start children who resided in central Pennsylvania were analyzed. Children completed the Picture Vocabulary and Oral Comprehension subtests of the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz and the Woodc ...[more]

PMID: 27429533

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Project description:Background and aimsChildren with developmental language disorder (DLD) are at risk of difficulties in their friendships and peer relations. The present review explores how research directly involving children with DLD can inform our understanding of peer relations in this group, and how research insights may change according to the nature of their involvement in the studies. We further examine how these findings might shape current theoretical understandings of the links between language impairment and peer relations.MethodsAn integrative review methodology was used in order to identify relevant studies and synthesise the findings. A structured database search was carried out using the qualitative PICo framework; Population = 4-12-year-old children with DLD, phenomenon of Interest = peer relations, Context = research studies directly including children. After screening, 52 studies were included in a narrative research synthesis.Main contribution: We identified six main types of study that directly included children with DLD; interview, sociometric, self-report, task-based, naturalistic observation and staged observation. Interview-based studies were the most likely to use a meaningful participatory approach. Indications of good practices for participation included reporting on involvement practices, seeking child assent, adapting materials and language used, using visual supports, using child-preferred communication methods and using art-based approaches. Findings from the narrative synthesis of studies highlight the importance of friendships to quality of life, and the role of pragmatic language skills and self-perceptions in building friendships.ConclusionsResearch on the peer relations of children with DLD is in the early stages when it comes to taking a participatory approach, however there are some examples of inclusive practice from which the whole field can learn. The findings show that research that directly includes children with language disorders and takes account of their communication challenges can help build a more comprehensive knowledge of their world and leads to interesting avenues for interventions targeting social adjustment.Implications: Clinical implications are discussed with reference to the highlighted pragmatic language and social needs of children with DLD, which are typically not addressed unless disproportionately affected in comparison to structural language impairments.

Project description:The home learning environment plays an important role for children's early competencies development. In particular, the early home literacy environment (HLE) that consists of all literacy resources and interactions in a family that support children's linguistic and literacy learning is closely associated with children's language comprehension and production. A key aspect of the HLE is shared reading that should start early in children's life and should be part of a regular routine in the family. However, parental attitudes toward (shared) reading have hardly been analyzed. In this longitudinal study, we analyzed the associations between parental attitudes toward shared reading and children's linguistic competencies and whether these associations may be mediated by the HLE. Further, we were interested in changes of parental attitudes over time and their association with child and family background characteristics. The sample consisted of N = 133 children with an average age of about 3 years at t1. Children were tested two more times with a 6-month period in-between each assessment. Parental attitudes toward shared reading, socioeconomic status (SES), and the HLE were assessed via parental survey. Children's sentence comprehension, productive language, and grammar were measured with a standardized test battery. Children whose parents had a more positive attitude toward shared reading not only lived in a greater quality HLE but also performed better in the linguistic tests. In a structural equation model, an indirect effect was found showing that the HLE mediated the effect of parental attitudes on children's linguistic competencies. Further, parental attitudes toward shared reading did not change significantly across t1 to t3, and a lower score in the SES scale was associated with a less positive attitude toward shared reading. Consequently, parental attitudes toward shared reading seem to be an important basis for individual differences in the quality of the HLE and also for children's linguistic competencies. As these attitudes vary in the context of different family SES backgrounds, they may be a good target for interventions to support the quality of the HLE and young children's linguistic learning.

Dataset Information

Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children's Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers.

Publications

Relations Among the Home Language and Literacy Environment and Children's Language Abilities: A Study of Head Start Dual Language Learners and Their Mothers.

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