Word Gap Language Development PDF

OneNote https://usc-onenote.officeapps.live.com/o/onenoteframe.aspx?ui=en-U... Word Gap Monday, December 02, 2024 10:37 PM Language development: the word gap documented by Betty Hart...

OneNote https://usc-onenote.officeapps.live.com/o/onenoteframe.aspx?ui=en-U... Word Gap Monday, December 02, 2024 10:37 PM Language development: the word gap documented by Betty Hart and Todd Risley in the 1980’s researchers recorded words used by parents found differences in word exposure differed based on socioeconomic status 32 million more words for higher-income children than for lower-income children by age 4 word exposure predicted language skill *Children from low SES families are exposed to much lower amount of words then rich families concerns about the original research made estimate of word gap based on little evidence experimenter could have different effects on different people researcher is likely to be more intimidating to low SES parents high SES parents may be more motivated to show off more recent studies has addressed these criticisms digital recording devices used to record speech Beyond the word Gap video Used fmri scanning Trained children using fmri trainer to stay still Found conversational terms mattered the most ○ Brocas area activation Income and education did not matter, only the amount of conversations *coordinated conversations > adult speaking at children some recent findings word gap replicated, but a bit smaller difference in exposure by SES is clear by 18 months wide variation in words heard even after controlling for income recent findings (continued) differences observed in speed of language processing: looking while listening task: assessed by having two pictures in front of them (dog, cat), saying look at one, and 1 of 3 12/3/2024, 9:13 PM OneNote https://usc-onenote.officeapps.live.com/o/onenoteframe.aspx?ui=en-U... measuring time to look at correct one *time it takes to look = time it takes to process word many programs developed home visitors encourage parents and child care providers to have more and better interaction given feedback on how much they talk from recording device (like language fitbit) used for goal setting for enriching language environment promote talking, reading, and singing to children use everyday moments (like doing laundry) to have conversations with children Example: encouraging parents to talk about shapes everywhere criticisms of the approach linguist Michael Erard: “just as solving climate change isn’t about closing the polar bear gap... you can’t increase children’s school readiness by closing the word gap.” can be interpreted as parent blaming need to shift from how can we fix these students to how can we best serve them? response to criticism building strong language as a foundation for learning evidence that language skills in kindergarten predicts language, math, reading, and social abilities in 5th grade Programs to deal with the word gap are helping people have rich interactions with children the “conversational duet” between caregivers and children promotes cognitive and emotional development 2 of 3 12/3/2024, 9:13 PM OneNote https://usc-onenote.officeapps.live.com/o/onenoteframe.aspx?ui=en-U... 3 of 3 12/3/2024, 9:13 PM