Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T15:26:07.080Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Early vocabulary, parental education, and the frequency of shared reading as predictors of toddler's vocabulary and grammar at age 2;7: a Slovenian longitudinal CDI study*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2016

LJUBICA MARJANOVIČ-UMEK ,
URŠKA FEKONJA-PEKLAJ  and
GREGOR SOČAN
LJUBICA MARJANOVIČ-UMEK
Affiliation:
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
URŠKA FEKONJA-PEKLAJ*
Affiliation:
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
GREGOR SOČAN
Affiliation:
University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
*
*Address for correspondence: Urška Fekonja-Peklaj, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Psychology, Aškerčeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: urska.fekonja@ff.uni-lj.si
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of this longitudinal study, carried out on a sample of Slovenian-speaking toddlers, was to analyze developmental changes and stability in early vocabulary development; to establish relations between toddler's vocabulary and grammar; and to analyze the effects of parental education and the frequency of shared reading on toddlers' vocabulary and grammar. The sample included fifty-one toddlers, aged 1;4 at the time of the first, and 2;7 at the time of the last, assessment. Toddlers' vocabulary and grammar were assessed six times during a 15-month period using the Slovenian adaptation of the CDI. Our findings suggest great individual differences in both size and rate of toddlers' vocabulary development. Toddlers' vocabulary scores remained relatively stable across a 3-month period. Early vocabulary at 1;7 predicted vocabulary, sentence complexity, and mean length of utterance (MLU) at 2;7, while the frequency of shared reading mediated the effect of parental education on toddlers' vocabulary and grammar at 2;7.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , March 2017 , pp. 457 - 479
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baldwin, D. A. (1995). Understanding the link between joint attention and language. In Moore, C. & Dunham, P. J. (Eds.), Joint attention: its origins and role in development, 131–58. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bates, E. (2003). Natura e cultura nel linguaggio. In Levi-Montalcini, R., Baltimore, D., Dulbecco, R. & Jacob, F. (Series Eds.) & Bizzi, E., Calissano, P. & Volterra, V. (Vol. Eds.), Frontiere della biologia: il cervello di Homo sapiens (pp. 241–65). Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana fondata da Giovanni Trecanni S.p.A. Google Scholar
Bates, E., Bretherton, I. & Snyder, L. (1988). From first words to grammar: individual differences and dissociable mechanisms. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bates, E., Dale, P. & Thal, D. (1995). Individual differences and their implications for theories of language development. In Fletcher, P. & MacWhinney, B. (eds), Handbook of child language (pp. 96–151). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bates, E. & Goodman, J. (1997). On the inseparability of grammar and the lexicon: evidence from acquisition, aphasia and real-time processing. Language & Cognitive Processes 12(5/6), 507–86.Google Scholar
Bates, E. & Goodman, J. C. (2001). On the inseparability of grammar and the lexicon: evidence from acquisition. In Tomasello, M. & Bates, E. (eds), Language development: the essential readings (pp. 134–62). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bernstein, B. (1973). Class, codes and control. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Blake, J., Macdonald, S., Bayrami, L., Agosta, V. & Milian, A. (2006). Book reading styles in dual-parent and single-mother families. British Journal of Educational Psychology 76, 501–15.Google Scholar
Bleses, D., Vach, W., Slott, M., Wehberg, S., Thomsen, P., Madsen, T. O. & Basbol, H. (2008). Early vocabulary development in Danish and other languages: a CDI-based comparison. Journal of Child Language 35, 619–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks, R. & Meltzoff, A. N. (2008). Infant gaze following and pointing predict accelerated vocabulary growth through two years of age: a longitudinal, growth curve modelling study. Journal of Child Language, 35, 207–220.Google Scholar
Can, D. D., Ginsburg-Block, M., Michnick Golinkoff, R. & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2013). A long-term predictive validity study: Can the CDI short form be used to predict language and early literacy skills four years later? Journal of Child Language 40, 821–35.Google Scholar
Caselli, M. C., Casadio, P. & Bates, E. (1999). A comparison of the transition from first words to grammar in English and Italian. Journal of Child Language 26, 69–111.Google Scholar
Conboy, B. T. & Thal, D. J. (2006). Ties between lexicon and grammar: cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of bilingual toddlers. Child Development 77(3), 712–35.Google Scholar
Devescovi, A., Caselli, M. C., Marchione, D., Pasqualetti, P., Reilly, J. & Bates, E. (2005). A crosslinguistic study of the relationship between grammar and lexical development. Journal of Child Language 32, 759–86.Google Scholar
Dickinson, D. K. & Tabors, P. O. (2001). Beginning literacy with language: young children learning at home and school. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
D'Odorico, L. & Carubbi, S. (2003). Prosodic characteristics of early multi-word utterances in Italian children. First Language 23(1), 97–116.Google Scholar
Duursma, E., Augustyn, M. & Zuckerman, B. (2008). Reading aloud to children: the evidence. Archives of Disease in Childhood 93, 554–7.Google Scholar
Farrant, B. M. (2012). Joint attention and parent–child book reading: keys to help close gaps in early language development, school readiness and academic achievement. Family Matters 91, 38–46.Google Scholar
Farrant, B. M. & Zubrick, S. R. (2011). Early vocabulary development: the importance of joint attention and parent–child book reading. First Language 32(3), 343–64.Google Scholar
Farrant, B. M. & Zubrick, S.R. (2013). Parent–child book reading across early childhood and child vocabulary in the early school years: findings from the longitudinal study of Australian children. First Language 33(3), 280–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fenson, L., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S., Thal, D., Bates, E., Hartung, J. P., Pethick, S. & Reilly, J. S. (1994). MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: user's guide and technical manual. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Fenson, L., Marchman, V. A., Thal, D. J., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S. & Bates, E. (2007). MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories: user's guide and technical manual, 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.Google Scholar
Fernald, A. & Marchman, V. A. (2012). Individual differences in lexical processing at 18 months predict vocabulary growth in typically developing and late-talking toddlers. Child Development 83, 203–22.Google Scholar
Fernald, A., Marchman, V. A. & Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science 16(2), 234–248.Google Scholar
Fernald, A., Pinto, J. P., Swingley, D., Weinberg, A. & McRoberts, G. W. (2001). Rapid gains of verbal processing by infants in the 2nd year. In Tomasello, M. & Bates, E. (eds), Language development: the essential readings, 49–56. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Foster, M. A., Lambert, R., Abbott-Shim, M., McCarty, F. & Franze, S. (2005). A model of home learning environment and social risk factors in relation to children's emergent literacy and social outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 20(1), 13–36.Google Scholar
Hoff, E. (2003). Causes and consequences of SES-related differences in parent-to-child speech. In Bornstein, M. H. & Bradley, R. H. (eds), Socioeconomic status, parenting and child development, 147–60. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Huebner, C. E. (2000). Community-based support for preschool readiness among children in poverty. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk 5, 291–314.Google Scholar
Jackson-Maldonado, D., Thal, D., Marchman, V., Bates, E. & Gutiérrez-Clellen, V. (2000). Early lexical development of Spanish-speaking infants and toddlers. Journal of Child Language 20, 523–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kauschke, C. & Hofmeister, C. (2002). Early lexical development in German: a study on vocabulary growth and vocabulary composition during the second and third year of life. Journal of Child Language 29(4), 735–57.Google Scholar
Lonigan, C. J. (2004). Emergent literacy skills and family literacy. In Wasik, B. H. (ed.), Handbook of family literacy (pp. 57–81). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Lyytinen, P., Laakso, M. L. & Poikkeus, A. M. (1998). Parental contributions to child's early language and interest in books. European Journal of Psychology and Education 13, 297–308.Google Scholar
Malin, J. L., Cabrera, N. K. & Rowe, M. L. (2014). Low-income minority mothers’ and fathers’ reading and children's interest: longitudinal contributions to children's receptive vocabulary skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 29, 425–32.Google Scholar
Marchman, V. & Bates, E. (1994). Continuity in lexical and morphological development: a test of the critical mass hypothesis. Journal of Child Language 21(2), 339–66.Google Scholar
Marjanovič-Umek, L., Fekonja-Peklaj, U. & Podlesek, A. (2013). Characteristics of early vocabulary and grammar development in Slovenian-speaking infants and toddlers: a CDI-adaptation study. Journal of Child Language 40(4), 779–98.Google Scholar
Marjanovič-Umek, L., Fekonja-Peklaj, U., Sočan, G. & Komidar, L. (2011). Ocenjevanje sporazumevalnih zmožnosti dojenčkov in malčkov. Lista razvoja sporazumevalnih zmožnosti: Besede in geste in Lista razvoja sporazumevalnih zmožnosti: Besede in stavki. Priročnik. Ljubljana: Center for Psychology Diagnostic Resources.Google Scholar
Marjanovič-Umek, L., Podlesek, A. & Fekonja, U. (2005). Assessing home literacy environment: relations to the child's language comprehension and expression. European Journal of Psychological Assessment 21(4), 271–81.Google Scholar
Mistry, R. S., Biesanz, J. C., Chien, N., Howes, C. & Benner, A. D. (2008). Socioeconomic status, parental investments, and the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of low-income children from immigrant and native households. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 23, 193–212.Google Scholar
Mol, S. E. & Bus, A. G. (2011). To read or not to read: a meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood. Psychological Bulletin 137(2), 267–96.Google Scholar
Montag, J. L., Jones, M. N. & Smith, L. B. (2015). The words children hear: picture books and the statistics for language learning. Psychological Science 26(9), 1489–96.Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K. & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2014). Mplus User's Guide, 7th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.Google Scholar
Pellegrini, A. & Galda, L. (1998). The development of school-based literacy: a social ecological perspective. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Raikes, H., Pan, B. A., Luze, G., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Brooks-Gunn, J., Constantine, J., Tarullo, L. B., Raikes, H. A. & Rodriguez, E. T. (2006). Mother-child book reading in low-income families: correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life. Child Development 77(4), 924–53.Google Scholar
Reese, E. & Cox, A. (1999). Quality of adult book reading affects children's emergent literacy. Developmental Psychology 35(1), 20–8.Google Scholar
Reznick, J. S. & Goldfield, B. A. (1994). Diary vs. representative checklist assessment of productive vocabulary. Journal of Child Language 21, 465–72.Google Scholar
Richman, W. A. & Colombo, J. (2007). Joint book reading in the second year and vocabulary outcomes. Journal of Research in Childhood Education 21, 242–53.Google Scholar
Rowe, M. L., Raudenbush, S. W. & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2012). The pace of early vocabulary growth helps predict later vocabulary skill. Child Development 83(2), 508–25.Google Scholar
Scarborough, H. S. & Dobrich, W. (1994). On the efficacy of reading to preschoolers. Developmental Review 14, 245–302.Google Scholar
Sénéchal, M., Cornell, E. H. & Broda, L. S. (1995). Age-related differences in the organization of parent–infant interactions during picture-book reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 10, 317–37.Google Scholar
Sénéchal, M. & LeFevre, J. (2002). Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: a five-year longitudinal study. Child Development 73(2), 445–60.Google Scholar
Sénéchal, M., LeFevre, J., Thomas, E. & Daley, K. (1998). Differential effects of home literacy experiences on the development of oral and written language. Reading Research Quarterly 32, 96–116.Google Scholar
Sénéchal, M., Pagan, S., Lever, R. & Ouellette, G. P. (2008). Relations among the frequency of shared reading and 4-year-old children's vocabulary, morphological and syntax comprehension, and narrative skills. Early Education and Development 19(1), 27–44.Google Scholar
Sénéchal, M., Thomas, E. & Monker, J.-A. (1995). Individual differences in 4-year-old children's acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading. Journal of Educational Psychology 87(2), 218–29.Google Scholar
Silvén, M., Ahtola, A. & Niemi, P. (2003). Early words, multiword utterances and maternal reading strategies as predictors of mastering word inflections in Finnish. Journal of Child Language 30(2), 253–79.Google Scholar
Stolt, S., Haataja, L., Lapinleimu, H. & Lehtonen, L. (2009). Associations between lexicon and grammar at the end of the second year in Finnish children. Journal of Child Language 36, 779–806.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomasello, M. & Bates., E. (2001). General introduction. In Tomasello, M. & Bates, E. (eds), Language development: the essential readings, 1–11. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Westerlund, M. & Lagerberg, D. (2008). Expressive vocabulary in 18-month-old children in relation to demographic factors, mother and child characteristics, communication style and shared reading. Child Care, Health and Development 34(2), 257–66.Google Scholar
Whitehurst, G. J., Falco, F. L., Lonigan, C. J., Fischel, J. E., DeBaryshe, B. D., Valdez-Menchaca, M. C. & Caulfield, M. (1988). Accelerating language development through picture book reading. Developmental Psychology 24(4), 552–9.Google Scholar