SES and Language

Fun Facts

100

Do you think low SES can affect language development prenatally? Why or why not?

Low SES is found to affect children prenatally because low SES often causes higher levels of stress in mothers and a poorer diet during pregnancy which has an effect on the fetal brain.

200

Is there a difference in scores on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (where parents indicated what words there child does or does not understand) between high SES and Low SES

Yes, there is a significant difference in the results of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory between high SES children and low SES children. Children from high SES tend to score 60% higher than children from low SES.

300

Research has shown that there is a relationship between language ability (language mechanics, expression, and vocabulary) and behaviour problems. Children with poorer language ability were reported to show more behaviour problems relative to peers with better language ability. What do you think the direction of effect is?

There is some evidence for a bidirectional association. However, the main direction of effect was generally stronger from language ability to behaviour problems than from behaviour problems to language ability. Study 2 suggested that the effect of language ability on later behavior problems was stronger than the effect of behavior problems on later language ability, suggesting that the direction of effect is from language ability to behavior problems.

400

Do mothers with depression have an impact on the language development of their children?

There is conflicting findings in this area due to the use of different aged children. Therefore a mother with depression does have an effect until the child reaches school aged because then teachers and other resource involvement tend to even out the cohort effect.

Environmental Influence

100

Can childcare have a benefit on language development?

Children from low SES environments tend to have better language development when they are placed in daycare. The environment in daycare tends to be more stimulating then the home life environment in low SES households. There tends to be less difference in high SES families about whether or not daycare makes a significant difference in language development, since the home life is more likely to be stimulating enough

200

How would the home environment differ between children with low and high SES that would cause there to be a difference in terms of language development?

The level of cognitive stimulation a child receives is dependent on whether there are toys, books, or computers in the house; even how often the child gets to take trips to places like museums.

300

Would the amount of time a child spends in childcare affect their language acquisition?

The relationship between hours and language was negative such that more hours of care corresponded with lower PPVT percentile scores. However, hours of childcare are not predictive of children’s language development after controlling for SES and home environment, the correlation between hours of care and language development is lower in magnitude than the relationships between SES and language development, and HEQ and language development.

400

How does crowded homes affect language development?

Prior research has indicated the parents of crowded homes tend to be less responsive to their children. Crowded homes is also positively correlated with the amount of chaos in homes and this affects the amount of parental responsiveness the infant receives. The amount of parent-to-infant speech is negatively correlated with residential crowding. Under crowded housing conditions parents are found to speak less to their children and with reduced complexity and sophistication.

School

100

How does maternal educational level affect their children's language comprehension and production?

For comprehension: A significant difference was found between children whose mothers highest level of education was middle school compared to children's whose mothers highest level of education was post-graduate level. A significant difference was found only when comparing to the extreme high and low of maternal education. For production: results have shown a significant difference for children whose mother's had the lowest level of education. An increase in language scores is associated with an increase in maternal education. However, the effect is strongest in the earlier years. The effect seems to weaken by the time children are in school full-time.

200

Does low SES affect language acquisition across generations?

Yes. Results revealed that the G1’s income and education predicted the level of responsiveness of communication to G2’s during adolescence. This responsiveness then predicted the level of educational attainment for G2’s sons. There was a significant association between G1 educational attainment and G2 educational attainment. The level of educational attainment is an important factor because results showed that G2 educational attainment was associated with their communication style towards their children. The communication style of G2 predicted the level of vocabulary development for G3.

300

Do children with low SES who are learning English as a second language when they enter kindergarten struggle to catch up with primary English speakers?

Technically yes these children struggle at the beginning but by the end of kindergarten 30% of them were already considered proficient and did not receive any ESL services in their first year of elementary school. By the 3rd grade 90% of the children were considered proficient and by 5th grade less than 1 percent were considered limited in English, according to Kim et al (2014)

400

Does SES have a positive or negative impact on education?

Technically there is both positive and negative effects from SES and education. Going to school in a lower SES area leaves the child open to a "stereotype threat" because they may not have the same resources available to them in comparison to a child going to school in a higher SES area. Examples of stereotype threats are teacher interest, school funding, personal perspective of the student.

Girls vs Boys

100

Do parents talk to their children differently based on gender?

YES! Parents generally speak to their children differently based on gender because mothers are more nurturing, affectionate, polite and guiding. In comparison to fathers who generally fill the role of “play mate” they speak more directly and have aggressive “rough housing” behavior.

200

TRUE or FALSE - Girls rule and boys drool?

TRUE TRUE TRUE! Girls generally mature faster than boys. For language acquisition in preschool age children, girls have faster neurological development and better comprehension and production. In comparison boys are more likely to have a language impairment and on average have smaller MLU’s.

300

Does SES play a role in the type of toys a child receives? If so, does Gender play a role in the type of toys a child receives?

Both SES and gender have been shown to both play a role in the type of toys a child receives from parents and family. Specifically, SES affects toy choice by limiting/increasing the price range; for example, some children from higher SES may get an iPad or 'leapfrog' which is interactive and enables learning. Whereas, someone from lower SES cannot afford these types of toys and get something simple. The same can be said for gendered toys because generally girls are given more mentally or emotionally stimulating toys in comparison to boys who play with more interactive toys.

400

Do you think SES affects African American men and women differently in terms of their dialect? (AAE vs. SAE)

Children from lower-income homes, and boys, were more marked dialect users than their middle-class peers or girls. The results indicate that socioeconomic status and gender are two important influences on the use of AAE by African American children. Children from lower-income homes, estimated by annual household incomes, reflected significantly more dialect use than that of children from middle-income homes. In addition, boys of this study reflected significantly greater dialect use than that of the girls.