Properties of child-directed speech in bilingual parents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yezhou Li ◽  
Luca Onnis
Keyword(s):  
School Readiness ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Adaptive Strategies ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Bilingual Language Development ◽  
Grammatical Structures

Abstract How parents talk to young children matters to language and cognitive development. In the early years the quantity, quality, and diversity inherent in language from parents in the home predict differences in vocabulary knowledge, school readiness, and later academic achievement. However, most of what is known about child-directed speech (CDS) comes from studies of monolingual parents, and little is known about features of speech from bilingual parents. Here, we asked whether degree of bilingualism assessed within a single parent might be positively associated with CDS features that are known to facilitate children’s lexical and grammatical structures across languages – parental partial repetitions. During unscripted narrations (n = 91) of a picture book to their toddlers in English, mothers who reported being more bilingually balanced used a higher proportion of self-repetitions (both single words and 2-word combinations) within a brief time-frame. At the same time, more bilingual mothers preserved the same degree of lexical diversity as more monolingual mothers. The results obtained even accounting for differences in socio-economic status. These findings are discussed in terms of adaptive strategies that bilingual parents may consciously or unconsciously adopt in bilingual language development

Recovery from stunting and cognitive outcomes in young children: evidence from the South African Birth to Twenty Cohort Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Casale ◽  
C. Desmond
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Young Children ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Cognitive Tests ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Urban South

In this study we analyse the implications for cognitive function of recovery from stunting in early childhood. More specifically, we test whether children who met the definition for stunted at age 2, but not at age 5, perform better in cognitive tests than children who remain stunted over this period. The sample is drawn from the Birth to Twenty Cohort Study, a prospective data set of children born in 1990 in urban South Africa. The measure of cognitive function that we use is based on the Revised Denver Prescreening Developmental Questionnaire implemented when the children were age 5. We employ multivariate regression in the analysis to control for child-specific characteristics, socio-economic status, the home environment and caregiver inputs. We find that recovery from stunting is not uncommon among young children in our sample. However, children who recover from stunting by age 5 still perform significantly worse on cognitive tests than children who do not experience early malnutrition, and almost as poorly as children who remain stunted. These findings suggest that the timing of nutritional inputs in the early years is key in a child’s cognitive development, with implications for school readiness and achievement.

The Sign 4 Big Feelings intervention to improve early years outcomes in preschool children: Outcome evaluation (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Davidson ◽  
Gurch Randhawa
Keyword(s):  
Economic Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Children’S Wellbeing ◽  
Preschool Age Children ◽  
Measuring Change ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Clinically Significant

BACKGROUND Any delays in language development may affect learning, profoundly influencing personal, social, and professional trajectories. The effectiveness of the Sign 4 Big Feelings (S4BF) intervention was investigated by measuring change in early years outcomes after a three month period. OBJECTIVE To determine whether Early Years Outcomes (EYOs) significantly improve (beyond typical expected development), if children’s wellbeing improves after the S4BF intervention period, and if there are differences between boys and girls in any progress made. METHODS An evaluation of S4BF was conducted with 111 preschool age children in early years settings in Luton, United Kingdom. Listening, speaking, understanding, and managing feelings and behaviour, in addition to Leuven well-being scales were used in a quasi-experimental study design to measure outcomes pre- and postintervention. RESULTS Statistically and clinically significant differences were found for each of the seven pre- and post measures taken: words understood and spoken, well-being scores, and the four EYO domains. Gender differences were negligible in all analyses undertaken. CONCLUSIONS Children of all abilities may benefit considerably from S4BF, but a language-based intervention of this nature may be transformational for children who are behind developmentally, with EAL needs or of lower socio-economic status. CLINICALTRIAL ISRCTN42025531; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN42025531

scholarly journals Does Mother Know Best? Maternal Knowledge Calibration Predicts Children’s Oral Language Development

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Pinkham ◽  
Tanya Kaefer ◽  
Susan B. Neuman
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Child Outcomes ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Maternal Knowledge ◽  
Language Outcomes ◽  
Transmission Of Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Calibration

For young children, maternal testimony is an important source of knowledge. Research suggests that children privilege assertions expressed with certainty; however, adults frequently overestimate their knowledge, which may lead them to express certainty about incorrect information. This study addressed three questions. (1) To what extent do mothers convey domain knowledge when talking to their kindergartners? (2) Do mothers successfully calibrate their knowledge during these conversations? (3) Does mothers’ knowledge calibration predict their children’s language outcomes? Forty-nine mother-child dyads read a picture book about a familiar domain. Mothers’ assertions of domain knowledge were coded for accuracy and expressed certainty. Results revealed that mothers tended to overestimate their knowledge. Knowledge calibration accuracy positively predicted child outcomes. Successful calibration was associated with stronger vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension, whereas poor knowledge calibration was associated with weaker child outcomes. Knowledge calibration may be a crucial factor in the successful transmission of knowledge during mother-child conversations and impact children’s language development.

scholarly journals Individual differences in narrative production in late childhood: Associations with age and fiction reading experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 014272372094655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna G. Hamilton ◽  
Isabelle O’Halloran ◽  
Nicola Cutting
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Production Quality ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Late Childhood ◽  
Reading Experience ◽  
Children's Narratives ◽  
Narrative Production ◽  
Age Range

Narrative production draws upon linguistic, cognitive and pragmatic skills, and is subject to substantial individual differences. This study aimed to characterise the development of narrative production in late childhood and to assess whether children’s cumulative experience of reading fiction is associated with individual differences in narrative language skills. One-hundred-and-twenty-five 9- to 12-year-old children told a story from a wordless picture book, and their narratives were coded for syntactic, semantic and discourse-pragmatic features. The grammatical complexity and propositional content of children’s narratives increased with age between 9 and 12 years, while narrative cohesion, coherence and use of mental state terms were stable across the age range. Measures of fiction reading experience were positively correlated with several indices of narrative production quality and predicted unique variance in narrative macrostructure after controlling for individual differences in vocabulary knowledge, word reading accuracy and theory of mind. These findings are discussed in terms of the continued importance of ‘book language’ as part of the language input beyond early childhood.

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2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-49
Keyword(s):  
Early Literacy ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Early Reading ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Business Planning ◽  
Dirty Hands ◽  
Lifelong Learners ◽  
Practical Guide ◽  
Little Mouse

scholarly journals A cross sectional study on knowledge, attitude, practice regarding emergency contraception

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 2869
Author(s):  
Jahnavi Putchakayala ◽  
Manjula Rao ◽  
Prashanthy Edwards ◽  
Mini Mohan
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Contraception ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Unwanted Pregnancy ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Contraceptive Device ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Study Population

Background: Emergency contraception (EC) is the contraception administered to a woman after unprotected intercourse. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice of emergency contraception among patients of 15-45 years attending Obstetrics and Gynaecology outpatient department.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital, Hyderabad during June 2014 to June 2016. This study included 300 women. A pre structured questionnaire was employed after obtaining informed written valid consent from the patient and institutional ethical committee clearance. Data on age, socio economic status, education, religion, marital status, their knowledge, attitude, practice regarding emergency contraception was obtained, tabulated and analysed using chi-square test.Results: Out of 300 women, 52% belong to 15-25 years, 31% belong to 26-35 years, 17% belong to 36-45 years. 21.6% of the study population heard of EC. Among these 51% heard from media, 24% from friends, 25% from medical personnel. 18.6% of the study population knew the correct time frame of use, knew that is not an abortion pill, effective in preventing pregnancy, could not prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. 85% of the study population have positive attitude. 14.6% of the population practiced EC. Out of them 88% have used emergency contraceptive pills, 12% have used Intra uterine contraceptive device. 77% got EC over the counter, 23% got through prescription.Conclusions: The study highlights the need to motivate women for effective and appropriate use of emergency contraception when required and arrest the trend towards unwanted pregnancy.

scholarly journals Children's mental health and the transition to school: systemic issues in Ontario

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid McKhool
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Current Model ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Measurement Development ◽  
Transition To School ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Mental Wellness

Early intervention in mental health is critical to school readiness and social functioning, and mental wellness is linked to student achievement and success through the life span. Children aged four to six entering school with unaddressed mental health issues may struggle academically and socially, charting a course for low academic achievement that compromises their life chances. Many children are not captured through the Ministry of Education’s labeling of exceptionalities or approach to inclusion. In addition, the current model lacks a systematic approach to monitoring the effectiveness of services. This study compiled descriptive statistics through a secondary analysis of previously collected community-based mental health services data in Ontario to better understand the needs of children four to six and the services provided to them before they enter school. Results were discussed in the context of a critical review of the literature related to mental health, early years and inclusion in school and community contexts. Recommendations include improved system measurement, development of a more age-focused community-based early intervention system and a reconceptualized practice of social inclusion to support children’s transition to school.

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