Socioeconomic Status Gradients Reexamined: Literacy Development and Influencing Factors During Middle Childhood With Vocabulary as Example

• In Event: 51.078 - MTCC Roundtable Session 21
  In Roundtable Session: 51.078-1 - Exploring the Intersections of Literacy, Language, and Culture

Abstract

The Socio-economic status (SES) gradient has traditionally been applied to child development. An example is literacy competence wherein the lower the SES, the lower the competency. The gradient is challenged recently. This study examined literacy development, focusing on vocabulary, of middle childhood children along SES and influencing factors. A sample of 828 children, in kindergarten to grade 7, completed a vocabulary test 2 to 4 times. Rather than an SES gradient, the result found different trajectories of literacy development, from low to high level, each being dominated by a specific SES level but each also containing all levels of SES. Vocabulary was also influenced by parenting practice and material resources. Implications for practice and future research are drawn.

Authors

• Lily L. Dyson, University of Victoria

• Tim Seifert, Memorial University