2-132 - Where's the Gap in the 30-million Word Gap? Quality Interactions Predict Language Success for Low Income Children

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

In 1995, Hart and Risley identified a “30-million word gap” in the amount of speech heard by low and higher income 3-year-old children. The national discussion to close this gap has centered largely on increasing the quantity of language addressed to children. Yet focusing solely on the quantity of the language is not enough to bridge this persistent divide. This symposium presents compelling evidence that the quality of the communication foundation parents construct with children during interactions is essential to reducing language disparities.

Three complementary papers examine new predictors of language outcome in low-income children drawn from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Paper 1 demonstrates that children with high language outcome at 36 months experienced more joint engagement with symbols, routines and rituals, and fluid and connected interactions at 24 months. Paper 2 demonstrates that these newly coded measures of quality predict language above and well beyond the quantity of parents’ words. Paper 3 demonstrates that these input features also predict language outcome over and above the NICHD study’s measure of maternal sensitivity, indicating that the establishment of a communication foundation is different than general responsiveness.

Identifying the predictors of language success within a low-income sample is critical to efforts to close the word gap. Interventions must extend beyond increasing word input and include ingredients that provide a strong communication foundation for word learning. Such targeted interventions might greatly increase the potency of language exposure and contribute to language success in at-risk children.

Sub Unit

• Language, Communication

Chair

• Kathryn A Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University

Discussant

• Ellen Galinsky, No Institutional Affiliation

Individual Presentations

• A Strong Communication Foundation at Two Prepares Lower-Class Children for Language Success at Three - Presenting Author: Lauren B Adamson, Georgia State University; Roger Bakeman, Georgia State University; Kathryn A Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Margaret Tresch Owen, Univ of Texas at Dallas; Roberta M Golinkoff, University of Delaware; Katharine Suma, Georgia State University

• Have we been sending the wrong message? Quality trumps quantity when predicting language outcomes - Presenting Author: Amy Pace, Temple University; Roberta M Golinkoff, University of Delaware; Kathryn A Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Paula Yust, Temple University; Jessa Michele Reed, Temple University; Tamara Spiewak Toub, Temple University; Lauren B Adamson, Georgia State University; Roger Bakeman, Georgia State University; Margaret Tresch Owen, Univ of Texas at Dallas; Courtney Cadle, Georgia State University

• Specificity Matters: Quality of Parent-Child Communication Predicts Language Success Better than Overall Parenting Quality - Presenting Author: Margaret Tresch Owen, Univ of Texas at Dallas; Roger Bakeman, Georgia State University; Lauren B Adamson, Georgia State University; Kathryn A Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Roberta M Golinkoff, University of Delaware; Nazly Dyer, University of Texas at Dallas