3-061 - Language: An Engine for Academic and Socio-Emotional Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Policy makers, educators, and scientists have long noted that the skills children possess at entry to kindergarten are major determinants of their long-term academic success. In an effort to redress inequities and to better prepare children for success in school, researchers have tried to isolate those skills likely to prime school readiness including cognitive skills (e.g., executive function skills, general knowledge, and language), academic skills (e.g., math and reading), approaches to learning, emotional well-being, and social skills.  Language fuels our social interactions and undergirds school achievement in both reading and math learning (Snow & Van Hemel, 2008).  Even though language skills are thought to be foundational for school readiness, comprehensive comparisons between the predictive power of language and other readiness domains are missing from existing research.

This symposium highlights the critical role of language in any account of school readiness.  Papers speak to the role of language as a domain-specific predictor of later success and discuss how language skills relate to other school readiness skills.  The first paper explores the role of caregiver verbal input in promoting early language and school readiness. The second paper describes how language rises above other school readiness domains in predicting gains in skills across time, from first through fifth grades. The final paper describes an intervention to increase vocabulary and content knowledge through shared book reading. Together, the data presented here make a compelling case for the uniquely important role of children’s early language skill for later academic success.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Rebecca Mae Alper, Temple University

Discussant

• Robert Pianta, University of Virginia

Individual Presentations

• Mother/Father/Caregiver Verbal Input to Children: The Impact on Early Language and Later School Readiness - Presenting Author: Lynne Vernon-Feagans, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Mary Bratsch-Hines, UNC-Chapel Hill; Claire Baker, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Laura Kuhn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Nadya Pancsofar, College of New Jersey

• Early Language Outshines Other Predictors of Academic and Social Trajectories in Elementary School: Why Gains Are Key - Presenting Author: Amy Pace, University of Washington; Margaret Burchinal, UNC Chapel Hill; Rebecca Mae Alper, Temple University; Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University; Roberta Golinkoff, University of Delaware

• Developing Low-Income Children’s Vocabulary and Content Knowledge through a Shared Book Reading Program - Presenting Author: Susan Neuman, New York University; Tanya Kaefer, Lakehead University