Poster #90 - American and British Speech Differences in Low Socioeconomic Status Homes

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

By the age of 12 months, infants living in low socioeconomic status (SES) homes display lower developmental functioning than 12-month-old mid- and high-SES infants and speak fewer words on average as they grow older. This can adversely impact social, educational, and economic outcomes in individuals who grow up in low SES homes (Hurt & Betancourt, 2017; Tomalski et al., 2017). Maternal speech is especially important for language development and was found to be the largest predictor of SES-related differences in children’s vocabulary (Hoff, 2003). Emerging research suggests quantitative and qualitative differences in the way that American and British caregivers interact with their infants, which may be contributing to differing vocabulary levels in American and British toddlers (Floccia et al., 2016). Although there are documented differences between British and American caregiver speech, there is little research looking at caregiver speech across these countries in low SES groups (Hamilton & Plunkett, 1999; Vest 2013). We compared caregiver and child speech in two groups of low SES American and British families in order to explore differences that may exist between the two populations. We hypothesized that once maternal education (as a proxy for SES) was controlled for between samples, there would be no significant differences between British and American caregiver or child speech.

Participants in this study are 10 low SES families from an ongoing study in the Shenandoah Valley, U.S.A. (Infant age: 8 months, 3 female) and 10 low SES families from a study previously completed in Sheffield, England (Infant age: 10 months, 6 female). American families were recruited through a hospital program for low-income families, and British families were determined via the 2015 English Indices of Deprivation. Maternal education levels and child age were considered in order to equate the samples as closely as possible. Studies obtained audio data using LENA technology (Gilkerson et al., 2017). Caregivers had the ability to turn the LENA recording device on and off throughout a two-day period (Range in hours 8-32). Audio data was analyzed, using LENA software, to determine hourly adult word counts, child vocalization counts, and conversational turns between caregiver and infant.

The variance in recording time was controlled for during analysis. There was no significant difference found between the amounts of words that British (M=894, SD=346) and American (M=858, SD=468) mothers spoke on average in any given hour (t=.198, p=.846). Additionally, there was no significant difference between the amount of conversational turns that occurred between British (M=21, SD=10) and American (M=25, SD=18) adults and their infants on average in any given hour (t=-.573, p=.090). Surprisingly, the eight month-old American infants vocalized significantly more per hour on average (109 vocalizations) when compared to the 10 month-old British infants (77 vocalizations; t=-1.184, p=.041) (Figure 1). While the adult words and conversational turns were not significantly different, within-sample variability undoubtedly contributed to the lack of a difference. We will additionally present findings from ongoing audio transcriptions to better understand our results.

Authors

• Jennifer Markfeld, James Madison University
  Presenting Author

• Rory DePaolis, James Madison University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michelle McGillion, University of Sheffield
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brenda Seal, Gallaudet University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Charlette McQuilkin, Rockingham County Public Schools
  Non-Presenting Author