Are all Wh Questions Created Equal?: Parental Bookreading Questions and the Language and Cognitive Skills of Low-SES Latinx Preschoolers

• In Event: Exploring the complex nature of shared reading interactions in Latinx families

Abstract

Introduction: Research investigating how early language input promotes early language skills highlights parent “wh questions” as one important mechanism (e.g., Rowe, Leech, & Cabrera, 2017). However, variation in complexity of wh questions may affect their influence on child vocabulary (e.g. van Kleeck, 2006), and potentially cognition. Questions during bookreading range from literal (asking children to display knowledge readily available in the text) to interpretive/inferential (asking children to reason beyond the text). Research shows that during bookreading, low-SES parents pose fewer wh questions than middle-SES counterparts, and Latinx parents use wh questions less than other types of language input (Rodríguez, Hines, & Montiel, 2009). However, little is known about the types and complexity of wh questions used by low-SES Latinx parents, or implications for child language and cognition. The current study analyzed the relationship between frequency of maternal wh questions during bookreading interactions of Latinx mother-child dyads at child age 3 years and concurrent child language and cognitive abilities. It further investigated whether type of wh question (literal vs. interpretive) and overall ratings of question complexity may differentially relate to these outcomes.
Hypotheses: (1) Increased overall frequency of maternal wh questions will be associated with greater child language and cognitive skills;
(2) Both literal and interpretive wh questions will be associated with child vocabulary; interpretive wh questions will be more strongly related to child cognitive skills;
(3) Increased complexity ratings of wh questions will be associated with greater language and cognitive skills.
Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data from 210 Latinx mother-child dyads participating in a larger study of pediatric parenting interventions. Dyads were video-recorded while bookreading using The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Interactions were coded for frequency of maternal wh questions: Overall (all question types), Literal (asking children to label/point to objects/actions) and Interpretive (asking children to link events/make inferences) on a scale of 0 (no questions)-3 (4+ questions). Maximum question complexity for each interaction was also coded on a scale of 0 (no questions), 1 (labeling questions), 2 (connect story events), and 3 (complex inferences). Child receptive, expressive and core language was assessed using the Woodcock Muñoz Picture Vocabulary Test (WM-PVT) and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-2). Child cognitive abilities were assessed using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development III.
Results: Regression analyses (Table 1) showed: 1) Overall, wh questions were significantly related to receptive vocabulary (WM-PVT), expressive vocabulary (CELF), core language (CELF), and cognitive ability; 2) interpretive wh questions were robustly related to all aspects of child language and cognition measured, whereas literal wh questions were only marginally related to receptive vocabulary; and 3) maximum question complexity was related to increased language competence (CELF) and increased cognition (Figure 1).
Conclusions: Results demonstrate that overall use of wh questions during bookreading by Low-SES Latinx mothers is related to preschoolers’ cognitive and language skills, with interpretive and complex questions more robustly associated. While additional study is warranted, findings support the use of complex wh questions during bookreading and have implications for interventions aiming to use bookreading to promote early child development.

Authors

• Carolyn Brockmeyer Cates, Purchase College, SUNY
  Presenting Author

• Adriana Weisleder, Northwestern University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maria Victoria Iribarren Valero, NYU Langone Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alan L Mendelsohn, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
  Non-Presenting Author