Poster #45 - Communication Trajectories of Infants and Toddlers in English- and Spanish-speaking Families

• In Event: Poster Session 08

Abstract

Early language development is pivotal for future literacy and school readiness (Dickinson & McCabe, 2001). Substantial differences in early vocabulary, grammatical complexity, conversational turns, and child-directed speech have been correlated with socioeconomic status (SES) and monolingual versus bilingual language input (Thomas et al., 2020). Children experiencing poverty as well as bilingual language input are at a higher risk of delayed onset and rate of language acquisition (Hoff, 2006; Reardon & Galindo, 2006). Less is known about trajectories of language growth in infancy and toddlerhood for children from English- and Spanish-speaking homes. Such information could guide development of prevention efforts to reduce the language differences noted at kindergarten entry for children from low-income and bilingual familial backgrounds. Therefore, this study’s purposes were to: 1) investigate performance patterns during a 10-month period on The Early Communication Indicator (ECI; Luz et al., 2001) an observational assessment of infant/toddler growth in language skills, and 2) examine if significant differences in ECI performance across time exist between low-income infants/toddlers from Spanish- or English-speaking homes.

The ECI was administered to 76 infants/toddlers from low-income English-speaking (M age = 18.9 months, SD = 9.24) and Spanish-speaking (M age = 17.03 months, SD = 18.63) families across four timepoints with approximately eight weeks between assessments. Mean ECI weighted total and rate scores were higher for infants/toddlers from English-speaking relative to Spanish-speaking homes (Table 1). Results of a repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant growth between timepoints 1 through 4 for the full sample of infants/toddlers; however, the difference in means across time between language groups was not statistically significant. Similarly, no statistically significant between group differences in mean scores were found when examining ECI performance and home language at each timepoint. Effect sizes for between-group comparisons at timepoints 1, 3, and 4 were negligible, affirming findings of non-significance; a small effect was evident at timepoint 2. Altogether, results showed that children from English-speaking homes consistently showed higher mean ECI scores than those from Spanish-speaking homes, though this difference was minimal and both groups followed a similar pattern over time. Underway are pattern analyses of ECI subscales (gestures, vocalizations, and one- and multiple-word utterances) for both subgroups.

This research has several practical applications. First, it provides insight into the early language patterns of infants/toddlers from English- and Spanish-speaking homes. Secondly, given that language-minority children are often highlighted as being behind at school entry (Child Trends, 2018), these findings underscore the benefits of developmental monitoring of young children’s language growth so that their dual language learning (DLL) and school readiness can be promoted. The finding that the difference in mean ECI scores across time favored infants/toddlers from English-speaking homes points to the critical need to align early childhood education to the unique needs of DLL children. Future research should continue to investigate language development trajectories in these groups of children to ensure equity in language promotion efforts. Overall, these findings contribute to the growing literature base of progress monitoring and targeted interventions to promote school readiness for linguistically diverse children.

Authors

• Christina Nicole Wood, Lehigh University
  Presenting Author

• Patricia Manz, Lehigh University