Investigating Informational Lexical Density as a Predictor of School Readiness

• In Event: Poster Session 2: Topics Affecting Early Childhood Teachers and Children

Abstract

The current study examined how a new measure that analyzed language quality, informational lexical density, related to children’s school readiness. Fifty-two low SES parent-child dyads’ conversations were examined in a semi-naturalistic environment at 24-months. High informational lexical density at 24-months was hypothesized to positively influence children’s performance on the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery Revised (WJ-R) at 54-months. In contradiction, results revealed that a lower informational lexical density rate at 24-months was associated with higher performance on the WJ-R at 54-months, specifically on the subsets Incomplete Words and Applied Problems. Findings from this study illuminate the pathway and enhance our understanding of how early language exposure improves school readiness.

Authors

• Alexus Ramirez, University of Delaware

• Lillian Masek, Temple University

• Brenna Hassinger-Das, Pace University

• Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Temple University

• Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, University of Delaware