Early word‐learning skills: A missing link in understanding the vocabulary gap?

Abstract

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been repeatedly linked to the developmental trajectory of vocabulary acquisition in young children. However, the nature of this relationship remains underspecified. In particular, despite an extensive literature documenting young children's reliance on a host of skills and strategies to learn new words, little attention has been paid to whether and how these skills relate to measures of SES and vocabulary acquisition. To evaluate these relationships, we conducted two studies. In Study 1, 205 2.5‐ to 3.5‐year‐old children from widely varying socioeconomic backgrounds were tested on a broad range of word‐learning skills that tap their ability to resolve cases of ambiguous reference and to extend words appropriately. Children's executive functioning and phonological memory skills were also assessed. In Study 2, 77 of those children returned for a follow‐up session several months later, at which time two additional measures of vocabulary were obtained. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and multivariate regression, we provide evidence of the mediating role of word‐learning skills on the relationship between SES and vocabulary skill over the course of early development.

Neural oscillations reveal differences in the process of word learning among school-aged children from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds

“…Greater increases in beta were further associated with greater vocabulary knowledge, suggesting this neural mechanism underlies a strategy which supports both successful word learning and vocabulary. Critically, consistent with recent research, our findings suggest that poorer word learning and vocabulary outcomes among children from lower SES households are not attributed to differences in vocabulary alone, as groups did not significantly differ in vocabulary, but are rather associated with differences in the skills and strategies used to build that vocabulary (Levine et al, 2018;Shavlik et al, 2020). Some children from lower SES households are better word learners, while others are not, and these differences are related to the process of how a word is learned.…”

“…Establishing a better understanding of the nature of differences in early vocabulary development, especially in a low SES population that is known to struggle disproportionately with learning new words, is critical for creating subsequent interventions which promote word learning success in children from all SES backgrounds (Shavlik et al, 2020). In the current study, we found that children who are stronger word learners engage theta and beta when learning a new word, while children who are not as strong of word learners engage more alpha.…”

“…Since previous studies indicate that vocabulary knowledge mediates SES-related gaps in word learning , and that word learning ability mediates SES-related gaps in vocabulary (Shavlik et al, 2020), we sought to clarify which mechanisms underlying word learning are associated with greater vocabulary knowledge. Although groups did not significantly differ in static vocabulary knowledge, as measured by the PPVT-4, we utilized multiple regression analyses to determine whether differences in the neural mechanisms engaged during word learning were associated with individual variability in vocabulary knowledge, regardless of the directionality of that relationship.…”

“…Recent evidence indicates children from lower socioeconomic-status (SES) homes perform well below their peers on measures of word learning, including vocabulary acquisition (Bion, Borovsky, & Fernald, 2013;Levine et al, 2018;Schwab & Lew-Williams, 2016;Spencer & Schuele, 2012;Weisleder & Fernald, 2013). These group differences in word learning ability mediate SESrelated gaps in vocabulary knowledge (Shavlik, Davis-Kean, Schwab, & Booth, 2020).…”

“…To better elucidate why vocabulary is so strongly associated with word learning Shavlik et al, 2020), we will determine if differences in the ERSP markers measured during the word learning task are associated with vocabulary knowledge. These findings can inform us about the types of strategies lower SES children engage to successfully learn a word, whether those strategies differ depending on word learning abilities, and if such differences are associated with greater vocabulary knowledge.…”