Early Language Trajectories of Children from Low-SES and Language Minority Homes

1. Early Language Trajectoriesof Children from Low-SESand Language Minority Homes Erika Hoff, Ph.D. Florida Atlantic University USA Contribution to the symposium “Talking to Kids Really Matters: Early Language Experience Shapes Later Life Chances.” AAAS, February, 2014. Chicago, IL.

2. SES-related differences in language development from Hart & Risley (1995). Meaningful differences.

3. SES-related differences in language experience from Hart & Risley (1995). Meaningful differences.

4. Conclusion Hart & Risley (1995) provide a powerful demonstration of the magnitude of SES-related differences in children’s language experience and language development. But a skeptic might say These are extremely different social groups, which differ in many important ways. Is it really language experience that matters? Is it really just the amount of experience that matters?

5. Quantity and quality of language exposure as the mediator of SES effects on children’s language development • The sample • 33 children from high-SES households; 30 children from mid-SES households • High SES = both parents attended college • Mid SES = neither parent has more than HS degree • Mothers did not work outside the home • All children just starting to combine words • Age range 16 – 31 months • High SES mean = 20.8 months • Mid SES mean = 21.6 months from Hoff-Ginsberg (1991) Child Development; Hoff (2003) Child Development

6. The procedure • Mother-child interaction videorecorded at home in mealtime, dressing, toy play • Two visits, 10 weeks apart • Measures of mothers’ speech assessed at 1st visit, using all utterances • Measures of children’s speech assessed at 2nd visit, using samples of 90 utterances from Hoff-Ginsberg (1991) Child Development; Hoff (2003) Child Development

7. SES-related differences in language development SES-related differences in growth in number of different words used in 90 utterances produced in mother-child conversation

8. SES-related differences in mothers’ speech (Means based on transcripts of mealtime, dressing, and toy play)

9. Evidence for effects of mothers’ speech on child vocabulary growth from Time 1 to Time 2

10. Evidence for mothers’ speech as the mediator of the SES effect

11. The same result in a picture: Maternal speech mediates the relation between SES and child language Maternal speech SES Child language

12. Conclusion • In a relatively advantaged sample, specific effects can be identified • It is not just the quantity of speech to children that matters • It is also the quality of the language model • Quality indicators: • Lexical diversity • Grammatical complexity

13. Other findings address the genetic confound • Relations of teachers’ speech and classroom experiences to children’s language, which remove genetic relatedness between source of input and child • Dickinson & Porche, 2011 • Huttenlocher et al., 2002 • Hoff, 2006

14. What about language minority children? • Why do children from homes in which a language other than English is spoken show lower levels of English language skill at school entry? • H1: Language minority homes tend also to be low SES homes • H2: Hearing two languages confuses children • H3: Language development depends on language exposure and children who hear two languages must, on average, hear less of each. Therefore, development in each language takes longer

15. The sample • 47 children from Spanish-English bilingual homes • 56 SES-equivalent children from English monolingual homes • The procedure • Caregivers filled out parent-report inventories which provide measures of vocabulary and grammatical development at 22, 25, and 30 months • Caregivers of bilingual children provided information on children’s relative exposure to English and Spanish

16. We can reject H1 – It’s not just SES. Learning two languages takes longer than learning one. from Hoff et al. (2012), Journal of Child Language

17. We can reject H2 - Total language growth is comparable. Bilingual children are not confused.

18. The data support H3: Language development is a function of language exposure

20. What about quality of input to children who hear two languages? Two potential features of input that may be particularly relevant in dual language environments: • Input from a limited number of speakers • Input from nonnative speakers

21. The Language Diary (based on De Houwer & Bornstein, 2003) from Place & Hoff (2011), Child Development

22. Mean properties of children’s dual language exposure, calculated from diary records *r = .71 and .84 with interview estimates of percent English and Spanish in input

23. Correlations between amount of English, Spanish, and mixed language exposure and language level at 25 months

24. Correlations between properties of English and Spanish exposure and language level--holding amount of exposure constant

25. How much variance in the children’s English can we explain?

26. Conclusions • For bilingual development, as for monolingual development, both the quantity and quality of input matter • In dual language environments, an important quality indicator is the proportion of input from native speakers • Exposure to more speakers may be better than exposure to a limited number of speakers

27. A little more on the native speaker effect :

28. A little more on the native speaker effect :The relation between English use at home and 4-year-old children’s English and Spanish vocabulary 1 native English, 1 native Spanish parent 2 native Spanish parents

29. 1 native English, 1 native Spanish parent 2 native Spanish parents

30. The relation between English use at home and 4-year-old children’s English and Spanish vocabulary 1 native English, 1 native Spanish parent 2 native Spanish parents

31. Other related findings • Gaps in language skills associated with different experiences begin as early as language skill can be measured • These effects of input quantity and quality are not temporary delays • Rather, they are the beginning of very different trajectories of language growth and of academic achievement • Early language development predicts later language development (see Fernald, Marchman, & Weisleder, 2013) • Language skills at school entry predict school achievement (see Kieffer, 2008)

32. With thanks to • The families and children who have participated • Collaborators, staff, and students in the Language Development Lab • Andrea Burridge, University of Houston • Cynthia Core, The George Washington University • Martha Shiro, Universidad Central de Venezuela • Silvia Place • Kelly Bridges • Rosario Rumiche • Melissa Señor • Krystal Ribot • Stephanie Welsh • Kat Filippi • Funding sources • Florida Atlantic University • U.S. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development