Twenty years after 'meaningful differences,' It's time to reframe the 'deficit' debate about the importance of children's early language experience

Human Development

Volumn 58, Issue 1, 2015, Pages 1-4

  Fernald, Anne ^a   Weisleder, Adriana ^b  

^a STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULTHOOD; CAREGIVER; CHILD DEVELOPMENT; CHILD PARENT RELATION; COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT; COMPREHENSION; CONVERSATION; EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION; EDUCATIONAL STATUS; EMPOWERMENT; EPIGENETICS; EXPERIENCE; HUMAN; INCOME; INFANCY; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; KINDERGARTEN; LANGUAGE; LEARNING DISORDER; LINGUISTICS; MALNUTRITION; MENTAL CAPACITY; PERSONAL EXPERIENCE; POVERTY; PRIMARY SCHOOL; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PSYCHOBIOLOGY; REVIEW; SKILL; SOCIAL STATUS; STRESS; VERBAL BEHAVIOR;

EID: 84928468658     PISSN: 0018716X     EISSN: 14230054     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1159/000375515     Document Type: Review

References (19)

1. Bee, H.L., Van Egeren, L.F., Pytkowicz Streissguth, A., Nyman, B.A., &Leckie, M.S. (1969). Social class differences in maternal teaching strategies and speech patterns. Developmental Psychology, 1, 726-734.
2. Duranti, A., Ochs, E., &Schieffelin, B.B. (2012). The handbook of language socialization. Oxford, England: Wiley-Blackwell.
3. Fernald, A., Marchman, V.A., &Weisleder, A. (2013). SES differences in language processing skill and vocabulary are evident at 18 months. Developmental Science, 16, 234-248.
4. Fernald, A., &Weisleder, A. (2011). Early language experience is vital to developing fluency in understanding. In S.B. Neuman &D.K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy research. Vol. 3 (pp. 3-19). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
5. Hart, B., &Risley, T.R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
6. Hess, R.D., &Shipman, V.C. (1965). Early experience and the socialization of cognitive modes in children. Child Development, 36, 869-886.
7. Hoff, E. (2003). The specificity of environmental influence: Socioeconomic status affects early vocabulary development via maternal speech. Child Development, 74, 1368-1378.
8. Hoff, E. (2013). Interpreting the early language trajectories of children from low-SES and language minority homes: Implications for closing achievement gaps. Developmental Psychology, 49, 4-14.
9. Huttenlocher, J., Waterfall, H., Vasilyeva, M., Vevea, J., &Hedges, L.V. (2010). Sources of variability in childrens language growth. Cognitive Psychology, 61, 343-365.
10. Pan, B.A., Rowe, M.L., Singer, J.D., &Snow, C.E. (2005). Maternal correlates of growth in toddler vocabulary production in low-income families. Child Development, 76, 763-782.
11. Pine, J.M. (1992). Commentary on: How should frequency in input be measured? by E. Hoff-Ginsberg. First Language, 12, 245-249.
12. Riessman, F. (1962). The culturally deprived child. New York, NY: Harper &Row.
13. Rowe, M.L. (2012). A longitudinal investigation of the role of quantity and quality of child-directed speech in vocabulary development. Child Development, 83, 1762-1774.
14. Schachter, F.F. (1979). Everyday mother talk to toddlers: Early intervention. New York, NY: Academic Press.
15. Shonkoff, J.P., Garner, A.S., and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption, and Dependent Care, and Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129, e232-e246.
16. Song, L., Spier, E.T., &Tamis-LeMonda, C.S. (2014). Reciprocal influences between maternal language and childrens language and cognitive development in low-income families. Journal of Child Language, 41, 305-326.
17. Talbot, M. (2015, January 12). The talking cure. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker. com.
18. Weisleder, A., &Fernald, A. (2013). Talking to children matters: Early language experience strengthens processing and builds vocabulary. Psychological Science, 24, 2143-2152.
19. Weisleder, A., Otero, N., Marchman, V.A., &Fernald, A. (March, 2015). Child-directed speech mediates SES differences in language-processing skill and vocabulary in Spanish-learning children. Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.