Variation in the quantity and quality of lexical input and children´s vocabulary use. A Study with two social groups from Argentina

ROSEMBERG, C. R.; STEIN, A.; ALAM, F.; PIACENTE, T.

Conferencia; IASCL 2014; 2014

International Association for the Study of Child Language

Differences in children´s vocabulary develop in infancy, mainly as a consequence of the opportunities offered by their environment (Hart & Risley,1995; Hoff,2006; Pan et al.,2005). That is why this study analyses the lexical properties of the linguistic context that 4-year-old Argentinean children from marginalized-urban neighbourhoods(MU) and middle-income families(MI) are exposed to daily in spontaneous situations as well as the quantity and quality of the vocabulary used by the children. The data analyzed consists of 444 hours of spontaneous situations (including play, hygiene, and mealtime situations) recorded in the homes of 36 children (4:5) -19 MU and 17 MI-. Each child was recorded for 12 hours. Analysis considered the quantity of word tokens and types that represent observable and non-observable phenomena that children were exposed to, and produce themselves. Findings show significant differences in the input of both groups of children: MI children heard a greater quantity of tokens and types of words than MU children (tokens: 18,650 versus 13,920, ANOVA F(1, 35)=4.45, MSE=45131034, p< .05; types: 2,512 vs. 1,899, ANOVA F(1,35)=7.45, MSE=453354, p< .01). The analysis also showed an association between words referencing non observable phenomena in the input and the social group (Nouns, MI: 16.57% vs. MU: 6.67%, χ²(1)=133.52, p< .001; Adjectives, MI: 39.34% vs. UM: 20.25%, χ²(1)=99.54, p< .001; Verbs, MI: 13.92% vs. UM: 8.04%, χ²(1)=91.74, p< .001). Regarding the vocabulary produced by the children results showed a significant difference in the quantity of types they produce (MI 1,711 vs. MU 1,274, ANOVA F(1,35)=9.36, MSE=183031, p< .01) as well as an association between the adjectives and the verbs referencing non-observable phenomena and the social group (Adjectives, MI: 35.9% vs. UM: 26.8%, χ²(1)=13.23, p< .001; Verbs, MI: 18.6% vs. UM: 14.4%, χ²(1)=21.34, p< .001). Findings are discussed taking previous research in other cultures and languages into account.