A corpus of nearly 150,000 maternal word-tokens used by 53 low-income mothers in 263 mother-child conversations in 5 settings (e.g., play, mealtime, and book readings) was studied. Ninety-nine percent of maternal lexical input consisted of the 3,000 most frequent words. Children's vocabulary performance in kindergarten and later in 2nd grade related more to the occurrence of sophisticated lexical items than to quantity of lexical input overall. Density of sophisticated words heard and the density with which such words were embedded in helpful or instructive interactions, at age 5 at home, independently predicted over a third of the variance in children's vocabulary performance in both kindergarten and 2nd grade. These two variables, with controls for maternal education, child nonverbal IQ, and amount of child's talk produced during the interactive settings, at age 5, predicted 50% of the variance in children's 2nd-grade vocabulary.

employment p. 155

Vocabulary is more than a list of words, and although the size of one’s vocabulary matters, it is knowing how to use it which matters most. The best comparison is to an artist’s palette of colours which can be mixed and applied to create powerful effects.<br />
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Recent research shows that vocabulary growth is largely determined by parental practices, particularly before the age of 7, however, considerable differences in vocabulary size amongst children aged seven were reported.<br />
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This literature review presents a combination of research and practical classroom strategies for teachers and teaching assistants.<br />
Includes:<br />
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* Background: the impact of having a limited vocabulary<br />
* Supporting vocabulary development in school<br />
* Practical classroom ideas to support vocabulary development

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. To succeed at reading, children must be able to identify or "read" printed words and understand the story or text composed of those words. For many children, increasing reading and school success will involve increasing oral language competence in the elementary years. Lack of appropriate vocabulary knowledge can result in academic failure. (SM)

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. Notes that vocabulary has long been recognized as a strong determinant of reading success. Discusses how children's vocabulary knowledge is largely determined by informal factors, such as parental interaction and other sources, such as the television. Addresses individual differences in vocabulary acquisition; amount of vocabulary needed for successful learning; the predictable sequence of vocabulary acquisition; the need for direct instruction for vocabulary growth; and methods of promoting vocabulary knowledge. (PM)

1 Apr 2009<br />
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According to Helen Bromley, many children feel more confident talking outdoors, in an environment free from the tyranny of tables and chairs. She believes that young children's vocabulary, imagination and natural curiosity can all be enhanced significantly by time spent in the company of supportive adults, who can recognise and exploit the potential of this rich environment.<br />
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Similarly to being indoors, young children will need a variety of contexts in which to talk outdoors. Opportunities for talk about emotions and changes in the environment are possible when children are able to be outside in all weathers. Bromley reminds us to include poetry, rhyme and song in outdoor talk. She says: "Bathing children in the rhythmic tunes of such language not only enhances vocabulary and develops listening skills, but also brings an exuberant physicality to literacy that is not always practicable indoors."<br />
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(Nursery World, April 09)

Children living in wealthy households have far superior vocabularies and problem-solving skills than their poorer peers by the age of 5... <br />
The ground-breaking study, which assessed the abilities of 14,000 youngsters, found a gap in academic ability between children from different socio-economic backgrounds has already opened up by the time they are 3 years old. <br />
At the age of 5, youngsters with wealthier parents educated to degree level are on average 18 months ahead of their less well-off peers with their vocabulary. <br />
They are also 13 months ahead on problem-solving ability. The study found the gap in vocabulary ability widened between the ages of 3 and 5. <br />
Children whose parents were educated to a lower level also tend to perform more poorly and are less likely to catch up either before or after they start attending school.... <br />
[P]oor early communication skills will likely persist through the preschool period with little or no relative improvement.

Babies who are slow to develop their motor skills at 9 months are significantly more likely to be identified as behind in their cognitive development, and also likely to be less well behaved at age 5... <br />
London University's Institute of Education analysed the progress of 14,853 children, born in 2000 and 2001...The children's cognitive development was assessed at the age of 5 through a series of vocabulary, spatial reasoning and picture tests, and their results compared with those from separate assessments years earlier. <br />
The results at 5 were strongly linked to the babies' abilities in tests for gross motor development, such as crawling, and fine motor development, such as holding objects with their fingers, at 9 months. The researchers also found that children who are read to every day at 3 are likely to [flourish] in a wide range of subjects by the age of 5. <br />
The correlation [was] significant even after the researchers considered the impact of poverty on children's development.

Recent research commissioned by the educational charity, the Sutton Trust, has found that children growing up in the poorest families are almost a year behind middle-income families in their vocabulary levels by the time they start school.<br />
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The research was based on 12,500 British five-year-olds in 2006 and 2007 in the Millennium Cohort Study. It found that just under half of children from the poorest families were read to daily at the age of three, compared with eight in ten from the richest families. This lead the researchers to conclude that good parenting and a supportive home environment were the most important factors leading to better test scores at the age of five.

[A child saying 'Give me that teddy!' communicates their wish but lacks an understanding of] appropriate language. A child's developing language skills are...inextricably linked to their personal, social and emotional development. <br />
In the early years setting, children must specifically:<br />
* [Develop] knowledge and understanding about how language works.<br />
* Develop a range and variety of vocabulary...<br />
* [Develop awareness of] audience—to whom they are speaking. ([Evidence suggests that by age 4, children learn] to adjust their speech according to different audiences).<br />
* Think about [appropriate language according to circumstances].<br />
* [Speak with confidence.] <br />
'Children will learn to understand and be aware of other points of view [by observing] strategies such as listening, turn-taking and initiating and sustaining a conversation gently and respectfully. They will increase their knowledge and use of such conventions, such as for asking, initiating, refusing and greeting...'

* The most avid reader reads in two days what the most reluctant reads in a year.<br />
* The amount that someone reads makes a difference not just to development of reading ability, but to the growth of vocabulary and general knowledge.What you know is directly related to the amount that you read. <br />
* Children with poor reading skills and habits are in danger of low educational attainment....<br />
Books are the source of most of the new words that children learn once they are in school. Of course, children learn new words from television and through conversation, but the research shows that the majority of new vocabulary comes from books. <br />
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Research has also shown that children who read more have wider vocabularies. This is not just to do with social advantage or intellectual ability - research has found that the beneficial relationship between reading ‘volume’ (amount) and vocabulary is not affected by a child’s intellectual ability.