Due to core challenges in social communication experienced by many young children with autism, children on the spectrum who are also dual language learners (DLLs) may benefit from developmentally-appropriate language supports in school settings. The current study examined whether home language status moderated the effect of a play-based…

Despite the unique status of English as a super-power among foreign languages in Korea, and researchers' increasing interest in Korean parents' zeal for achieving their children's early bilingualism and willingness to invest heavily in private English education outside of school, insufficient attention has been paid to the role of parental…

This study explores the literacy and social practices of a young Omani emergent bilingual child who is beginning to develop bilingualism and biliteracy in Arabic and English through social interactions. One case study of a four-year-old child and her family living temporarily for her father postgraduate studies in Canada is presented. Framed on…

Previous literature has shown that family structure affects language development. Here, factors relating to older siblings (their presence in the house, sex, and age gap), mothers (maternal stress), and household size and residential crowding were assessed to systematically examine the different roles of these factors. Data from mother-child dyads…

Using a sample of 1,117 families living in low-wealth rural areas, the current study focused on how home literacy practices for 3-year-old children were related to the children's language skills at ages 3 and 4. Three types of home literacy practices were explored: parent-to-child literacy practices, child literacy practices, and parent literacy…

Purpose: Early motor abilities (gesture, oral motor, and gross/fine skills) are related to language abilities, and this is not due to an association with cognitive or symbolic abilities: Oral motor skills are uniquely associated with language abilities at 21 months of age. It is important to determine whether this motor-language relationship…

Almost every upper- and middle-class family in Saudi Arabia has a foreign housemaid who does the housework and takes care of the children. This study aims to find out whether foreign housemaids have an impact on children's acquisition of Arabic, the children's first language. Surveys with 300 mothers with children under the age of six revealed…

While it is established that parental "wh"-questions, as a high-quality language input, are associated with child language outcome, less is known about the role of children's "wh"-questions in their language development. This study examines whether children's "wh"-questions during a dinnertime conversation are…

Purpose: This study was conducted in a large Midwestern metropolitan area to examine the language environments at home and in center-based childcare for young children who are living in poverty. We compared child language use and exposure in the home and childcare settings using extended observations with automated Language Environment Analysis to…

There is robust evidence that reading aloud with young children can help them learn new vocabulary. Building upon prior research, this study tested the effects of "both" book text features "and" readers' spontaneous extra-textual word-highlighting strategies on 3- to 4-year-olds' vocabulary retention from repeated read alouds…

Personal narrative is decontextualized talk where individuals recount stories of personal experience about past or future events. As an everyday discursive speech type, narrative potentially invites parents and children to explicitly link together, generalize from, and make inferences about representations--that is, to engage in higher-order…

Personal narrative is decontextualized talk where individuals recount stories of personal experiences about past or future events. As an everyday discursive speech type, narrative potentially invites parents and children to explicitly link together, generalize from, and make inferences about representations--i.e., to engage in higher-order…

The present study is based on longitudinal data from a German early childhood education and care (ECEC) governmental initiative assessing children's grammatical and vocabulary development between 2;6 and 4;0 years (N = 1,331), quality of the home learning environment and quality of the preschool setting. Results showed that the quality of the home…

Children from language minority homes reach school age with variable dual language skills. Cluster analysis identified four bilingual profiles among 126 U.S.-born, 5-year-old Spanish-English bilinguals. The profiles differed on two dimensions: language balance and total language knowledge. Balance varied primarily as a function of indicators of…

Research findings: This study examined the dual language development and experience of the understudied Chinese dual language learners (DLLs). Twice in the preschool/pre-k year (about 4 months apart), we assessed 39 Chinese 3- and 4-year-old DLLs' receptive vocabularies in English and Chinese, interviewed 37 parents about the language use and…