Quality of Words, Not Quantity, Is Crucial to Language Skills, Study Finds [NYTimes.com]

Samantha Sangenito 10/17/1412:00 PM

It has been nearly 20 years since a landmark education study found that by age 3, children from low-income families have heard 30 million fewer words than more affluent children, putting them at an educational disadvantage before they even began school. The findings led to increased calls for publicly funded prekindergarten programs and dozens of campaigns urging parents to get chatty with their children.

Now, a growing body of research is challenging the notion that merely exposing poor children to more language is enough to overcome the deficits they face. The quality of the communication between children and their parents and caregivers, the researchers say, is of much greater importance than the number of words a child hears.

[For more of this story, written by Douglas Quenqua, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10...nds.html?ref=science]

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Hi Samantha,

While reading the results of this study, I wondered if it is more important for parents to spend time with their children in ways that respond to their attachment needs — times when children feel safe, engaged, and supported — so language skills become associated with a healthy purpose (rewarding relationships) rather than just 'knowing' words.

You also shared an article below about the correlation between an infant's interest in faces and the emotions they express — children with less interest in faces showing more callousness and less empathy. This makes sense from the perspective of attachment theory as well as Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Theory — the more we engage the social engagement system and feel supported by our attachment figures, the more we are likely to experience empathy and be drawn to faces as a source of both soothing and safety. I wonder, too, if this study helps explain why children need more than just exposure to language to support educational achievement.

Thanks so much for bringing all these gems of wisdom to our collective attention!

10/17/1412:22 PM

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