Cover not available

In:Social Environment and Cognition in Language Development: Studies in honor of Ayhan Aksu-Koç
Edited by F. Nihan Ketrez, Aylin C. Küntay, Şeyda Özçalışkan and Aslı Özyürek
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 21] 2017
► pp. 35–52

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Chapter 3
Maternal input at 1;6

A comparison of two mothers from different SES backgrounds

 | Tel Aviv University, Israel
 | Tel Aviv University, Israel
Published online: 18 July 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.21.03rav
A body of research points to disadvantaged language and literacy skills in children from poorer, less educated backgrounds compared with those raised in more favorable circumstances. The current chapter reports a double case study comparing the child-directed speech of two Hebrew-speaking mothers of toddlers aged 1;6, one from mid-high and another from low socio-economic (SES) background. Findings indicate that the linguistic input to the child from low-SES background was scarcer, less dense and less diverse based on all measures used. She was provided with less linguistic scaffolding, and fewer elaborations and commentary on her spoken production than her peer from high SES. Results are related to the literature on developmental challenges faced by children from low SES backgrounds.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Language and literacy in children from different SES backgrounds
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Participants
    • 2.2Data collection of the low SES corpus
    • 2.3The high-SES corpus
    • 2.4Transcription and coding of the low SES corpus
    • 2.5Analyses of the corpora
  • 3.Results and discussion
    • 3.1Quantity of input
    • 3.2Input characteristics
      • 3.2.1Syntax
      • 3.2.2Repetitions
      • 3.2.3Lexicon
      • 3.2.4Verbs
      • 3.2.5Prepositions
      • 3.2.6Questions
      • 3.2.7Speech acts
      • 3.2.8Errors
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgment
  • References
References (78)
References
Aksu-Koç, A.. 1994. Development of linguistic forms: Turkish. In Relating Events in Narrative, R. A. Berman & D. I. Slobin (eds), 329–392. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1998. The role of input vs. universal predispositions in the emergence of tense-aspect morphology: Evidence from Turkish. First Language 18: 255–28.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. Role of the home context in relations between narrative abilities and literacy practices. In Perspectives on Language and Language Development, D. Ravid & H. Bat-Zeev Shyldkrot (eds), 257–274. Dordrecht: Kluwer.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Albert, A., MacWhinney, B., Nir, B. & Wintner, S.. 2013. The Hebrew CHILDES corpus: Transcription and morphological analysis. Language Resources and Evaluation 47: 973–1005.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aram, D. & Biron, S.. 2004. Joint storybook reading and joint writing interventions among low SES preschoolers: Differential contributions to early literacy. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 19: 588–610.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Arriaga, R. I., Fenson, L., Cronan, T. & Pethick, S. J.. 1998. Scores on the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory of children from low- and middle-income families. Applied Psycholinguistics 19: 209–223.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R. A.. 1985. Acquisition of Hebrew. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R. A. & Clark, E. V.. 1989. Learning to use compounds for contrast: Data from Hebrew. First Language 9: 247–270.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R. A. & Ravid, D.. 2010. Interpretation and recall of proverbs in three pre-adolescent populations. First Language 30: 155–173.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R. A. & Slobin, D. I.. 1994. Relating Events in Narrative: A Crosslinguistic Developmental Study. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R. A., Nayditz, R. & Ravid, D.. 2011. Linguistic diagnostics of written texts in two school-age populations. Written Language and Literacy 14: 161–187.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blachman, B. A., Tangel, D., Ball, E. W., Black, R. & Mcgraw, C. K.. 1999. Developing phonological awareness and word recognition skills: A two-year intervention with low-income, inner-city children. Reading and Writing 11: 239–273.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Black, E., Peppé, S. & Gibbon, F.. 2008. The relationship between socio-economic status and lexical development. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 22: 259–265.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bradley, R. H. & Corwyn, R. F.. 2002. Socioeconomic status and child development. Annual Review of Psychology 53: 371–399.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bloom, L., Merkin, S. & Wootten, J.. 1982. Wh-questions: Linguistic factors that contribute to the sequence of acquisition. Child Development 53. 1084–1092.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chevrot, J.-P., Nardy, A. & Barbu, S.. 2011. Developmental dynamics of SES-related differences in children’s production of obligatory and variable phonological alternations. Language Sciences 33: 180–191.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chiu, M. M. & McBride-Chang, C.. 2006. Gender, context, and reading: A comparison of students in 43 countries. Scientific Studies of Reading 10: 331- 362.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Craig, H. K. & Washington, J. A.. 2005. Malik Goes to School: Examining the Language Skills of African American Students from Preschool-5th Grade. New York NY: Psychology Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cutting, A. L. & Dunn, J.. 1999. Theory of mind, emotion understanding, language, and family background: Individual differences and interrelations. Child Development 70: 853–865.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
D’Angiulli, A., Herdman, A., Stapells, D. & Hertzman, C.. 2008. Children’s event-related potentials of auditory selective attention vary with their socioeconomic status. Neuropsychology 22: 293–300.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
D’Angiulli, A., Siegel, L. S. & Maggi, S.. 2004. Literacy instruction, SES, and word-reading achievement in English-language learners and children with English as a first language: A longitudinal study. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice 19: 202–213.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Engel, P.M.J., Santos, F. H. & Gathercole, S. E.. 2008. Are working memory measures free of socioeconomic influence? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 51: 1580–1587.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farah, M. J., Shera, D. M., Savage, J. H., Betancourt, L., Giannetta, J. M., Brodsky, N. L., Malmud, E. K. & Hurt, H.. 2006. Childhood poverty: Specific associations with neurocognitive development. Brain Research 1110: 166–174.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Farkas, G. & Beron, K.. 2004. The detailed age trajectory of oral vocabulary knowledge: Differences by class and race. Social Science Research 33: 464–497.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fazio, B. B.. 1997. Memory for rote linguistic routines and sensitivity to rhyme: A comparison of low-income children with and without specific language impairment. Applied Psycholinguists 18: 345–372.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
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.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fish, M. & Pinkerman, B.. 2003. Language skills in low-SES rural Appalachian children: Normative development and individual differences, infancy to preschool. Applied Developmental Psychology 23: 539–565.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ginsborg, J.. 2006. The effects of socio-economic status on children’s language acquisition and use. In Language and Social Disadvantage: Theory into Practice, J. Clegg & J. Ginsborg (eds), 9–27. New York NY: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodwin, A., Fein, D. & Naigles, L.. 2015. The role of maternal input in the development of wh-question comprehension in autism and typical development. Journal of Child Language 42: 32–63.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hackman, D. A. & Farah, M. J.. 2009. Socioeconomic status and the developing brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 13: 65–73.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hart, B. & Risley, T. R.. 1995. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children, 8th edn. Baltimore MD: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoff, E.. 2003. The specificity of environmental influence: Socioeconomic status affects early vocabulary development via maternal speech. Child Development 74: 1368–1378.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 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.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoff, E. & Naigles, L.. 2002. How children use input in acquiring a lexicon. Child Development 73: 418–433.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoff, E. & Tian, C.. 2005. Socioeconomic status and cultural influences on language. Journal of Communication Disorders 38: 271–278.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huttenlocher, J., Levine, S. C. & Vevea, J.. 1998. Environmental effects on cognitive growth: Input from school. Child Development 69: 1012–1029.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., Cymerman, E. & Levine, S. C.. 2002. Language input at home and at school: Relation to syntax. Cognitive Psychology 45: 337–374.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kieffer, M. J.. 2012. Before and after third grade: Longitudinal evidence for the shifting role of socioeconomic status in reading growth. Reading and Writing 25: 1725–1746.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirjavainen, M.M.M., Theakston, A. L. & Lieven, E. V.. 2009. Can input explain children's me-for-I errors? Journal of Child Language 36: 1091–1114.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kishiyama, M. M., Boyce, W. T., Jimenez, A. M., Perry, L. M. & Knight, R. T.. 2009. Socioeconomic disparities affect prefrontal function in children. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 21: 1106–1115.  .Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levie, R., Ben Zvi, G. & Ravid, D.. In press. Morpho-lexical development in language-impaired and typically developing Hebrew-speaking children from two SES backgrounds. Reading & Writing.  
Lieven, E. V.. 2008. Learning the English auxiliary: A usage-based approach. In Corpora in Language Acquisition Research: Finding Structure in Data [Trends in Language Acquisition Research 6], H. Behrens (ed.), 60–98. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lieven, E., Behrens, H., Spears, J. & Tomasello, M.. 2003. Early syntactic creativity: A usage-based approach. Journal of Child Language 30: 333–370.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacWhinney, B.. 2000. The CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk, 3rd edn. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manz, P. H., Hughes, C., Barnabas, E., Bracaliello, C. & Ginsburg-Block, M.. 2010. A descriptive review and meta-analysis of family-based emergent literacy interventions: To what extent is the research applicable to low-income, ethnic-minority or linguistically-diverse young children? Early Childhood Research Quarterly 25: 409–431.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Natriello, G., McDill, E. & Pallas, A.. 1990. Schooling Disadvantaged Children: Racing against Catastrophe. New York NY: Teachers’ College.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neuman, S. & Celano, D.. 2001. Access to print in low-income and middle-income communities. Reading Research Quarterly 36: 8–26.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ninio, A.. 1980. Picture-book reading in mother-infant dyads belonging to two subgroups in Israel. Child Development 51: 587–590.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nittrouer, S.. 1996. The relation between speech perception and phonemic awareness: Evidence from low-SES children and children with chronic OM. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 39: 1059–1071.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Noble, K. G., Norman, M. F. & Farah, M. J.. 2005. Neurocognitive correlates of socioeconomic status in kindergarten children. Developmental Science 8: 74–87.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prevoo, M. J., Malda, M., Mesman, J., Emmen, R. A., Yeniad, N., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H. & Linting, M.. 2014. Predicting ethnic minority children's vocabulary from socioeconomic status, maternal language and home reading input: Different pathways for host and ethnic language. Journal of Child Language 41: 963–984.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Qi, C. H., Kaiser, A. P., Milan, S. & Hancock, T.. 2006. Language performance of low-income African American and European American preschool children on the PPVT-III. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 37: 5–16.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D.. 1995. Language Change in Child and Adult Hebrew: A Psycholinguistic Perspective. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. Semantic development in textual contexts during the school years: Noun scale analyses. Journal of Child Language 33: 791–821.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Berman, R. A.. 2010. Developing noun phrase complexity at school-age: A text-embedded cross-linguistic analysis. First Language 30: 3–26.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Levie, R.. 2010. Adjectives in the development of text production: Lexical, morphological and syntactic analyses. First Language 30: 27–55.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Schiff, R.. 2006. Morphological abilities in Hebrew-speaking gradeschoolers from two socio-economic backgrounds: An analogy task. First Language 26: 381–402.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D., Dressler, W. U., Nir-Sagiv, B., Korecky-Kröll, K., Souman, A., Rehfeldt, K., Laaha, S., Bertl, J., Basbøll, H. & Gillis, S.. 2008. Core morphology in child directed speech: Crosslinguistic corpus analyses of noun plurals. In Corpora in Language Acquisition Research: Finding Structure in Data [Trends in Language Acquisition Research 6], Heike Behrens (ed.) 25–60. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D., Shalom, T., Dattner, E., Katzenberger, I. & Sha’ashua, G.. 2015. Top-down measures in 7th grade writing: The effects of genre and SES. In Written and Spoken Language Development across the Lifespan, J. P. Parramon, E. I. Rosado Villegas, M. Aparici & N. Daniela Salas (eds), 345–359. New York NY: Springer.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D., Ashkenazi, O., Levie, R., Ben Zadok, G., Grunwald, T., Bratslavsky, R. & Gillis, S.. 2016. Foundations of the root category: Analyses of linguistic input to Hebrew-speaking children. In Acquisition and Development of Hebrew: From Infancy to Adolescence [Trends in Language Acquisition Research 19], R. Berman (ed.) 95–134. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Raviv, T., Kessenich, M. & Morrison, F. J.. 2004. A mediational model of the association between socioeconomic status and three-year-old language abilities: The role of parenting factors. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 19: 528–547.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rowe, M. L.. 2008. Child-directed speech: Relation to socioeconomic status, knowledge of child development and child vocabulary skill. Journal of Child Language 35: 185–205. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rowe, M. L., Raudenbush, S. W. & Goldin‐Meadow, S.. 2012. The pace of vocabulary growth helps predict later vocabulary skill. Child Development 83: 508–525. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiff, R. & Lotem, E.. 2011. Social class differences in the development of reading ability: The role of phonological awareness and morphological awareness within two orthographies. First Language 31: 131–163.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiff, D. & Ravid, D.. 2012. Linguistic processing in Hebrew-speaking children from low and high SES backgrounds. Reading & Writing 25: 1427–1448.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shatz, M., Diesendruck, G., Martinez-Beck, I. & Akar, D.. 2003. The influence of language and socioeconomic status on children’s understanding of false belief. Developmental Psychology 39: 717–729.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sirin, S. R.. 2005. Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research 75: 417–453. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snow, C. E.. 1995. Issues in the study of input. In The Handbook of Child Language, P. Fletcher & B. McWhinney (eds), 180–193. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sparks, A. & Reese, E.. 2013. From reminiscing to reading: Home contributions to children’s developing language and literacy in low-income families. First Language 33: 89–109.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Song, L., Spier, E. T. & Tamis-Lemonda, C. S.. 2014. Reciprocal influences between maternal language and children's language and cognitive development in low-income families. Journal of Child Language 41: 305–326.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Suizzo, M. A. & Stapleton, L. M.. 2007. Home‐based parental involvement in young children’s education: Examining the effects of maternal education across U.S. ethnic groups. Educational Psychology 27: 533–556.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomasello, M.. 2008. Origins of Human Communication. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vanormelingen, L. & Gillis, S.. 2016. The influence of socio-economic status on mothers’ volubility and responsiveness in a monolingual Dutch-speaking sample. First Language 36: 140–156.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vernon-Feagans, L., Pancsofar, N., Willoughby, M., Odom, E., Quade, A. & Cox, M.. 2008. Predictors of maternal language to infants during a picture book task in the home: Family SES, child characteristics and the parenting environment. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 29: 213–226.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Walker, D., Greenwood, C., Hart, B. & Carta, J.. 1994. Prediction of school outcomes based on early language production and socioeconomic factors. Child Development 65: 606–621.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J. L. & Beardslee, W. R.. 2012. The effects of poverty on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: Implications for prevention. American Psychologist 67: 272–284.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weizman, Z. O. & Snow, C. E.. 2001. Lexical input as related to children's vocabulary acquisition: Effects of sophisticated exposure and support for meaning. Developmental Psychology 37: 265–279.  Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zimmerman, A.. 2012. Input to Two Toddlers from Different SES Backgrounds: A Study in Hebrew. MA thesis, Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Aksu-Koç, Ayhan & Burçak Aktürk Arı
2022. Development in Diverse Socioeconomic Environments: How Resilient Are Different Language Domains?. In Developing Language and Literacy [Literacy Studies, 23], ► pp. 475 ff. DOI logo
Korecky-Kröll, Katharina, Sabine Sommer-Lolei, Veronika Mattes & Wolfgang U. Dressler
2022. Morphological Verb Families in German-Speaking Children and Parents of Two SES Backgrounds According to a Groundbreaking Model by Dorit Ravid and Colleagues. In Developing Language and Literacy [Literacy Studies, 23], ► pp. 495 ff. DOI logo
Levie, Ronit, Elitzur Dattner, Racheli Zwilling, Hadas Rosenstein, Shirly Eitan Stanzas & Dorit Ravid
2019. Complexity and density of Hebrew verbs in preschool peer talk. The Mental Lexicon 14:2 ► pp. 237 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue