A new Dutch study found that parents that have meaningful conversations with their young kids boost their children’s language skills. It may seem obvious that parents who speak with their kids are advancing their language acquisition, but this study is unique because it studied “serious conversations...dialogues that permit them to make meaningful contributions to the subject at hand.” The study included children from Turkish, Moroccan-Berber, and Dutch backgrounds.
Teachers use more complex sentences and conceptual language, and children must learn to follow along. Having prior experience with adult conversations allows these children to begin understanding their teachers faster than other children. Reading to children and telling them stories also has the same effects.
This article reminded me of the conversation we had in class about cultures in which the parents do not speak to their children until they are able to have an intelligent conversation. According to this study, those children will be behind once they get to school and immediately have a disadvantage. These parents may not believe they are harming their children, but they do not realize that they are not progressing their children’s academic abilities. Is it fair to the children that they are behind their peers because of a cultural difference? Are the parents depriving the children of the chance to excel academically? Like we talked about in class, could this be considered child abuse?
Similarly, parents who do not read to their children are depriving them of greater academic ability. The United States Department of Education has confirmed that children who are read to when they are young acquire language and literacy skills more effectively and perform better at reading comprehension and academics in general.
Full article about Dutch study here. And Department of Education article here.
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