Response 1

· Explain how socioeconomic factors affect the language development of children and adolescents Consider the impact of socioeconomic status and social class on both positive and negative child and adolescent development and language development. Think about how language development may differ between socioeconomic groups. 

Socioeconomic status is a difficult demographic to discuss in child development. Many times it can be viewed at a crutch and other times as a legitimist hindrance to the child’s success. Mise explores the impact of SES as it pertains to child language development (2012). Specifically it was noted that the hours spent in child care had not impact on language development, positive or negative (Mise, 2012). Many times parents who are required to work so many hours to provide for their families need to leave their children with daycare workers longer than other parents, it is nice to know this has no negative impact on language development (Mise, 2012). A negative impact of lower SES means less resources available, specifically for extra curricular activities such as music or art classes. As Paquette discussed, there are benefits to exploring language in a creative sense (2008). A child may be struggling to learn language in it’s traditionally taught manner, thus there is potential for learning in these more creative outlets (Paquette, 2008). Explain how socioeconomic factors affect      the language development of children and adolescents Think about possible      long-term effects of socioeconomic status on language development. Explain      how these factors further influence the development of child and      adolescent linguistic identities. 

      Some of the long-term impacts of SES on language development could be “closeminded-ness”. Typically, those in lower SES neighborhoods experience more diversity than those in higher SES neighborhoods. By placing value on diversity and learning from other’s differences, those families who lack diversity can increase their understanding of those around them (Souto-Maning, 2006). Staying in one’s own SES bubble will only limit language development in that vocabulary will be limited to that cultural group (Souto-Manning, 2006). Studies have show that through diversity, vocabulary and phonological understanding begin to grow (Souto-Manning, 2006) (Gorman, 2012).

Mise, T. M., & Hupp, J. M. (2012). The influence of socioeconomic status, home environment, and childcare on child language abilities. Current Psychology, 31(2), 144–159. 

Paquette, K. R., & Rieg, S. A. (2008). Using music to support the literacy development of young English language learners. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(3), 227–232. 

Souto-Manning, M. (2006). Families learn together: Reconceptualizing linguistic diversity as a resource. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(6), 443–446. 

Gorman, B. (2012). Relationships between vocabulary size, working memory, and phonological awareness in Spanish-speaking English language learners. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 21(2), 109–123. 

Response 2

The socioeconomic status of a family can influence the development in the language of children. According to Spencer, Clegg, & Stackhouse (2009), children that come from low SES households do in fact experience language delays. 

Mothers of high SES have a more advanced vocabulary and encouraged their children to enhance their speech. Due to this better language, children from higher SES families have better language skills than those from lower SES families. How a child develops their language can be directly related to their language experiences, which can be related to their families SES. According to Mise (2012), there seems to be a correlation between SES and language development. 

It has been seen that children with lower SES experience lower academic achievement. Children that come from higher SES families have been thought to be better prepared for kindergarten. While children of lower SES end up having to repeat grades more often. (Sohr-Preston, Scaramella, Martin, Neppi, Ontai & Conger, 2013). This can be an indication that language development has the opportunity to have a big impact on ones life. 

                                       References 

Mise, T. M., & Hupp, J. M. (2012). The influence of socioeconomic status, home  environment, and childcare on child language abilities. Current Psychology,  31(2), 144–159.

Sohr-Preston, S. L., Scaramella, L. V., Martin, M. J., Neppl, T. K., Ontai, L., & Conger, (2013). Parental socioeconomic status, communication, and children’s     vocabulary development: A third-generation test of the family investment model. Child Development, 84(3), 1046–1062.

Spencer, S., Clegg, J. & Stackhouse, J. (2012). Language and disadvantage: A comparison of the language abilities of adolescents from two different  socioeconomic areas. International Journal of Language & Communication  Disorders, 47(3), 274–284.