Psychological Development and Education ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (1): 8-18.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2024.01.02

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The Relation between Home Environment and Early Language Development in Rural China

LENG Xinyi1, SU Mengmeng2, LI Wenling3, YANG Xiujie4, XING Ailing4, ZHANG Xianglin1, SHU Hua1   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875;
    2. College of Elementary Education, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048;
    3. College of Education, Trident University International, Cypress, CA 90630, USA;
    4. Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875
  • Published:2024-02-20

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Abstract: With the newly developed picture naming test and the questionnaire on home literacy environment, the present study examined the expressive vocabulary and the basic family environment of 374 preschool children from 3 age groups in rural Guizhou, China. Furthermore, we investigated the relationships between various family factors (socioeconomic status, home literacy activities, parental beliefs, parental estimation, and early reading-related education) and Children’s expressive language. The results showed that the reliability and discrimination of the picture naming test were acceptable, and a significantly increased performance was observed across 3 age groups from young to old. Compared with children in urban areas, children in rural areas were suffering from a more disadvantageous home environment. Among these factors, mothers’ educational level and home literacy activities could significantly and independently predict children’s expressive vocabulary. Therefore, the results provided a theoretical foundation for the feasibility of intervention in the development of children’s early language ability in low-income areas in rural China.

Key words: rural areas, preschool children, expressive vocabulary, socioeconomic status, home literacy activities

CLC Number: 

  • B844
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