Early vocabulary size in Argentinean toddlers: associations with home literacy and screen media exposure

ABSTRACT The objective of the following study was to analyze the associations of caregivers’ literacy practices and beliefs, and children exposure to screen media with lexical density and syntax development during the first three years. A total of 136 primary caregivers of infants between 12 to 40 months of age (M= 26.34, SD = 7.55) were evaluated. The participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, a reading comprehension test, a literacy practices and beliefs survey and the CDI (McArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventory) part II (words and sentences). In addition, children’s daycare attendance was considered. After controlling for age, gender, parent’s education level and daycare attendance, positive attitudes towards literacy and frequency of PC use contributed to CDI vocabulary scores, while shared reading frequency was associated with CDI syntax scores. These results indicate that both parent-child shared reading and PC use provide a context for verbal interaction and joint attention that stimulates language development. Impact Summary Prior State of Knowledge: There are contradictory results about the relations between home literacy, screen media exposure and language development during the first years of life. Also, most of this research has been conducted in WEIRD countries. Novel Contributions: Parents attitudes about reading and shared reading were more important in explaining language development than books quantity, caregiver’s reading comprehension and self-reading practices. Regarding screen exposure, only frequency of PC use was a significant predictor of children’s vocabulary scores. Practical Implications: The positive associations of literacy beliefs, practices and screen times with vocabulary might indicate that both shared reading and screen coviewing provide a context for parent-child joint attention and verbal interaction that promotes word learning.