Work

Comprehension of Connectives: Development Across Primary School Age and Influencing Factors

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Language development is not completed when children enter primary school. As the comprehension of connectives (such as although, despite) is important for understanding and producing academic texts and, thus, relevant for school success, we investigated its development and influential factors across primary school age on the basis of a newly developed and validated test instrument. Drawing on a German sample of N = 627 children (57.6 % language minority learners) in Grades 2 to 4, results of growth curve models showed students’ initial level of the comprehension of connectives to be negatively related to its growth rate. Additional analyses revealed this association to be due mainly to parental socioeconomic status (SES) rather than children’s language background. Particularly, parental SES and children’s receptive grammar impacted initial level as well as growth rate of connective comprehension. Our results indicate the need for early and continuous sensitization of children for the register of academic language especially in the group of children from low socioeconomic background.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00814

Authors: Anna Volodina, Sabine Weinert

Institution: University of Bamberg

Language: English

Topic: Language Development and Disorders

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,950