Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish context
Language skills play a vital role in academic achievement and support reading and writing acquisition. Language skills also enable children to interact with others and develop social abilities. Given the predictive value of early language skills for academic attainment and their connection to social...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.963180/full |
| _version_ | 1827944286817091584 |
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| author | Rasmus Riad Mara Westling Allodi Eva Siljehag Sven Bölte Sven Bölte Sven Bölte |
| author_facet | Rasmus Riad Mara Westling Allodi Eva Siljehag Sven Bölte Sven Bölte Sven Bölte |
| author_sort | Rasmus Riad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Language skills play a vital role in academic achievement and support reading and writing acquisition. Language skills also enable children to interact with others and develop social abilities. Given the predictive value of early language skills for academic attainment and their connection to social interaction, they have been suggested to be an indicator of well-being as well. However, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds present lower scores than their peers with a majority language background on standardized language tests, such as vocabulary assessment. In the current study, we examined the relationship between language and self-reported well-being in the school context, based on data from a community sample of 85 five-year-old children attending eight preschools in three Swedish municipalities. Language skills were assessed through measures of vocabulary (receptive and expressive) and narrative skills (MAIN) and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Narrative ability and vocabulary skills were correlated, but they appear to be distinct constructs. Exposure at home to the majority language was positively associated with vocabulary skills, while narrative ability was not strongly associated with language background. Language skills and well-being were not significantly correlated in the total sample, but post hoc analysis revealed that language background may affect the association. A novel contribution of this study is empirical data on language performance from a community sample with a large proportion of children with diverse language backgrounds. The relationship between subjective well-being and language skills warrants further investigation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:26:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72d3586b023a4b08bc6818b1c1b58467 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2504-284X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:26:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-72d3586b023a4b08bc6818b1c1b584672023-05-19T06:07:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2023-05-01810.3389/feduc.2023.963180963180Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish contextRasmus Riad0Mara Westling Allodi1Eva Siljehag2Sven Bölte3Sven Bölte4Sven Bölte5Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Special Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Special Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SwedenCenter of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Division of Neuropsychiatry, Center for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Region Stockholm and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, SwedenChild and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, SwedenCurtin Autism Research Group, Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, AustraliaLanguage skills play a vital role in academic achievement and support reading and writing acquisition. Language skills also enable children to interact with others and develop social abilities. Given the predictive value of early language skills for academic attainment and their connection to social interaction, they have been suggested to be an indicator of well-being as well. However, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds present lower scores than their peers with a majority language background on standardized language tests, such as vocabulary assessment. In the current study, we examined the relationship between language and self-reported well-being in the school context, based on data from a community sample of 85 five-year-old children attending eight preschools in three Swedish municipalities. Language skills were assessed through measures of vocabulary (receptive and expressive) and narrative skills (MAIN) and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Narrative ability and vocabulary skills were correlated, but they appear to be distinct constructs. Exposure at home to the majority language was positively associated with vocabulary skills, while narrative ability was not strongly associated with language background. Language skills and well-being were not significantly correlated in the total sample, but post hoc analysis revealed that language background may affect the association. A novel contribution of this study is empirical data on language performance from a community sample with a large proportion of children with diverse language backgrounds. The relationship between subjective well-being and language skills warrants further investigation.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.963180/fulladditional language learningnarrative skillsvocabularywell-beingearly childhood education |
| spellingShingle | Rasmus Riad Mara Westling Allodi Eva Siljehag Sven Bölte Sven Bölte Sven Bölte Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish context Frontiers in Education additional language learning narrative skills vocabulary well-being early childhood education |
| title | Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish context |
| title_full | Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish context |
| title_fullStr | Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish context |
| title_full_unstemmed | Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish context |
| title_short | Language skills and well-being in early childhood education and care: a cross-sectional exploration in a Swedish context |
| title_sort | language skills and well being in early childhood education and care a cross sectional exploration in a swedish context |
| topic | additional language learning narrative skills vocabulary well-being early childhood education |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.963180/full |
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