| Summary: | <p>Objective: This study aimed to determine the association between social deprivation and
children's language ability. There was evidence suggesting that children from underprivileged
backgrounds have delayed language development. We tested the hypothesis that early
childhood represents a critical period during which social deprivation levels could produce
gaps in language development among nursery children from birth to five years old. We
expected children from socially deprived areas to achieve lower language scores than
children from more affluent areas. We also hypothesized that the neighborhood effects would
be moderated by children's home language environment. </p>
<p>Methods: A secondary analysis of quantitative data from the NELI-N program (Schools = 62,
N = 1496) was carried out. Social deprivation of children was measured in two domains,
neighborhood poverty and home language environment. School-level neighborhood poverty
was measured across five quintile levels by geographical-based income deprivation affecting
children index (IDACI). The home language environment was recorded by English as
Additional Language (EAL) status, assigning children into two categories, non-EAL and
EAL groups. Children’s language outcome was assessed by the LanguageScreen assessment.
A language factor was extracted from four subtests of LanguageScreen, presenting children's
generalized language ability at age 3 to 4. The main and interaction effects of IDACI and
EAL were analyzed in ANOVA models. </p>
<p>Results: Social deprivation and EAL status were strongly related to children’s language
ability. For neighborhood poverty, there were significant differences in language
development between children from the most deprived neighborhood quintile and children
from higher quintiles. Involving varying home language backgrounds, EAL children achieved
significantly lower language scores than non-EAL children in nursery years. The interaction
effect between IDACI and EAL was highly significant and accounted for more variance in
the scores compared to the effect of IDACI exclusively. Non-linear relationships were found
in multilevel models, and children from the fourth IDACI quintile (60th-80th) had lower
language scores than expected from a linear function. </p>
<p>Conclusions: This study provides strong evidence for both independent and combined effects
of home language environment and school neighborhood poverty. These findings demonstrate that children from socially deprived areas experience multiple risk factors. Neighborhood-level deprivation leads to lower language performance, especially for native
children compared with other native pupils. EAL conditions strongly predict children’s
language scores in preschools, supporting the hypothesis that early childhood represents a
critical period during which quantity and quality of language exposure create gaps in
language development. The interaction of disadvantaged home and neighborhood experience
negatively impacts children’s language learning process and results in poor language skills by
nursery ages. Implications for future language research were addressed.</p>
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