Ira Gawlitzek

The role of ethnic differences, structural background and process characteristics in the family in preschool children’s language proficiency

ABSTRACT Whereas recent research has shown a positive correlation between stimulating family activities and children’s skills, little is known about the mediating role of the parenting style in the effect of the familial socioeconomic status (SES) and the influence of the family language on children’s language proficiency. Our aim is to investigate the impact of structural and process characteristics in the family on children’s language proficiency. Our sample comprises 314 six-year-old children with and without a migration background. The results of a path analysis via multiple linear regressions reveal parenting style as a mediator of family structural background. Structural equation models demonstrate that in native German families the SES explains children’s verbal skills, whereas in migrant families stimulating activities are more important. Furthermore, parenting style influences verbal skills independently of the family language. This is of methodological relevance as in operationalisations parenting style is often insufficiently differentiated from stimulating activities.