Susanne Ebert

Sprachlich-kognitive Kompetenzen beim Eintritt in den Kindergarten

Zusammenfassung. Im Mittelpunkt der Arbeit steht die Frage, ob und in welcher Weise sich die sprachlichen und kognitiven Kompetenzen von Kindern mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund zu Beginn der Kindergartenzeit unterscheiden. Innerhalb der Gruppe von Familien mit Migrationshintergrund wird erganzend die Bedeutung ausgewahlter familiarer Merkmale, wie Muttersprache der Hauptbetreuungsperson, Alltagssprache in der Familie und wahrgenommene Integration fur die deutschen Sprachkompetenzen des Kindes analysiert. Untersucht wurden 547 Kinder (119 mit und 428 ohne Migrationshintergrund), die zum Zeitpunkt der Erhebung im Schnitt 3;8 Jahre alt waren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund in einem weiten Kompetenzspektrum standardisierter Testverfahren schwachere Leistungen erreichen als ihre deutschen Altersgenossen. Dieser Befund wird fur die einzelnen Kompetenzbereiche getrennt diskutiert, wobei insbesondere die Bedeutung der unterschiedlichen sprachlichen Anregung in den verschiedenen Su...

Preschool and primary school influences on the development of children's early numeracy skills between the ages of 3 and 7 years in Germany

Few studies have investigated how preschool and primary school interact to influence childrens cognitive development. The present investigation explores German childrens numeracy skills between age 3 (1st year of preschool) and age 7 (1st year of primary school). We first identified the influence of preschool experience on development while controlling for child factors, family background, and the quality of the home learning environment (HLE). We then considered how the instructional quality of primary schools influences numeracy. We finally analysed how preschool and primary school interact. We sampled 547 children who attended 97 German preschools. Latent growth curve analyses identified child and family factors related to age 3 numeracy and development to age 7: gender, migration background, socioeconomic status (SES), mother education, HLE. The effects of preschool on numeracy development persist until age 7 with notable effects from process quality. Strengthened efforts are needed to ensure high quality preschool education in Germany.

Internal and external influences on vocabulary development in preschool children

Competency in societys lingua franca plays a major role in the emergence of social disparities within education. Therefore, the present longitudinal study investigates vocabulary development and its predictors in preschool years. We focus on whether internal (phonological working memory) and external variables (preschool and home learning environment) have different impacts depending on parental native language. The study considers 547 children from 97 German preschools. Childrens vocabulary was assessed at the ages of 3, 4, and 5 years. Latent growth curve models show that non-native German language children are characterized by reduced vocabulary at first assessment and lower progress compared to monolingual peers. Phonological working memory has a strong impact on all childrens initial vocabulary but also on vocabulary growth in those whose parents speak German as an additional language. The effects of preschool and home learning environment are comparatively smaller.

Long-Term Relations between Children's Language, the Home Literacy Environment, and Socioemotional Development from Ages 3 to 8.

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study investigated the long-term interrelations among children’s language competencies, their home literacy environment (HLE), and 3 aspects of socioemotional development from ages 3 to 8, controlling for characteristics of the child and family. For this sample of 547 typically developing German children, parents and teachers reported on cooperative behavior, physical aggression, and emotional self-regulation. Language was assessed using established test instruments. HLE was operationalized by the number of books in the household, the frequency of shared book reading, and an observation during shared book reading. Path analyses supported effects of language and HLE at age 3 on all 3 indicators of socioemotional development over the 5-year period. An additional mediational analysis revealed different patterns of results depending on the aspect of socioemotional competency under study. Although the effect of early language and HLE at age 3 on cooperative and (low) aggressive behavior at age 8 was partially mediated by language at age 5, children’s early language at age 3 was the best predictor of the development of emotional self-regulation. Practice or Policy: Findings identify a rich HLE and proper language skills as protective factors for socioemotional development in not-at-risk children; these factors should be further established in social skills training.