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Size matters: Early vocabulary as a predictor of language and literacy competence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2010

JOANNE LEE
JOANNE LEE*
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Joanne Lee, Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3C5, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper investigated the predictive ability of expressive vocabulary size and lexical composition at age 2 on later language and literacy skills from ages 3 through 11. Multivariate analysis of covariance was performed to compare 16 language and literacy outcomes between children with large expressive vocabulary size at 24 months (N = 1,073) and those with smaller expressive vocabulary size. Comparisons between large and small verb size groups as a measure of lexical composition were also conducted. Our findings indicate that, after controlling for gender, birth order, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, total vocabulary size at age 2 can significantly predict subsequent language and literacy achievement up to fifth grade. Moreover, vocabulary size is a better predictor of later language ability than lexical composition.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 69 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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