After decades of collaborating to increase child language vocabulary, Betty Hart and Todd Risley spent two and a half years intensely observing the language of 42 families throughout Kansas City. Specifically, they looked at household language use in three different settings: 1) professional families; 2) working class; and 3) welfare families. Hart and Risley gathered an enormous amount of data during the study and subsequent longitudinal follow-ups to come up with an often cited 30 million word gap between the vocabularies of welfare and professional families by age three. This controversially large number came from the data that showed welfare children heard, on average, 616 words per hour, while children from professional families (essentially children with college educated parents) heard 2153 words per hour. The longitudinal research in the following years demonstrated a high correlation between vocabulary size at age three and language test scores at ages nine and ten in areas of vocabulary, listening, syntax, and reading comprehension. This study was subsequently used to fuel the fire of arguments for early childhood programs such as Head Start.
For an excellent summary of this study, read this. A good comment on this study and poverty’s influence on education can be found here.
December 22, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Your readers may also be interested in Children of the Code, which includes an interview with Todd Risely.
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December 23, 2008 at 1:53 pm
There is definitely a lot of info on that site, with a lot of impressive names in education in learning. I’m looking forward to exploring it some more.
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January 7, 2010 at 1:15 am
I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about their findings. We simply do not know how important repetition and breadth of vocabulary is to cognitive development. We don’t know that more is always better, there may be a threshold at which ‘normal’ brain and cognitive development occurs, and maybe the less talkative poor people more than meet that threshold. In simple statistical terms, the numbers this study cites (a ’30 million word gap’) is misleading because in the largest estimation THERE ARE ONLY 1 MILLION WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, there are only 171,000 words in the massive Oxford English Dictionary, and most people only use 5-10,000 words in their active and passive (reading) vocabularies. A more accurate statistic is this (with still a stark contrast): “Apparently, pre-schoolers of professional families are typically exposed to 2,150 different words, pre-schoolers from working class families to 1,250 words, while those from households on welfare just 620.” Flynn, James R. (2008). Where Have All the Liberals Gone?: Race, Class, and Ideals in America. Cambridge University Press
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November 5, 2011 at 5:20 pm
It seems this study is being interpreted differently. Does a child from academic family hear 2,150 words per hour, as the initial post states, or do they possess a 2,150 vocabulary? If so, how is “knowing vocabulary” assessed?
2,150 words per hour equals 350 words per minute or close to six words per second. Unlikely even for intellectuals to accomplish that.
So, if the number is for vocabulary, what age are we talking about? Three year olds?
@ Chris P
>>We simply do not know how important repetition and breadth of vocabulary is to cognitive development.<<
This is not true. We do know that the brain needs repetition to create automaticity for words, and it is obvious that breadth of vocabulary has a direct relation to cognitive development. It's its foundation!
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April 30, 2013 at 5:42 pm
2150 words per hour = 35.8 words per minute = .6 words per second
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October 17, 2013 at 8:31 am
This is inequality. Then how does a poor family on welfare help their children to achieve higher levels in their vocabulary? Who then educates their parents? Where does this transition begin? Many poor families are illiterate. Where does the help come from especially in poor communities?
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October 17, 2013 at 12:50 pm
I agree whole heartedly.
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November 9, 2017 at 2:37 pm
Text 6 – The Thirty Million Word Gap
Questions
1. (a) What was the focus of Hart and Risley’s research during the 1960’s?
_________________________________
(b) What is the focus of their more recent research?
__________________________________
2. The families that participated in the study were all from SIMILAR/DIFFERENT (circle one) socio-economic groups.
3. Which research technique was used in the study?
_______________ (1 word)
4. (a) The findings of the study were unexpected. TRUE/FALSE
(b) Copy a sentence that supports your answer.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Which point do the percentages in paragraph 3 illustrate?
a. Most children acquire their vocabulary by age 3.
b. Parents are the main source of a young child’s vocabulary.
c. Most parents have the vocabulary level of a young child.
d. Many children are unable to communicate with their parents.
6. Which technique do young children use in order to acquire speech?
_________________ (1 word)
7. John comes from a rich family. Paul comes from a working class family. Hazel comes from a family on welfare. (6 points)
a. Which child hears the MOST number of words? _________
b. Which child hears the LEAST number of words? _________
8. Choose between LOWER INCOME FAMILIES and HIGHER INCOME FAMILIES.
c. They provide fewer words of praise. ___________________
d. The children have fewer instances of negative reinforcement. __________________
9. Why were some of the families used again in a follow-up study? ___________________________________________________________________________
10. (a) A child’s language achievements at the age of 3 were an indication of their later performance at school. YES/NO
(b) Copy a sentence that supports your answer. _________________________________________________________________________________
11. What is the “connection” mentioned in paragraph 7?
__________________________________________________________________
12. According to paragraph 8, why do children from poorer families have “slow growth”? (Circle one answer)
a. They hear fewer words.
b. They go to low quality schools.
c. They have poor study habits.
d. The parents don’t care about their children.
13. Which one of the following is a conclusion of the writer?
a. School is the most important factor in a child’s achievement.
b. Many children from poor families do not receive love and care.
c. The home is a vital factor in childhood development.
d. Communication styles are similar across socio-economic lines.
Noun Groups
Translate the following noun groups according to their context in the article.
1. High quality early intervention program (paragraph 1) = _____________________________
2. language skill expansion (paragraph 1) = _________________________________________
3. alarming vocabulary gaps (paragraph 1) = ________________________________________
4. speech patterns (paragraph 3) = ________________________________________________
5. language exposure (paragraph 4) = _____________________________________________
6. a follow up study (paragraph 6) = _______________________________________________
7. language and communication development (paragraph 7) = __________________________
8. conversation styles (paragraph 7) = _____________________________________________
9. early childhood success (paragraph 10) = _________________________________________
References
What do the following words refer to? Choose the correct answer.
1. “they” paragraph 1, line 4
a. The programs
b. Hart and Risley
c. Language skills
2. “They” paragraph 4, line 4
a. The children
b. The researchers
c. The words
3. “those” paragraph 4, line 9
a. The children
b. Words
c. Families
4. “it” paragraph 7, line 3
a. Language and communication development
b. How parents interact with their children
c. Social stimulation
5. “this gap” in paragraph 8, Line 6
a. Differences in income
b. Differences in language exposure
c. Differences in intelligence
can u help me ple
and sent the right answer
emel: rola.so.dr@gmail.com
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