COVID-19 first lockdown as a window into language acquisition: associations between caregiver-child activities and vocabulary gains
Date
2022Author
Kartushina, Natalia
Mani, Nivedita
Aktan-Erciyes, Aslı
Alaslani, Khadeejah
Aldrich, Naomi J.
Alroqi, Alaa Almohammadi Haifa
Anderson, Lucy M.
Andonova, Elena
Aussems, Suzanne
Babineau, Mireille
Barokova, Mihaela
Bergmann, Christina
Cashon, Cara
Custode, Stephanie
de Carvalho, Alex
Dimitrova, Nevena
Dynak, Agnieszka
Farah, Rola
Fennell, Christopher
Fiévet, Anne-Caroline
Frank, Michael C.
Gavrilova, Margarita
Gendler-Shalev, Hila
Gibson, Shannon P.
Golway, Katherine
Gonzalez-Gomez, Nayeli
Haman, Ewa
Hannon, Erin
Havron, Naomi
Hendriks, Cielke
Horowitz-Kraus, Tzipi
Kalashnikova, Marina
Kanero, Junco
Keller, Christina
Krajewski, Grzegorz
Laing, Catherine
Lundwall, Rebecca A.
Łuniewska, Magdalena
Mieszkowska, Karolina
Muñoz, Luis
Nave, Karli
Olesen, Nonah
Perry, Lynn
Rowland, Caroline
Santos Oliveira, Daniela
Veraksa, Aleksander
Vincent, Kolbie
Zivan, Michal
Mayor, Julien
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Kartushina, N., Mani, N., Aktan-Erciyes, A., Alaslani, K., Aldrich, N. J., Almohammadi, A., Alroqi, H., Anderson, L. M., Andonova, E., Aussems, S., Babineau, M., Barokova, M., Bergmann, C., Cashon, C., Custode, S., De Carvalho, A., Dimitrova, N., Dynak, A., Farah, R., Fennell, C., Fiévet, A.-C., Frank, M. C., Gavrilova, M., Gendler-Shalev, H., Gibson, S. P., Golway, K., Gonzalez-Gomez, N., Haman, E., Hannon, E., Havron, N., Hay, J., Hendriks, C., Horowitz-Kraus, T., Kalashnikova, M., Kanero, J., Keller, C., Krajewski, G., Laing, C., Lundwall, R. A., Łuniewska, M., Mieszkowska, K., Munoz, L., Nave, K., Olesen, N., Perry, L., Rowland, C. F., Santos Oliveira, D., Shinskey, J., Veraksa, A., Vincent, K., Zivan, M., & Mayor, J. (2022). COVID-19 first lockdown as a window into language acquisition: Associations between caregiver-child activities and vocabulary gains. Language Development Research, 2, 1-36. Doi:10.34842/abym-xv34
Language Development Research
Language Development Research
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting closure of daycare centers worldwide, led to unprecedented
changes in children’s learning environments. This period of increased time at home with
caregivers, with limited access to external sources (e.g., daycares) provides a unique opportunity to
examine the associations between the caregiver-child activities and children’s language development.
The vocabularies of 1742 children aged 8-36 months across 13 countries and 12 languages were evaluated
at the beginning and end of the first lockdown period in their respective countries (from March
to September 2020). Children who had less passive screen exposure and whose caregivers read more
to them showed larger gains in vocabulary development during lockdown, after controlling for SES
and other caregiver-child activities. Children also gained more words than expected (based on normative
data) during lockdown; either caregivers were more aware of their child’s development, or vocabulary
development benefited from intense caregiver-child interaction during lockdown, or both. We
discuss these results in the context of the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and
highlight limitations of the study.