Language experiences and the transmission of family background inequality

This project will investigate early life language experiences and its relationship with family background and various outcomes in the lives of children.

Whilst children’s language experiences play a pivotal role in the transmission of family background inequality, there is little consensus on why this occurs. This inhibits the development of evidence-based and effective interventions to improve children’s outcomes. There is increasing recognition of the importance of developing oral language skills in the early years, and currently, 96% of schools are concerned about the speech and language development of pupils in the reception year.  It is likely that children from disadvantaged backgrounds hear fewer words and less complex language than those from more privileged backgrounds, perpetuating existing inequality.

Prior research has not integrated different social science approaches, often used small and unrepresentative sample sizes, has not been able to use naturalistic speech sampling as a way of capturing language environments, and not taken account of the extent to which language differences might be genetically transmitted. The research team will overcome these limitations by using data from E-Risk, a longitudinal genetically sensitive cohort study, to evaluate why and how children language experiences effect the transmission of family background inequality.

The research will have four key stages:

1. Using naturalistic speech samples to contextualise and chart the language environments mothers provide for children.
2. Computing ecological risk indices to map the results across neighbourhood characteristics, regions, and education provision.
3. Investigating the influence of early-life language environments on a range of development outcomes, focusing on cognitive, verbal, educational attainment, social-emotional adjustment, mental health, and wellbeing. Subsequently, investigating the extent to which early-life language experience mediates the influence of family background.
4. Determining to what extent genetic factors explain associations between language environments and child development.

The research team will produce press releases, blogs, and podcasts to reach interested families. Partnerships with the National Literacy Trust and Policy Institute will help ensure policymakers learn from and implement the results of the research. Briefs will be shared with educators, helping them improve identification of at-risk children and reflect on existing biases. Journal articles will be published and presented at conferences, helping to influence and inform further research.