New Zealand caregivers’ knowledge and beliefs about child language development

What is it about?

This study explored what New Zealand parents and caregivers know about helping children develop language skills. An online survey gathered responses from 500 participants, mostly those with higher education levels. Most understood that talking and interacting with children is key for language development, but fewer recognised how early vocabulary affects learning later on. Parents with more education scored higher on language development knowledge. About half had sought information, mainly from health professionals or the internet. The findings suggest a need for education programs to help parents support their children's language growth during the preschool years.

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Photo by Picsea on Unsplash

Photo by Picsea on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Language skills are important for social, emotional and academic success. The beliefs and knowledge of parents and caregivers informs their behaviours with their children, such as interaction, book reading and providing rich varied experiences. These learning opportunities can make a big difference to their children's language development. If we know what parents and caregivers understand or misunderstand about language, then we can design supports for them to boost knowledge in key areas. This will hopefully increase key caregiver behaviours to support language learning, which in turn should boost children's language skills.

Perspectives