The effect of the home language learning environment on lexical and narrative skills of 5-year-old children

Abstract

Lexical and narrative skills in young children, specifically 5-year-olds (5;0 to 5;11), is an under researched area in the local setting. The impact of the home language learning environment (HLLE) on children has been widely discussed however little attention has been given to its effects on the performance in lexical and narrative tasks. The aim of this research was to dive into this area and observe the different relationships that exist between the way caregivers expose their children to language learning at home and, its influence on their children’s performance in such assessments. The participant sample included 25 typically developing (TD) children who, along with their caregiver/s, were recruited through schools. Data was collected from a questionnaire titled “Questionnaire for Parents on their Child’s Literacy and Language Skills” that was distributed to all caregivers and collected at the school and, through three different assessments in both English and Maltese versions titled; the Receptive Picture Name Judgement task and the Picture Naming Task (Gatt, 2011) and, the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) (Gagarina et al., 2019; Gatt, 2020). Statistical analysis showed unexpected findings between the variables, presenting with a great lack in significant relationships between the home language learning environment and the children’s lexical and narrative skills. While uncovering the limitations that affected the result outcomes, the discussion targeted and critically explained these limiting factors in relation to relevant literature, giving way to recommendations for future studies.