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Study Says That Preschoolers Who Have Larger Vocabulary Perform Better In Class

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A new study published today in the peer-reviewed journal Early Education and Development found that children do better in school if they have good vocabulary and attention skills when they start preschool.

The results, which were based on 900 four-year-olds from eight US states, demonstrate how a child’s vocabulary reach affects their ability to interact with peers and teachers.

The findings also suggest that young children are more likely to engage in classroom activities if they have mastered the skills of restraint and distraction avoidance.

The findings of the study “demonstrated that the levels of vocabulary skills and inhibitory control that children exhibit in the fall (autumn) of the preschool years,” according to lead author Qingqing Yang, “matter for their classroom engagement in different ways.”

Children who have less inhibitory control and vocabulary appear to be more likely to engage in a variety of non-engaging behaviors.

This means that teachers should be able to identify students who could be more likely to engage in negative behavior. They must also encourage all kids to participate in class.

“Given the large amount of time that children spend in the classroom, these findings have implications for optimizing children’s vocabulary and inhibitory control development,” adds the author.

The years of informal education prior to primary school are referred to as preschool. According to studies, a child’s vocabulary development at this age is crucial for future academic achievement.

Inhibitory control, or the capacity to suppress one’s natural reaction to stimuli or distractions in favor of concentrating on objectives or activities, is another crucial skill.

For this study, 895 preschool-aged children of different races and ethnicities were chosen from 223 classrooms in 10 locations. There were 443 girls and 452 boys.

They were evaluated by the researchers once when they began preschool in the autumn and once more in the spring.

The researchers employed a variety of metrics, including the pencil tap test, to determine skill levels. The child’s ability to suppress unwanted behaviors was evaluated by having him or her tap once when the evaluator tapped twice and vice versa.

Children were tasked with identifying photos of objects to test their vocabulary, and assessors evaluated how well each student was participating in class activities over the course of about 4 hours while being observed individually.

Negative classroom involvement included disagreement with teachers and peers as well as off-task behaviors. Positive classroom engagement included friendliness, communication, and self-reliance with duties.

According to the findings, preschoolers who had a stronger vocabulary at the beginning of the school year engaged with their teachers and peers in more positive ways.

Additionally, those with superior inhibitory control engaged in tasks more positively and interacted with others in the classroom less negatively.

On the other hand, the study shows that vocabulary learning is affected by how students behave in the classroom. It establishes a connection between children’s autumn inhibitory control and spring vocabulary and inhibitory control deficits.

The authors say that their findings are a big step forward because “a small change in children’s skills and experiences” early on can “improve or impair” their chances of doing well in school in the long run.

The authors say that policymakers might want to think about the need for better teacher training so that at-risk students who don’t have these skills can be found earlier and given the right help.

This might make it easier for kids with lesser inhibitory control and less robust vocabulary to succeed in formal education.

Image Credit: Getty

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