Is home environment predictive of early grammar development?

Abstract

Research shows that children’s home environment (e.g., the composition of their household and the resources available in it) has an impact on children’s language development. However, this research has mostly been conducted among English speakers from the minority world and has often only considered vocabulary size. This exploratory study investigated whether home environment factors are predictive of grammar development in Afrikaans-speaking (n = 117) and English-speaking (n = 102) toddlers in South Africa. Moreover, potential differences between these two language groups were explored. Results showed that home environment factors pertaining to family stability predicted two of the three grammar scores, namely total grammar and complex phrases. Cluster analysis showed distinct patterns of home environment factors between Afrikaans and English-speaking households, illustrating the importance of measuring these factors even across samples from the same country. This study shows that children’s home environment is an interconnected system and cautions against oversimplified single-factor approaches.