A Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Effectiveness of the Háblame Bebé Mobile Application With Spanish-Speaking Mothers Experiencing Economic Hardship.

Purpose: This study examined the effectiveness of a standalone mobile application (app), Háblame Bebé, for use in real-world settings without supplemental human interaction to promote Spanish-speaking mothers' language interactions with their young children and associated child bilingual (Spanish-English) language development.

Method: Thirty-seven Spanish-speaking Latina mothers with lower incomes and their children were randomly assigned to experimental and wait-list control groups for 12 weeks. The experimental group was introduced to the app to learn how to provide language-promoting strategies in the home language and encouraged to use the app to track child vocabulary growth and overall development.

Psychometric Properties of the English-Spanish Vocabulary Inventory in Toddlers With and Without Early Language Delay.

Purpose: Despite the increasing population of dual language learners (DLLs) in the United States, vocabulary measures for young DLLs have largely relied on instruments developed for monolinguals. The multistudy project reports on the psychometric properties of the English-Spanish Vocabulary Inventory (ESVI), which was designed to capture unique cross-language measures of lexical knowledge that are critical for assessing DLLs' vocabulary, including translation equivalents (whether the child knows the words for the same concept in each language), total vocabulary (the number of words known across both languages), and conceptual vocabulary (the number of words known that represent unique concepts in either language).

Method: Three studies included 87 Spanish-English DLLs ( = 26.

Exploring Early Childhood Language Environments: A Comparison of Language Use, Exposure, and Interactions in the Home and Childcare Settings.

Purpose This study was conducted in a large Midwestern metropolitan area to examine the language environments at home and in center-based childcare for young children who are living in poverty. We compared child language use and exposure in the home and childcare settings using extended observations with automated Language Environment Analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the environmental factors that may affect change in language outcomes for young children. Method Thirty-eight children, along with parents ( = 38) and childcare providers ( = 14) across five childcare centers, participated in this study.

Conceptualizing a Public Health Prevention Intervention for Bridging the 30 Million Word Gap.

Early childhood experience is a social determinant of children's health and well-being. The well-being of young children is founded on their relationships and interactions with parents and family members in the home, caregivers, and teachers in early education, and friends and families in the greater community. Unfortunately, the early language experience of infants and toddlers from low-income families is typically vastly different than children from middle- and higher-income families.

Vocabulary Instruction on Sesame Street: A Content Analysis of the Word on the Street Initiative.

Purpose: Authors of this content analysis examined how Sesame Street's Word on the Street initiative aligns with research-based practices for selecting and teaching vocabulary to young children and considered how speech-language pathologists can use educational media to supplement traditional vocabulary instruction.

Method: Study authors used a well-established vocabulary selection hierarchy to analyze 170 target words across 7 seasons of Word on the Street to judge appropriateness for preschool vocabulary instruction. The authors then coded vocabulary instruction across 96 episodes to determine frequency and types of teaching strategies used within this educational program.