Discussion Post
You probably heard of the "30-million-word gap" from a landmark study in 1995 that found children from higher-income families hear about 30 million more words during their first three years of life than children from lower-income families. This "30-million-word gap" correlates with significant differences in tests of vocabulary, language development, and reading comprehension.
MIT cognitive scientists have now found that conversation between an adult and a child appears to change the child's brain and that this back-and-forth conversation is actually more critical to language development than the word gap. For this week's discussion, do the following:
• Read the article "Back-and-forth exchanges boost children’s brain response to language" by Anne Trafton and watch the embedded YouTube video "Beyond the 30 Million Word Gap".
• What have you learned? What is the implication of this study?
The response must include a reference list. Using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, double-space, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.