Entry #9: The Effect of Socioeconomic Levels on Vocabulary Development

One part that really stuck out to me while reading Tompkins this week is when she mentions that "students from low-income homes have less than half of the vocabulary that more affluent children possess, and some researchers estimate that they know one quarter to one fifth of the words that their classmates do" (p. 220). Considering my own socioeconomic background growing up, I was riddled with one question, why?

This "why" question sent me on a search for an answer. Growing up in a "poor" household, I didn't experience a gap. Literacy was something highly regarded in my household from reading to writing to speaking. We didn't have money for new books but we did have two feet each to walk to the library and pick some out. We didn't have cable but the couple channels we could get included PBS, which I was always happy to sit down and watch. No one in my family had completed high school, but reading, writing, and speaking to one another was a pastime we all enjoyed. I suppose, when we didn't have money to take trips or do things, at least we had each other and a few good books available. 

So I wondered, what about a "poor" socioeconomic background contributes to inhibited vocabulary development? I started on my search. I opened up many articles that gave me nothing but effects. The singular cause was socioeconomic status affecting literature accessibility and nothing more. Then, I finally found an article that gave me some insight. According to Hurt and Betancourt (2016), family stress and parenting are the two main reasons. Hurt and Betancourt (2016) reference S.C. Perkins saying, "They describe parenting style, language use, and home literacy environment as powerful influences on language development, emphasizing the influence challenging environments may have on parental emotional distress" (p. 4). It's also mentioned from their research that "early exposure to poverty was associated with smaller cortical gray and white matter" in the brain. Since I am not a doctor, I will not dive deep into that. Hurt and Betancourt (2016) also state that there are "three factors commonly associated with SES (Socioeconomic Status): caregiver education, supportive/hostile parenting, and children's experience of stressful life events" (p. 4). All of which affect the brain and, in turn, the abilities and disabilities affecting learning.  

Indeed, I was blessed. Although we didn't come from much, my family never ceased to provide me with everything I wanted and needed including access to literary materials. I do disagree that caregiver education and accessibility to literary avenues are reasons for this gap. There are always ways to access the beauty and greatness of literature and everything involved. However, hostile or stressed parenting could definitely contribute; parents who don't see the need to expose their children to early learning and parents who are so stressed by their socioeconomic status that they just simply do not have the time. 

My mother always told me that my job was to be better than her; to go further, experience more, achieve more, and be great. The fact that she didn't graduate high school was all the reason for her to push me every day to complete my own education. In wanting to provide more for me and my brother, she was inspired and pushed to go back to school, get her GED, and even go on to earn an associates degree. I'm not sure if socioeconomic status is the reason for the vocabulary gap or if it's parents not caring, continuing the cycle of generational curses, or not being able to be present in their kids lives while working hard to provide for them. 

Reference:

Hurt, H., & Betancourt, L. M. (2016, January). Effect of socioeconomic status disparity on child language and neural outcome: how early is early? Nature.com. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.nature.com/articles/eye200149.pdf