Methodological considerations in the study of children’s early language environments: A scoping review

Abstract

Children’s early language experiences have a significant effect on later communication development and academic success. Most research on language input has been conducted in Western mainstream contexts where adults use a distinct register when speaking to young children. Since language socialization patterns are culture-bound, existing research can be considered representative of only a relatively small segment of the world’s population. Further research on children’s early language environments in underrepresented communities is needed to develop culturally sensitive and effective intervention programmes. However, the methodological decisions that researchers make when studying children’s early language environments may be inherently biased toward Western, mainstream language socialization practices. This scoping review systematically examined recent literature on preschool children’s language environments to summarize researchers’ methodological considerations regarding the way in which data on language input in children’s home environments are collected, coded, and analysed. Data sources included EBSCOHost (CINAHL, ERIC and Health Source), PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. After the title and abstract review was completed, a total of 53 articles were obtained through full-text review, but six were excluded during coding, bringing the total to 47 articles published between 2019 and 2023. Findings on researchers’ methodological considerations reveal an increased awareness of the importance of social and contextual information in analysing input to children but still reflect a relatively limited focus on children’s language environments in minority world (i.e., high-income, predominantly English-speaking) countries. This scoping review reports findings with methodological implications for future research on children’s early language environments in majority world (i.e., low- and middle-income) contexts.