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A recent study led by researchers from Florida Atlantic University (FAU), in collaboration with Aarhus University in Denmark, suggests that reminiscing with young children could significantly enhance their language development, providing an alternative to traditional book sharing activities.
Published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, the study focused on parent-child interactions during three different activities: sharing a wordless picture book, reminiscing about past events, and playing with LEGO bricks. By analyzing transcripts of conversations between Danish parents and their 3- to 5-year-old children, researchers aimed to identify the effects of encouraging parents to reminisce with their children.
Results revealed that reminiscing was highly effective in eliciting high-quality speech from parents, comparable to book sharing activities. Both reminiscing and book sharing surpassed toy play in several measures of interactive quality, such as the use of open-ended questions and grammatical complexity in parent speech. Moreover, both activities enriched the lexical richness of parent speech compared to toy play.
Senior author of the study, Dr. Erika Hoff from FAU’s Department of Psychology, emphasized the significance of the findings: “Findings from our study should bolster arguments that have been made for reminiscing as a basis for culturally sensitive intervention to increase the quality of children’s language experience.”
One notable aspect of the study was the absence of significant differences between mothers and fathers in their interaction with their children, challenging previous research findings reliant on samples from the United States. The study conducted in Denmark provided insights into parenting roles in a less gender-typed context.
While reminiscing emerged as a beneficial activity for enriching parent-child interactions and language development, the researchers acknowledged that it does not eliminate differences in parent speech quality associated with education level. More educated parents tended to engage in more complex language interactions with their children.
Dr. Hoff underscored the importance of the activity itself in influencing the quality of parent-child interactions: “The biggest effects on the quality of parent talk to children is the activity that parents and children are engaged in.”
The study’s findings carry implications for parents seeking to enhance their children’s language skills. Dr. Hoff advised parents to prioritize quality interactions with their children, whether through reading books, reminiscing about past events, or engaging in meaningful conversations. “Make time to have conversations with your children,” she urged.
The research, supported by grants from The Danish National Agency for Education and Quality and TrygFonden, underscores the importance of diverse approaches in fostering language development in children, contributing to efforts to address educational and societal gaps.
