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Phelan, H, 2024. The vocabulary gap in pre-school children: a corpus-based analysis and exploration of audio intervention via Action Research. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.
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Abstract
Set against a context of robust existing research showing both differences between children’s early vocabularies (the ‘vocabulary gap’), and associations between smaller vocabularies and later quality of life indicators, Phase One of this thesis sought to investigate the vocabulary gap in terms of its content and risk factors. Phase Two then looked to explore an intervention format which could support children with smaller vocabularies. To these ends, and using predictions based on age of acquisition research, a corpus of children’s talk was analysed to explore the differences in children’s speech across a range of vocabulary sizes and against a number of linguistic (e.g., word frequency; lexical category) and demographic (e.g., income; number of siblings) variables. The aim of this analysis was to ascertain which linguistic variables were predictive of vocabulary (therefore shedding some light on the content of the vocabulary gap), as well as which demographic variables were predictive of vocabulary (therefore providing useful tools to identify children in need of extra support). The most robust result emerging from this analysis was the importance of verbs, in that children who use more verbs in their speech tend to have larger vocabularies overall, with further analysis suggesting that this might be because verbs facilitate the acquisition of additional vocabulary. In Phase Two, parent-led interventions for the pre-school age range were reviewed, and limitations noted. The audiobook was argued to be a format capable of circumventing some of these limitations, and thus Action Research methodology was employed, involving reflective input from both parents and the researcher, to explore the potential of and develop a simple audiobook intervention. Phase Two built on Phase One by incorporating different levels of verb diversity within the audio scripts. Findings suggested that audiobooks have the potential to engage parents and children, in terms of their convenience, accessibility, and ability to stimulate parent-child interaction, although the extent of this potential will depend on many factors, including a family’s existing routines. Limitations and wider implications are discussed, including an outline proposal for future research in the final chapter.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Phelan, H. |
| Contributors: | Name Role NTU ID ORCID |
| Date: | November 2024 |
| Divisions: | Schools > School of Social Sciences |
| Record created by: | Jeremy Silvester |
| Date Added: | 11 Jul 2025 14:31 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Jul 2025 14:31 |
| URI: | https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53941 |
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3307-8421Actions (login required)
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