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Rationale: Dual language learners (DLLs) from low-income backgrounds are at-risk for experiencing less language before kindergarten entry compared to peers (Suskind et al., 2013). Spanish-English DLLs are more likely to be in family-based childcare in early childhood (NCES, 2017).
Methods: The intervention used a word counter called Starling and its corresponding smartphone application to provide caregiver word counts alongside visual displays. In a multiple-baseline design, three cohorts of families used the Starling device and application to track daily adult word counts over two weeks. Day-long LENA recordings were sampled for 15-minute segments.
Results: The limited effect of the Starling intervention on quantity of adult words was observed in visual analysis and confirmed by hierarchical linear modeling. However, the intervention had high social validity with participant families.
Conclusions: More intensive intervention is required to change adult word counts with this group of participants. The Starling promoted awareness of adult word counts delivered to DLLs.
This research was funded by the CAPCSD Ph.D. Scholarship, the ASHFoundation New Century Scholars Doctoral Scholarship, and the OSEP Bilingual Language and Literacy Development Training Grant.
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