The effect of older siblings on the language development of younger children in early childhood

Namen magistrskega dela je preučiti učinek starejših sorojencev na govorno kompetentnost slovenskih otrok v obdobju zgodnjega otroštva, in sicer v povezavi z nekaterimi drugimi dejavniki, kot so izobrazba staršev, kakovost družinskega okolja in otrokov spol. V raziskavi je sodelovalo 60 otrok (28 deklic in 32 dečkov), starih od 50 do 511 let, ki obiskujejo enega izmed slovenskih vrtcev. Avtorica je z vsakim otrokom izvedla Preizkus pripovedovanja zgodbe: Rokavička (Marjanovič Umek, Fekonja Peklaj in Kranjc, 2010) in Lestvico metajezikovnega zavedanja, ki je del Lestvic splošnega govornega razvoja – LJ (Marjanovič Umek, Fekonja Peklaj, Podlesek, Kranjc in Bajc, 2008), starši pa so izpolnili Vprašalnik o družinskem okolju. Položaj otroka v družini (edinorojenec ali otrok s starejšimi sorojenci) se je izkazal kot pomemben napovednik pripovedovanja zgodbe. Rezultati so pokazali, da so otroci s starejšimi sorojenci v primerjavi z edinorojenimi otroki dosegli pomembno višje dosežke na Preizkusu pripovedovanja zgodbe. Otroci mam z višjo izobrazbo so na Lestvici metajezikovnega zavedanja dosegli pomembno višje rezultate kot otroci mam z nižjo izobrazbo. Z metajezikovnim zavedanjem otrok so se pomembno povezovali tudi materialni pogoji v družini (tj. število vseh knjig v družini in število otroških knjig). Deklice in dečki se v merah govorne kompetentnosti niso pomembno razlikovali. Raziskava predstavlja doprinos na teoretični in praktični ravni, saj je prva v slovenskem prostoru, ki preučuje učinek starejših sorojencev v povezavi z razvojem govora otrok. Ugotovitve raziskave osvetlijo nekatere varovalne in ogrožajoče dejavnike razvoja govora in so lahko podlaga za bolj načrtovano delo z otroki.The purpose of this master\u27s thesis is to examine the effect of older siblings on the language competence of Slovenian children in early childhood, in connection with some other factors such as parental education, the quality of the family environment and the child\u27s gender. Sixty children (28 girls and 32 boys) participated in this study. They were between the ages of 50 and 511 and attended kindergarten in Slovenia. The children were individually tested with the Test of Storytelling: Little Glove (Marjanovič Umek, Fekonja Peklaj and Kranjc, 2010) and the Metalinguistic Awareness Scale, which is part of the Scales of General Language Development – LJ (Marjanovič Umek, Fekonja Peklaj, Podlesek, Kranjc and Bajc, 2008), while their parents completed the Home Environment Questionnaire. Child\u27s position in the family (an only child or a child with older siblings) was found to be a good predictor of children\u27s storytelling skills. The results showed that, in comparison with the only children, the children with older siblings demonstrated more advanced storytelling skills. The children whose mothers had received higher education achieved significantly higher scores on the Metalinguistic Awareness Scale than the children whose mothers had lower education. Metalinguistic awareness was found to be significantly connected with family material possessions (i.e. the number of books in the family home and the number of children\u27s books). Girls and boys did not differ significantly in measures of language competence. This piece of research makes a contribution to the existing body of research on both the theoretical and practical levels, since it is the first in the Slovenian setting to study the effect of older siblings in relation to younger children\u27s language development. The findings of the present study highlight some protective and risk factors in language development that can provide a basis for working with children in a more systematic manner