Relation between socioeconomic status of parents, phonological awareness and working memory in preschoolers

Uvod: Primarna funkcija fonološke radne memorije je privremeno čuvanje informacija o glasovnoj strukturi reči kao osnovi za uspostavljanje leksičkih predstava, koje postepeno formiraju i proširuju rečnik. Odnos između fonološ- ke svesnosti i radne memorije važan je za jezički razvoj i prikazan je u brojnim istraživanjima. Cilj: S obzirom da se fonološka svesnost razvija postepeno, kao i da radna memorija ima različit uticaj na njene komponente, cilj istraživanja je utvrđi- vanje međusobnih odnosa između ovih procesa i socioekonomskog statusa roditelja, uzimajući u obzir skup sposobnosti identifikovanih kao komponente fonološke svesnosti. Metod: Uzorak istraživanja čini četrdesetoro dece, uzrasta između pet i sedam godina. Za procenu jezičkih sposobnosti primenjena je Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Fourth Edition baterija sa suptestovima: fonološka svesnost i radna memorija. Rezultati: Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da je između ukupnog skora na testu fo- nološke svesnosti i postignuća na zadacima verbalne radne memorije – fono- loška petlja utvrđena statistički značajna pozitivna korelacija (r=0,46; p=0,00). Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da uzrast, socioekonomski status roditelja i postignuća na zadacima verbalne radne memorije predviđaju 61,4% varijan- se postignuća na testu fonološke svesnosti (F=31,84; p=0,00). U konačnom modelu prediktora, statistički su značajna samo dva činioca, pri čemu uzrast ima veći beta koeficijent (β=0,65; p=0,00) u odnosu na postignuće na zadatku ponavljanja brojeva unapred (β=0,44; p=0,00). Kada se ukloni uticaj uzrasta, socioekonomski status roditelja i verbalna radna memorija predviđaju 15,8% varijanse postignuća na testu fonološke svesnosti, što predstavlja statistički značajan doprinos (F=10,81; p=0,01). Zaključak: Dobijeni rezultati pružaju podršku postojećoj literaturi i ističu po- trebu za novim studijama, koje će se baviti odnosom jezičkih i egzekutivnih funkcija kod dece.Introduction: The primary function of the phonological working memory is to temporarily store sound structures of words as the basis for the establishment of lexical representations that gradually form and extend the vocabulary. The relation between phonological awareness and phonological working memory is important for language development and it is well documented in the literature. Aim: Since phonological awareness abilities develop gradually and working memory has different impact on its components, the present study aims to investigate the relations between these processes and socioeconomic status of parents considering the set of abilities identified as phonological awareness components. Method: The research sample consisted of forty children, aged between five and seven. Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals – Fourth Edition battery was used to assess language abilities, with subtests: phonological awareness and working memory. Results: The obtained results show that a statistically significant positive correlation was found between the total score on the phonological awareness test and the achievement on the tasks of verbal working memory – phonological loop (r=0.46; p=.00). The results of the research show that age, socioeconomic status of parents and achievement on the tasks of verbal working memory predict 61.4% of the variance of achievement on the phonological awareness test (F=31.84; p=.00). In the final predictor model, only two factors were statistically significant, with age having a higher beta coefficient (β=0.65; p=.00) compared to the achievement on the digit span memory task – forward (β=0.44; p=.00). When the influence of age is removed, socioeconomic status of parents and verbal working memory predict 15.8% of the variance of achievement on the phonological awareness test, which represents a statistically significant contribution (F=10.81; p=.01). Conclusion: The obtained results provide support to the existing literature and emphasize the need for new studies, which will deal with the relationship between language and executive functions in children