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Tom@HK Differences in growth rates and vocabulary development manifest themselves early in a child’s life and seem most closely correlated with socioeconomic status (SES). For instance, one study showed that three-year-old children of professional parents had larger vocabularies than children of parents on welfare (Hart & Risley, 1995). This finding is less shocking when considered in light of another: Children in professional homes heard 382 words an hour while children raised in welfare homes heard an average of 167 words an hour. In a month, the difference in words heard was 1,100 (professional) to 500 (welfare). Hart and Risley’s findings support Becker’s conclusion that a major factor in the school failure of “disadvantaged” children was inadequate vocabulary knowledge (1977).
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