Objective To assess Chinese vocabulary and grammar development of children aged 2 to 6 years, and to analyze its development process and related influencing factors. Methods From July 2021 to February 2022, 198 children aged 2 to 6 years were included in the outpatient physical examination of Shandong Province Qianfoshan Hospital, who were divided into 8 groups by age with 0.5 years intervals. The enrolled children were assessed for vocabulary and grammar development, and the influencing factors were analyzed. Results 1) Vocabulary comprehension was partially not up to standard at 2 to 4 years old and up to standard at 4 to 6 years old. Children over 4 years old performed better than those under 4 years old in vocabulary expression. 2) There were more substandard items of grammar at the age of 2 to 3.5 years old than the age of 3.5 to 6 years old. Simple sentence patterns and noun phrases were acquired first, then the patterns of calculus and complex sentences. The semantics of action events were acquired first, followed by the characters, and finally the semantics of the orientation of the characters. 3) The main caregivers [grandmother (Z=-2.96), primary school education (H=10.96), housewife(H=16.55)] and the use of dialect communication(H=20.53), short interaction in the past week (H=9.14), holding food in mouth(Z=-2.08), semi-liquid diet(H=10.07), eating solid food too late (H=13.71) were associated with higher rate of vocabulary comprehension errors (P＜0.05). The main caregivers [grandmother (Z=-2.25), primary school education (H=15.28), housewife (H=17.08)], the use of dialect communication (H＝13.65), short interaction in the past week (H=8.03) and holding food in mouth (Z=-2.59) were associated with higher vocabulary expression error rate (P＜0.05). The main caregivers [grandmother(Z=-3.08), primary school education(H=17.10), housewife(H=23.64)], the use of dialect communication(H＝25.56), early exposure to electronic screens(H=9.21) and long screen time(H=14.70), and eating behavior [holding food in mouth(Z=-2.98), dislike chewing food(Z=-2.81), prefer porridge or rotten noodles (Z=-1.99), late eating solid food (H=12.56), picky eating (Z=-2.18)] were associated with higher grammar error rates (P＜0.05). Conclusions There is a significant correlation of age with the development of vocabulary and grammar. Vocabulary comprehension is learned by the age of 4, while vocabulary expression and grammar are gradually mastered after 4 years old. Main caregivers, family parenting, language environment, screen time and dietary behavior are related to vocabulary and grammar development.
Key words
vocabulary /
grammar /
children
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