THE EFFECT OF CAREGIVERS ON THE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

In this study, the effects of socio-demographic characteristics such as age, education level and length of care on the language development of "children aged 2-7 years whose mother tongue was Turkish and who were in early childhood" (N=80) were investigated. A quantitative research approach called the screening model was used to describe the current situation as it is. The research aimed to investigate whether certain socio-demographic characteristics such as age, educational level, and duration of care have any impact on the language development of children who experienced normal development during early childhood and whose native language is Turkish. The "Early Language Development Test (TELD-3)", which quickly and easily reveals the language performance of children aged 3-11, was used as a data collection tool. At the same time, "age, education, caregiving duration of the caregivers", "the child's pre-school education status, the number of siblings, the age of the parents, the education level of the parents" was determined with the Socio-Demographical Information Form. T-test and analysis of variance were performed to see if there was a significant difference between "demographic characteristics of caregivers" and "children's language skills". Most of the caregivers in the study have been caring for the child for one or two years. It was examined how long the caregivers gave care to the child and whether there was a change in the language skill scores of the children as a result. No significant difference in the effect of care duration on language skills in the study group. It was determined that the language skills of the children were higher when the caregivers were middle-aged and advanced. As a result, comments and suggestions were presented regarding the significant contribution of caregivers to children's language development.