Reading development among Swedish children: the importance of contextual resources and language ability.

The study investigates the variation in children's language abilities before they started school in relation to gender and socioeconomic status.

The research questions are:

1. Were there significant differences in the results between boys and girls in the RAN test (rapid automatised naming) and letter tasks?
2. Were there significant differences in outcomes between children attending schools in postcode areas with below-average, average, or above-average incomes?
3. Were there significant differences in the results between children with Swedish as their mother tongue compared to children with another mother tongue?
4. Was there a correlation between children's mother tongue and the school’s postcode income?

The results showed no significant differences in performance on the tasks between boys and girls. Children who attended kindergartens in areas with average to above average socioeconomic status (SES) had higher scores on the RAN task compared to children who attended kindergartens in areas with low SES. A significant correlation was also found between the children's first language and SES.

231 children aged four to six years old (117 girls, 114 boys) from 26 kindergartens in three Swedish municipalities with different resources and living conditions participated in the study. The children's performance on the RAN test and a literacy task were analysed.

Herkner, B., Westling Allodi, M., Ferrer Wreder, L. & Eninger, L. (2021). "Reading development among Swedish children: the importance of contextual resources and language ability". Cogent Education, 8(1):1940631.