Linguistic Competence in Early Childhood Education as a Predictor of Verbal Naming Speed.

BACKGROUND: This study determined the predictive value of linguistic competence in children in Early Childhood Education for verbal naming speed. METHOD: The participants were 86 pupils in the second Early Childhood Education cycle. They were evaluated with WPPSI-IV Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence (Verbal Comprehension, VC) and Vocabulary Acquisition, VA; Childish Vocabulary Test (Vavel) and the Rapid and Automatic Naming Test. RESULTS: Children who had high scores in the Verbal Comprehension Index and Vocabulary Acquisition spent less time doing the verbal naming task. Linguistic competence predicted verbal naming speed, with Vavel having the strongest correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Linguistic competence of children in Early Childhood Education allows us to predict their aptitude for verbal naming. Lexical-semantic knowledge was linguistic competence dimension with the highest predictive value for the Verbal Naming Task. Automatic Naming and Verbal Comprehension depend on the same cerebral area, Wernicke's area.

Linguistic Competence in Early Childhood Education as a Predictor of Verbal Naming Speed / La Competencia Lingüística en Educación Infantil Como Predictor de la Velocidad de Denominación Verbal

Background: This study determined the predictive value of linguistic competence in children in Early Childhood Education for verbal naming speed. Method: The participants were 86 pupils in the second Early Childhood Education cycle. They were evaluated with WPPSI-IV Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence (Verbal Comprehension, VC) and Vocabulary Acquisition, VA; Childish Vocabulary Test (Vavel) and the Rapid and Automatic Naming Test. Results: Children who had high scores in the Verbal Comprehension Index and Vocabulary Acquisition spent less time doing the verbal naming task. Linguistic competence predicted verbal naming speed, with Vavel having the strongest correlation. Conclusions: Linguistic competence of children in Early Childhood Education allows us to predict their aptitude for verbal naming. Lexical-semantic knowledge was linguistic competence dimension with the highest predictive value for the Verbal Naming Task. Automatic Naming and Verbal Comprehension depend on the same cerebral area, Wernicke’s area. (AU)

Antecedentes: el presente estudio determinó el valor predictivo de la competencia lingüística de niños/as de Educación Infantil en la velocidad de denominación verbal. Método: participaron 86 alumnos de segundo ciclo de Educación Infantil, quienes fueron evaluados con los Índices de Comprensión Verbal (ICV) y Adquisición de Vocabulario (AV) de WPPSI-IV; Vavel Infantil y el Test de Denominación Verbal (TDV). Resultados: alumnos/as que obtuvieron una puntuación elevada en el ICV y en AV precisaron de menos tiempo en el TDV. La competencia lingüística predijo la velocidad de denominación, siendo Vavel Infantil la tarea que obtuvo una mayor correlación. Conclusiones: la competencia lingüística de niños/as de Educación Infantil permite predecir su aptitud para denominación verbal. El conocimiento léxico-semántico fue la dimensión de competencia lingüística con mayor valor predictivo para el TDV. Las tareas propuestas dependen de la misma base anatómica. Las tareas de denominación y comprensión léxica están ligadas al lóbulo temporal y, más concretamente, al área de Wernicke. (AU)