Verbal and cognitive competencies of young preschool-children: A comparison between children with and without background of migration

The current study focusses on verbal and cognitive competencies of children with background of migration at early preschool-age and compares their abilities to that of native German children. Additionally the impact of selected family characteristics (language spoken by the parent primarily taking care of the child, language use within the familiy and perceived integration of the family) on children's language competencies is analyzed. The sample included 547 children (119 with and 428 without background of migration). Mean age at time of measurement was 3; 8 years. Results show that children from immigrated families perform poorer than their native German peers in a wide range of standardized competence measures. The results are discussed separately for each competence domain and with special focus on the differing language environment of various subgroups.