Elementary school study: Children who read a lot digitally have a smaller vocabulary

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Children play Scrabble: According to the study, the differences between some groups of students correspond to the increase in learning over a year

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According to a study, there are considerable differences in vocabulary among fourth-graders in Germany – and these are “systematically related to family background”.

This is the result of an analysis for which the Institute for School Development Research (IFS) at the TU Dortmund evaluated data from a good 4,600 fourth-grade students nationwide.

The need for support is particularly great for children who rarely or never read a book, who were not born in Germany and whose parents have a rather low level of education.

And the representative study found that those who read a lot digitally but hardly any books do particularly poorly.

Expand study information section

For the report, the Institute for School Development Research (IFS) at the TU Dortmund analyzed the data of 4,611 fourth graders from 252 primary schools who took part in the International Primary School Reading Study (Igloo) in spring 2021.

The full igloo study, which is regularly carried out by the IFS, is to be presented in May 2023.

For the current survey, the students had also completed a vocabulary test.

According to the IFS, the study is representative.

The study is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and the Conference of Ministers of Education.

Pupils who read books (almost) every day showed, on average, a clear vocabulary advantage over fourth graders who barely read.

However, there were two exceptions: children who immigrated themselves and fourth graders whose parents had at most an intermediate school leaving certificate and no vocational training did not have a greater vocabulary than children who read little, despite reading books frequently.

Half of the children said they read books every day or almost every day, while 22 percent said they never read a book or read a book at most once a month.

A quarter of students reported reading on digital devices every day or almost every day outside of school.

According to the study, however, reaching for a tablet or mobile phone does not improve language skills.

Chat messages and apps are too monotonous

"Frequent reading on digital devices is negatively associated with children's vocabulary," says the report.

The vocabulary is "smallest when children often read on digital devices and at the same time rarely if ever read a book".

The problem is that those who travel digitally tend to read chat messages, instructions in apps or short teaser texts - but not longer, consecutive text passages with a wide range of vocabulary.

At the same time, time is wasted that cannot be used for language-promoting activities.

A recent study by the Reading Foundation on the subject of reading aloud showed that this can be done differently.

According to her, apps are not bad per se, since they can also open up access to reading aloud to less educated classes.

But they would have to be used together with the parents, who could then give suggestions for speaking.

This usually only applies to younger children.

According to the study, the differences between some groups of students correspond to the increase in learning over a year.

The IQB education trend only showed how worrying the situation is in October.

According to this, almost a third of the children nationwide do not meet the minimum requirements in spelling, in listening and reading around 18 and 19 percent respectively miss the minimum standards.

The authors of the study emphasize that children need more targeted support in their elementary schools so that family differences are evened out.

For this purpose, there should be a regular diagnosis of the language skills from the first class with then targeted support, in which the families are also involved.

sun/dpa