VOCABULARY AND LEVEL OF COMPREHENSION IN STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT PRESCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Associations between academic achievement and school environment were studied comparing two groups of school-age children, with and without preschool background. The instrument was the Short Form of the of the Assessment of Children's Language Comprehension (ACLC) by Foster, Gidd an and Stark (1972). Results indicate that there were no statistically significant differences on the vocabulary level of both groups. On th e other hand, differences were found for the three levels of verbal co mprehension: The group of children with preschool stimulation presente d a higher level of efficiency for understanding word classes in diffe rent combinations of length and complexity. The importance of preschoo l education is pointed out, and the role of the so-called enriching ex periences.