Joe Biden and the “Word Gap’

The one highlight of last night of the Democratic Party’s Presidential Debate was the moment when Joe Biden addressed the “Word Gap” problem.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/12/20863709/democratic-debate-abc-biden-record-player

The “Word Gap” problem is that as the result of the way kids are raised by parents in different social and economic environments.  Well off and well educated parents are likely to read books to their children frequently and talk to them and to other adults in the house using a large vocabulary. The children of less well off parents are read to less and hear a less rich vocabulary. The result is that when children enter school those with well off parents have a much larger vocabulary, possibly millions of words larger. The “Word Gap.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/10/american-kids-are-starving-for-words/381552/

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2014/the-word-gap

Not only did Vox, and some other sources deny the existence of the “Word Gap”, but they made fun of a solution Biden presented.  That solution was to have the radio and possibly the record player on in the evening to expose kids to a wider vocabulary. This is probably the only way children of less well off parents will hear new words. Not as good as being read to, but at least inexpensive and practical.

So for once in the debate, instead of throwing out the usual sound bites, A candidate addresses a problem and suggested a practical solution not costing the American people trillions of dollars!

Last night Biden sounded like an intelligent man who has given serious though to a known problem that few seem to know about and fewer have thought how to help solve it.

I’m impressed.