Exploring Vocabulary Acquisition and Related Factors among Malay Preschool Children

Vocabulary acquisition is an essential aspect of a child's language development. This study investigated vocabulary acquisition in the Malay language, examining variations related to age, gender, the impact of maternal education level, and the correlation between vocabulary and speech sound accuracy. A total of 326 Malay preschoolers, aged between 4 to 6 years, participated in this research. A set of stimulus pictures comprising 53 Malay vocabulary items were employed to assess the children's ability to name vocabulary items. The older children demonstrated higher Malay vocabulary naming accuracy compared to younger children. No significant differences were observed in terms of gender and maternal education level in relation to vocabulary naming accuracy. The findings, inconsistent with certain previous studies, underscore the necessity of examining methodological differences. There was a strong correlation between the accuracy of vocabulary naming and speech sound accuracy, suggesting a close relationship between vocabulary and speech sound acquisition. This implies that vocabulary and speech sound development are interconnected and may influence each other during the process of vocabulary acquisition in children. Understanding the correlation between vocabulary naming accuracy and other variables enables researchers to incorporate this information when designing assessments to gauge children’s vocabulary acquisition more accurately.