Development of emotional knowledge and its relationship with productive vocabulary in monolingual and multilingual children in pre-primary classes

Emotional and language skills are prerequisites for successful participation in educational processes. Multilingual children often have different backgrounds for acquiring German, which can affect their language and emotional development. Studies indicate a reciprocal relationship between language and emotional competencies. However, the relationship between productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge has not yet been sufficiently investigated. In Hesse, Germany, children who have been deferred from school enrolment due to developmental delays can attend pre-primary classes. No research has examined their skills so far. This study explores productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge of monolingual and multilingual pre-primary classes children. Using data from 179 children, the study examines initial differences, developmental trajectories, and potential correlations between productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge, with a particular focus on the role of home language exposure. Productive vocabulary was measured at the beginning of pre-primary class using the picture-naming subtest from SET 5–10. Emotional knowledge was assessed at the beginning and end of pre-primary class using the ATEM 3–9. The analysis was carried out using MANOVA, ANOVAS and Spearman’s rank correlation. The results show significant differences at school entry: Monolingual children perform better than multilingual peers in both domains. Within the multilingual group, home exposure to German is associated with higher scores. Over the school year, all groups show significant increases in emotional knowledge. A moderate to strong correlation can be found between productive vocabulary and emotional knowledge. The study underscores the importance of integrating systematic and additional emotional and language learning programs in primary education.