This study examined the relations between the home language and literacy environment and emergent skill to use academic language in a sample of 58 3-year-old Dutch children, focusing on production and comprehension in 3 genres: personal narrative, impersonal narrative, and instruction in play. Regarding production, children used academic language most in the impersonal narrative genre. Regression analyses, controlling for verbal short-term memory, showed that the home language and literacy environment predicted children's ability to use academic language in the impersonal and personal narrative genres. Results regarding the instruction genre were less clear cut. Although not fully conclusive, the results indicate that the relation between home language and literacy environment and children's emergent academic language is genre specific. The findings suggest that early familiarization with academic language through language and literacy activities at home and in preschool can contribute to children's school readiness.
