Many research investigations have attempted to explain why children who come from backgrounds of low socioeconomic status (SES) have different language outcomes than their more affluent peers. In these investigations, the variables of poverty-related stress and morphosyntactic skills have seldom been considered. Morphosyntactic skills are those that allow the speaker to use word endings and word, phrase, and clause order to create meaning. To address the existing gap, the present study synthesizes relevant academic research that will allow researchers to evaluate the morphosyntactic features of language employed by children from backgrounds of low SES who have varying levels of stress. Illustrations of the complex interactions between poverty and stress are included in the form of models. Participant recruitment barriers and potential remediation strategies are also addressed. When a sufficient number of participants have been gathered, the following experimental design will be used: Conversational and story-retell language samples will be analyzed for various measures of complex morphosyntax. Stress will be measured through a child hair sample that tests for stress hormone cortisol and a caregiver questionnaire. A correlation analysis will reveal how stress is associated with morphosyntactic language outcomes of children from low SES backgrounds.

Dr. Steele's support and expertise have been instrumental in making it possible for Lilly to complete this project. Lilly has learned so much through their conversations, and she knows she will continue using the research and writing skills she's developed in the future. Beyond Dr. Steele's support with the capstone project, it meant the world to Lilly that Dr. Steele always checked in about personal and graduate school-related matters. Lilly will miss their weekly meetings! She wants to thank Dr. Steele for everything she's done during the past year and throughout Lilly's entire SLU career.