IMPROVING STUDENTS' LANGUAGE SKILLS THROUGH GROUP LEARNING

The development of language skills in children aged 4-5 years often experience obstacles in conversation, delivery or expression and talking to other people. The problem that occurs in children aged 4-5 years in the A6 group RA Muslimat NU Masyithoh 05 Banyurip Ageng Pekalongan City is that the development of children's language skills in terms of syntactic and semantic aspects of children is still not well developed. The purpose of simple storytelling activities is to determine the development of children's language skills, especially in the syntactic and semantic aspects. The research method uses a qualitative descriptive method. The research site is at RA Muslimat NU Masyithoh 05 Banyurip Ageng, Pekalongan City. The research period is from May 29 to June 11, 2021. The research subjects were 2 students in group A6 with an age range of 4-5 years with data sources from 15 students. Data collection techniques using observation, interviews, and documentation. The results of a study conducted for approximately 2 weeks with a sample of 2 children showed that through simple storytelling, children aged 4-5 years old could develop language skills.

The development of language skills in early childhood is very important to prepare them for the challenges of further education. One effective method to develop children's language skills is the Read Aloud Method. This research was conducted at PAUD OI Balu to analyze the extent to which the application of the Read Aloud Method can affect the development of children's language skills aged 4-5 years. This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive research type. Data collection techniques were conducted through direct observation, interviews with teachers, and documentation of learning activities in the classroom. Data sources in this study consisted of teachers who teach at PAUD OI Balu and 20 students aged 4-5 years who were involved in Read Aloud sessions. The research procedure involved observation of story reading activities, question and answer, group discussion, use of picture books and dramatization techniques applied by the teacher. The data analysis technique used was thematic analysis, in which the researcher identified patterns of children's language development based on the results of observations and interviews. The results showed that the Read Aloud Method had a positive effect on the development of children's language skills. A total of 60% of students showed good development in vocabulary, speaking ability, and story comprehension. Meanwhile, 25% of students were in the moderate development category, and 15% of students needed more intensive assistance to improve their language skills.

The overall aim of this study is, as suggested by Bialystok (2009), to investigate whether bilingual learners have an advantage in executive functions and a disadvantage in language compared to monolingual learners. In addition, the thesis examines whether the theory holds true for different groups of bilingual learners and different aspects of language and cognitive domains. The study has a multi-method approach. It consists of a meta-analysis investigating the bilingual advantage theory in executive functions (EF) and two studies based on data from the longitudinal study The Stavanger Project—The Learning Child (The Stavanger Project). Study 2 uses data from the first wave of The Stavanger Project. The study investigates Norwegian language comprehension in a monolingual control group and three different groups of bilingual children at 2 years and 9 months. The three bilingual groups had different amounts of exposure to Norwegian. The third article is based on data from the fourth wave of The Stavanger Project and investigates different aspects of Norwegian language and reading skills across bilingual learners and a monolingual control group of 5th graders. The sample in Study 3 is a subsample of the participants in Study 2; thus, the bilingual learners had been systematically exposed to Norwegian by early childhood education and care (ECEC) attendance and schools from at least the age of 2. The thesis contributes three main findings. The first article provides little support for a bilingual advantage in overall EF. Moderator analysis targeting sample characteristics of bilingual subgroups that are theorized to have the largest bilingual advantage in EF shows no relation to the overall outcome of the analysis of differences in executive functions between bilingual and monolingual learners. Furthermore, there is limited evidence for a bilingual advantage in any EF domain. There is an advantage in switching, but not for all populations of bilingual learners. he second article shows that bilingual toddlers have weaker second language comprehension skills than monolingual toddlers, but the differences in second language skills between different groups of bilingual learners are not fully explained by the time on task hypothesis. Bilingual children with mostly first language (L1) input at home had poorer Norwegian language comprehension than the two other bilingual groups. Bilingual toddlers with both first and second language input at home and bilingual toddlers with mostly second language input at home had equivalent second language skills. It therefore seems likely that a threshold value exists for the amount of second language input necessary to develop good second language skills rather than a direct relationship between the amount of input and language skills. The third article shows that even after long and massive exposure to the second language, early bilingual 5th graders have lower vocabulary depth, listening comprehension and reading comprehension in their second language than their monolingual peers. The difference cannot be explained by differences in socioeconomic status (SES). Their decoding and text cohesion vocabulary skills are equal to those of monolingual learners. In contrast to some other studies, the strength of the predictive path between different aspects of language skills and reading comprehension was found to be equal across language groups. In total, these findings contribute to the knowledge base of what is typical development of language, reading skills and executive functions for different groups of bilingual learners. Without information of what is typical development for different bilingual groups, it is difficult to identify atypical development. Hence, the knowledge this thesis provides can support educators in identifying bilingual learners with learning disabilities earlier and with greater certainty, thereby reducing the risk of both over- and under-identifying bilingual learners in need of special needs education.

The use of Learning Management System (LMS) has become an important part in supporting learning in higher education. The main problem underlying this research is the limited understanding of the impact of LMS on the development of students' language skills, especially at the higher education level. This study aims to explore the impact of LMS on the development of students' language skills. Qualitative research methods with a case study approach are used to deeply understand the experiences of students and lecturers in using LMS. By triangulating data collected from observations, interviews, and document analysis, this study attempts to present a comprehensive picture of the implementation of LMS in language education. The data obtained in this study were analyzed thematically. The results of the study indicate that LMS features such as discussion forums, collaborative assignments, and automatic feedback contribute significantly to improving students' writing, speaking, and reading skills. In conclusion, LMS plays an important role in supporting the development of language skills, but the optimization of the use of these features needs to be considered. This study is expected to provide insight for teachers and LMS developers in creating more effective learning strategies.

The aim of this study is to enhance the efficiency of teaching field education courses in the Department of German Language Teaching by utilizing new media tools within the classroom setting. The study used a mixed research method, which gathered data from both quantitative and qualitative sources. The participants included a total of 160 (119 female and 41 male) sixth semester students studying at Trakya University. Data were gathered using questionnaire and a structured interview form. Frequency distribution was utilized to evaluate the quantitative data, while content analysis was performed to categorize the responses of the qualitative data. According to the study results, it is emphasized that new media technologies primarily allow students to have easier access to course materials and resources, make information permanent, engage in active learning, collaborate, and think creatively. Pre- and post-test results show that field education courses supported by new media have a positive impact on the development of fundamental language skills and partial language skills. In particular, the percentage and frequency values for the development of listening skills, vocabulary, and audio-visual skills are higher with the use of new media in field education. It is recommended that such applied studies should be designed by field experts, and efforts should be made to increase awareness among teacher candidates and graduates about practices that enhance learners' motivation.

Toddlerhood is characterized by rapid development in several domains, such as language, socio-emotional behavior and emerging math skills all of which are important precursors of school readiness. However, little is known about how these skills develop over time and how they may be interrelated. The current study investigates young children’s development at two time points, with about 7 months in between, assessing their language, socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skills with teacher ratings. The sample includes 577 children from 18 until 36 months of age of 86 childcare classrooms. The results of the autoregressive path analyses showed moderate to strong stability of language, socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skills, although the magnitude of associations was smaller for the latter. The cross-lagged path analyses highlighted the importance of language and socio-emotional skills for development in the other domains. Differential relations were found for the autoregressive and cross-lagged paths depending on gender and age. Language skills appeared a stronger predictor of boys’ socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skill development compared to girls. Girls’ socio-emotional skills predicted growth in math. For boys, socio-emotional and math language and numeracy skills appeared to be unrelated. Language skills showed stronger relations with the development of math language and numeracy skills for younger children as compared to older children. Also, for older children math language and numeracy skills negatively predicted growth in their socio-emotional skills. The findings provide more insights in how language, math language and numeracy skills and socio-emotional skills co-develop in the early years and as such have important implications for interventions aimed to support children’s development.

Background: Developmental and behavioral disorders are highly prevalent health conditions in pediatrics. The development of motor, language, and social skills is one of the important issues in developing fundamental skills during the early years of life which can cause the prevalence of developmental disorders if not properly evaluated. The use of standard tools with proper validity and reliability is one of the most important factors that lead to scientific achievements. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the development of gross motor, fine motor, language, and personal-social skills of children 6 to 18 months in Khorramabad based on the Denver II Developmental Screening Test (DDST II). Materials and Methods: A total of 120 (55 girls and 65 boys) children 6 to 18 months participated in the present study in Khorramabad. DDST II (Frankenburg and Dodds, 1990) was used to assess the development of gross, fine motor, language, and individual-social skills. Sampling was performed using the convenience method. Results: No significant difference was observed between gross and fine motor development scores of children in Khorramabad and Denver. Children in Khorramabad were more mature in developing personal-social skills than those in Denver, however, they had a developmental delay in obtaining language skills. Conclusion: DDST II covers a wide range of developmental aspects from birth to 6 years which is recommended to use in health, educational and counseling centers.

Detecting the Development of Language Skills in Current English Language Teaching in the Czech Republic

Certain language structures and skills continue to develop after the age of school entry. The present study sought to establish whether directly targeting the development of such complex language structures and skills in comprehension and production can be successful among older, school-going children. The data for the present study comprise four case studies of children with language learning problems, including language comprehension problems: one 5, one 6, and two 7 years of age. Relevant parts of the Receptive and Expressive Activities for Language Therapy (Southwood & Van Dulm, 2012) were used during six to eight language stimulation sessions. Substantial gains were seen when comparing pre- and post-stimulation language assessment results on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation (Seymour, Roeper, & De Villiers, 2005). The implication is that direct targeting of specific later developing language structures and skills can render the desired results, well after their usual age of acquisition, even among children with language comprehension problems and within a limited number of sessions. Given the relationship between language skills and the development of reading skills, the findings have implications for the literacy development of Foundation Phase learners who enter school with underdeveloped language skills.

If Lisan al-Arab ‘The Tongue of the Arabs’ is the widest dictionary and has the richest vocabulary, then the Qur’an contains the most eloquent and honorable words. Al-Ragheb Al-Isfahani said: “The words of the Qur’an are the gist and core of the words of the Arabs, and his medium and dignity. The jurists and wise men depend on words of the Qur’an in their judgments.” One of the righteous said, “Teach your children the Qur’an, and they will learn everything from it.” The importance of the study lies in explaining the impact of the Holy Qur’an on the development of language skills and the methods and experiences of scholars to continue developing language proficiency. The reason for choosing this topic is due to what we see as the weakness of the language skills of students in schools and universities and the contribution to finding practical and influential ways to develop these skills. The research problem revolves around: What is the impact of the Holy Quran on the development of the four basic language skills? What are the means of its development? The study aims to clarify the concept of language skills and its sections and means adopted in learning and teaching the Holy Quran and to derive the impact of the Holy Quran in the development of the four language skills: (listening - speaking - reading - writing) and enrich the study with successful experiences learned from the Holy Quran. The results of studies compared public school students and Quran memorization schools in mastering language skills. And the experience of studying Al-Nourani’s rule, intonation and place of articulation and their impact on mastering language skills. The originality of the research in analysing the experiences of scholars on the extent of the impact of the Qur’an in the development of language skills and presenting the summary of these experiences with an explanation of the different approaches. The researcher used the historical analytical method (Desk Theory) through the experiences and results of the previous studies. The study results show a significant impact on learning language skills through learning the Qur’an recitation and memorization and the study of Tajweed and Al-Nourani’s rule to develop the four language skills. Keywords: The Holy Quran, the impact, language skills, models, experiences

IntroductionThe increase in the spectral information offered by the sound processing strategy HiRes 120 has led to great expectations for the pediatric population. Due to a shorter duration of auditory deprivation and higher neural plasticity, children could benefit more substantially from the spectral information of this sound processing strategy. ObjectiveTo compare auditory and language skills in Brazilian children with cochlear implants using the HiRes and HiRes 120 sound processing strategies. MethodsThirty children, aged 1–3 years, with congenital hearing loss, were divided into two groups, according to the signal processing strategy adjusted at the time of the cochlear implant activation. The assessed children were matched according to chronological age and the time of the cochlear implant use. The auditory and language skills were evaluated longitudinally through the Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale and Production Infant Scale Evaluation, carried out before surgery, and 3, 6 and 12 months after device implantation. The Mann–Whitney test was applied for the comparison between the two groups with a 5% significance level. ResultsThe findings indicated development of hearing and language skills in the first year of cochlear implant use; however, there was no statistically significant difference in the evolution of such skills due to the adjusted processing strategy in the activation of the cochlear implant electrodes. ConclusionThe development of auditory and language skills in the assessed children was similar during the entire study period, regardless of which signal processing strategy was used.

The purpose of the current study is to determine the effect of tales on the development of the Turkish language skills of students from different grade levels in Turkey. To this end, a meta-analysis of the studies investigating the effect of tales on the development of the Turkish language skills was conducted. 5 studies were included in the current meta-analysis study. The total sample size of the studies included in the meta-analysis is 256 students; 126 in the control groups and 130 in the experimental groups. The studies included in the meta-analysis are heterogonous. In addition to result of the funnel scatter plot related to publication bias, absence of the publication bias was confirmed with Orwin’s Safe N Analysis, Duval and Tweedie’s Trip and Fill and Egger’s regression analysis. Effect sizes were calculated according to the random effects model. In the calculations of the effect sizes, Cohen’s d coefficient was used. In the current study, moderator variable effect of the variables of grade level, type of publication and skill area on the effect sizes calculated according to the effect of tales on the development of the Turkish language skills was also examined. In the determination of the moderator variable effect, Q test and p significance coefficient were used. In the current study, tales was found to have a high level of effect on the development of the Turkish language skills. When the results of the moderator variable analysis were examined, it was found that for grade level, type of publication and skill area moderator variables, the between-studies variance is not significant in terms of the development of the Turkish language skills. In light of the current meta-analysis study, it was concluded that tales are an effective method to be used to develop students’ Turkish language skills. Thus, tales can be used to support the development of students’ language skills in mother tongue education. According to results, it can be argued that tales have a positive effect on the development of all the Turkish language skills in all the Turkish language skill areas. It has been observed that applied research on the use of tales as a learning tool in Turkish language education is quite limited. Therefore, the number of applied studies that examine the effects of tales on the development of Turkish language skills as well as on academic achievement, student motivation, and the retention of the learned information in Turkish language education can be increased.

The teaching of English literature in schools in Iraq has been a topic of debate for a long time. While some believe that teaching English literature is not important, others argue that it is crucial for the development of students' language skills, critical thinking abilities, and cultural awareness. This article presents an analysis of the importance of teaching English literature in schools in Iraq, highlighting the benefits that students can derive from the study of literary works in English. The article also discusses the challenges that teachers face in teaching English literature in Iraq and suggests possible solutions to address these challenges. English literature is a valuable field of study that plays an important role in the development of language and communication skills. Despite its significance, English literature is often overlooked in the Iraqi education system. This article aims to highlight the importance of teaching English literature in schools in Iraq, and the benefits that it can offer students. The article presents a problem statement, objectives, findings, and a conclusion based on a thorough analysis of relevant literature and studies.

Purpose Auditory deprivation has downstream effects on the development of language and executive functioning (EF) in prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs), but little is known about the very early development of EF during preschool ages in children with CIs. This study investigated the longitudinal development of EF and spoken language skills in samples of children with normal hearing (NH; N = 40) or CIs (N = 41) during preschool ages. Method Participants were enrolled in the study between ages 3 and 6 years and evaluated annually up to the age of 7 years. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate and predict growth of spoken language and EF skills over time. Results Children with CIs scored lower than NH peers on language measures but improved significantly over time. On performance-based neurocognitive measures of controlled attention, inhibition, and working memory, children with CIs scored more poorly than the sample of NH peers but comparable to norms, whereas on a parent report behavior checklist, children with CIs scored more poorly than both NH peers and norms on inhibition and working memory. Children with CIs had poorer EF than the sample of NH peers in most domains even after accounting for language effects, and language predicted only the verbal working memory domain of EF. In contrast, EF skills consistently predicted language skills at subsequent visits. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that, despite significant improvement over time, some domains of EF (particularly parent-reported EF) and language skills in children with CIs lag behind those of children with NH during preschool ages. Language delays do not fully explain differences in EF development between children with CIs and NH peers during preschool ages, but EF skills predict subsequent language development in children with CIs.

This study examined development of academic, language, and social skills among 4-year-olds in publicly supported prekindergarten (pre-K) programs in relation to 3 methods of measuring pre-K quality, which are as follows: (a) adherence to 9 standards of quality related to program infrastructure and design, (b) observations of the overall quality of classroom environments, and (c) observations of teachers' emotional and instructional interactions with children in classrooms. Participants were 2,439 children enrolled in 671 pre-K classrooms in 11 states. Adjusting for prior skill levels, child and family characteristics, program characteristics, and state, teachers' instructional interactions predicted academic and language skills and teachers' emotional interactions predicted teacher-reported social skills. Findings suggest that policies, program development, and professional development efforts that improve teacher-child interactions can facilitate children's school readiness.