Teacher-child interactions in early childhood education and its effects on social and language development

Abstract

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the relationship between teacher-child interaction quality and children’s social-emotional and language development. Also considered was the level/status of classroom quality in preschool setting. Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K (CLASS Pre-K), the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA-P2), and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV) were used to collect data from 177 children and 55 teachers in preschool centres of Arba Minch town, Ethiopia. Emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support were not significantly correlated with children’s social-emotional and language development. An average level of classroom quality was observed in emotional support domain while classroom organization and instructional support were each rated at the low end. The findings reveal a need for Ethiopian preschool teachers to improve the quality of classroom organization and instructional support in order to promote children’s optimal development. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.