Children's Oral Language Research Articles

Oral language supports early literacy: A pilot cluster randomized trial in disadvantaged schools

This study examined the impact of teacher professional development aimed at improving the capacity of primary teachers in disadvantaged schools to strengthen children's expressive and receptive oral language skills and early literacy success in the first 2 years of school. Fourteen low-SES schools in Victoria, Australia were randomly allocated to a research (n = 8) or control arm (n = 6), resulting in an initial sample of 1254 students, (n = 602 in research arm and n = 652 in control arm). The intervention comprised 6 days of teacher and principal professional development (delivered by language and literacy experts), school-based continuing contact with the research team and completion by one staff member of each research school of a postgraduate unit on early language and literacy. Schools in the control arm received standard teaching according to state auspiced curriculum guidelines. Full data were available on 979 students at follow-up (time 2). Students in the research arm performed significantly better on Test of Language Development: Primary (Fourth Edition) sub-tests (p ≤ .002) and the Reading Progress Test (F = 10.4(1); p = .001) than students in the control arm at time 2. Narrative scores were not significantly different at time 2, although students in research schools showed greater gains. Findings provide “proof of concept” for this approach, and are discussed with respect to implications for teacher professional development and pre-service education concerning the psycholinguistic competencies that underpin the transition to literacy.

The cultural appropriateness and diagnostic usefulness of standardized language assessments for Indigenous Australian children

Speech-language pathologists experience uncertainty about how to interpret standardized assessment results for Indigenous Australian children. There are risks for inappropriate diagnosis: both over- and under-diagnosis of language impairment may occur due to a convergence of linguistic features which causes difficulty in distinguishing between impairment and difference. While the literature suggests that standardized assessments are inappropriate for Indigenous Australian children, there is an absence of empirical documentation to show how Indigenous children perform on standardized tests of language ability. This study examined the performance of 19 Indigenous Australian children, aged 8;01–13;08, from one school on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition, Australian Standardized Edition. Standardized scores were compared with teacher ratings of children's oral language skills. Analysis showed poor alignment between teacher ratings and language assessment, and assessment scores were negatively influenced by features of Aboriginal English. Children rated with above average language skills presented with different linguistic profiles from the children rated with average and below average language abilities. The inappropriateness of current standardized language assessments for Indigenous children and the need for further research to guide appropriate assessment are discussed.

The Real Power of Parental Reading Aloud: Exploring the Affective and Attentional Dimensions

Reading with an adult plays an important role in developing children's oral language skills, phonological awareness and print knowledge. Parental reading aloud is also an indicator of children's later academic success, which suggests that the practice may be further linked to children's development of broader academic skills and behaviour, such as persistence and the ability to sustain attention. In exploring this link, the present study draws on the growing literature on emotion and attention in learning. Theories of language and language development help to illuminate the auditory dimension of language and literacy learning. This article proposes that the power of parental reading aloud may be underestimated. While shared storybook reading enhances children's pre-reading skills, uninterrupted listening to narratives may assist children both to acquire the underpinning prosodic sensitivity that accompanies expressive reading aloud and to develop the auditory attention systems that are associated with academic achievement. This raises questions about the common classroom practice of shared reading, particularly for those children who have not had previous extensive exposure to the written language read aloud.

Developing Children's Oral Language Skills through Dialogic Reading

Developing Children's Oral Language Skills through Dialogic Reading

Mother-child conversations at 36 months and at pre-kindergarten: Relations to children's school readiness

The contributions of mothers’ and children's oral language to children's school readiness were longitudinally examined among 75 low-income mothers and children. When children were 36 months, mothers’ and children's lexical diversity, mothers’ wh-questions, and children's PPVT-III scores were assessed from play interactions. At pre-kindergarten, mothers and children shared a personal narrative, and various aspects of mothers’ and children's narratives were coded. Children were assessed on their knowledge about print, letter-word identification, mathematical skills and sustained attention, and scores were combined into a single factor of school readiness. Structural equation analyses yielded two pathways to school readiness. Mothers’ wh-questions and lexical diversity predicted children's PPVT-III scores at 36 months, which in turn predicted children's school readiness. Mothers’ 36-month lexical diversity predicted mothers’ narrative prompts, which related to children's narrative contributions. Children's narrative contributions in turn predicted school readiness. Mother-child conversations support the school readiness of children from low-income backgrounds.

The Lexical Stroop Sort (LSS) picture-word task: A computerized task for assessing the relationship between language and executive functioning in school-aged children

The relationship between language development and executive function (EF) in children is not well understood. The Lexical Stroop Sort (LSS) task is a computerized EF task created for the purpose of examining the relationship between school-aged children's oral language development and EF. To validate this new measure, a diverse sample of school-aged children completed standardized oral language assessments, the LSS task, and the widely used Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS; Zelazo, 2006) task. Both EF tasks require children to sort stimuli into categories based on predetermined rules. While the DCCS largely relies on visual stimuli, the LSS employs children's phonological loop to access their semantic knowledge base. Accuracy and reaction times were recorded for both tasks. Children's scores on the LSS task were correlated with their scores on the DCCS task, and a similar pattern of relationships emerged between children's vocabulary and the two EF tasks, thus providing convergent validity for the LSS. However, children's phonological awareness was associated with their scores on the LSS, but not with those on the DCCS. In addition, a mediation model was used to elucidate the predictive relationship between phonological awareness and children's performance on the LSS task, with children's vocabulary fully mediating this relationship. The use of this newly created and validated LSS task with different populations, such as preschoolers and bilinguals, is also discussed.

Supporting early oral language skills for English language learners in inner city preschool provision

A significant number of children now enter formal education in England with reduced levels of proficiency in oral language. Children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and who are English language learners (ELL) are at risk of limited oral language skills in English which impacts on later educational achievement. This paper reports the development of a theoretically motivated oral language intervention, Talking Time, designed to meet the needs of preschool children with poor language skills in typical preschool provision. One hundred and forty-two 4-year-old children attending three inner city preschools in a disadvantaged area of London, England. This is a quasi-experimental intervention study comparing children exposed to Talking Time with children exposed to a contrast intervention and children receiving the statutory early years curriculum. Measures were taken of both targeted and non-targeted language and cognitive skills. Data were analysed for the ELL. The intervention had a significant effect on vocabulary, oral comprehension, and sentence repetition but not narrative skills. As predicted, there were no effects on the skills which were not targeted. Regular evidence-based oral language interactions can make significant improvements in children's oral language. There is a need to examine the efficacy of more intensive interventions to raise language skills to allow learners to access the curriculum.

A systematic meta‐analytic review of evidence for the effectiveness of the ‘Fast ForWord’ language intervention program

BackgroundFast ForWord is a suite of computer-based language intervention programs designed to improve children's reading and oral language skills. The programs are based on the hypothesis that oral language difficulties often arise from a rapid auditory temporal processing deficit that compromises the development of phonological representations.MethodsA systematic review was designed, undertaken and reported using items from the PRISMA statement. A literature search was conducted using the terms ‘Fast ForWord’ ‘Fast For Word’ ‘Fastforword’ with no restriction on dates of publication. Following screening of (a) titles and abstracts and (b) full papers, using pre-established inclusion and exclusion criteria, six papers were identified as meeting the criteria for inclusion (randomised controlled trial (RCT) or matched group comparison studies with baseline equivalence published in refereed journals). Data extraction and analyses were carried out on reading and language outcome measures comparing the Fast ForWord intervention groups to both active and untreated control groups.ResultsMeta-analyses indicated that there was no significant effect of Fast ForWord on any outcome measure in comparison to active or untreated control groups.ConclusionsThere is no evidence from the analysis carried out that Fast ForWord is effective as a treatment for children's oral language or reading difficulties.

Oral language and beginning to read

This collaborative teacher-research study was conducted in children's first year of school and explored ways young children's use of oral language, vocabulary and phonology connected with beginning reading. A play-based oral language intervention was implemented and an analysis of oral language and reading suggested that spoken language did not provide a neat, sequential base which can be easily mapped to written language. Questions were raised about the view that oral language neatly underpins reading development and the study concluded that learning to read written English is influenced by children's oral language development as well as their experience and understanding about written language structures.

Emergent literacy profiles of preschool-age children with Specific Language Impairment

The primary aim of the present study was to explore the heterogeneity of emergent literacy skills among preschool-age children with specific language impairment (SLI) through examination of profiles of performance. Fifty-nine children with SLI were assessed on a battery of emergent literacy skills (i.e., alphabet knowledge, print concepts, emergent writing, rhyme awareness) and oral language skills (i.e., receptive/expressive vocabulary and grammar). Cluster analysis techniques identified three emergent literacy profiles: (1) Highest Emergent Literacy, Strength in Alphabet Knowledge; (2) Average Emergent Literacy, Strength in Print Concepts; and (3) Lowest Emergent Literacy across Skills. After taking into account the contribution of child age, receptive and expressive language skills made a small contribution to the prediction of profile membership. The present findings, which may be characterized as exploratory given the relatively modest sample size, suggest that preschool-age children with SLI display substantial individual differences with regard to their emergent literacy skills and that these differences cannot be fully determined by children's age or oral language performance. Replication of the present findings with a larger sample of children is needed.

Maternal Elaborative Reminiscing Increases Low-Income Children's Narrative Skills Relative to Dialogic Reading

Research Findings: This study compared the unique effects of training low-income mothers in dialogic reading versus elaborative reminiscing on children's oral language and emergent literacy. Thirty-three low-income parents of 4-year-old children attending Head Start were randomly assigned to either dialogic reading, elaborative reminiscing, or a control condition. Parents in the intervention conditions were trained to implement specific and prescribed conversational techniques. Children's vocabulary, narrative, and print skills were assessed at the beginning (pretest) and at the end (posttest) of the school year. Elaborative reminiscing boosted the quality of children's narratives in comparison to dialogic reading. Elaborative reminiscing was also effective in supporting children's story comprehension. These training effects were present regardless of the children's ethnic background and whether they were bilingual. Practice: Training parents in elaborative reminiscing is a promising alternative to training in shared book reading for enhancing children's narrative development in non-mainstream populations. Parent training programs in elaborative reminiscing may also complement dialogic reading programs that take place in preschool classrooms.

Desarrollo tardío del lenguaje: la conciencia metapragmática en la edad escolar

Durante la escolaridad, el lenguaje oral se incrementa tanto cuantitativa como cualitativamente. Entre los cambios cualitativos se encuentra el desarrollo de la conciencia metapragmática que es la capacidad para discriminar y relacionar los estímulos lingüísticos y no lingüísticos. Aunque existen diversas hipótesis para explicar este desarrollo, no hay pruebas empíricas que muestren estos cambios ni señalen las edades fundamentales en las que aparecen. Para la presente investigación, se aplicó un instrumento a 160 estudiantes de 6, 8, 10 y 12 años. Los resultados sugieren que a medida que aumenta la edad, aumentan las respuestas metapragmáticas (conscientes) y disminuyen las epipragmáticas (automáticas). Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los distintos grupos de edad y se observó que las respuestas dependen del tipo de ejercicio por resolver. Por último, se corroboró que lo metapragmático no es sistemático, su eficacia varía según la forma en que se relacionan el mensaje lingüístico y el contexto.

Electronic and Printed Books with and Without Adult Support as Sustaining Emergent Literacy

Emergent literacy (EL) enhancement has been the goal of numerous educational programs for years, especially for children from low socioeconomic statuses (LSES) (Snow, 1994; Whitehurst, Zevebergen, Crone, Schultz, Velting, & Fischel, 1999). During the past decade, technology software, including electronic books (e-books), have become incorporated within this agenda. One of the common activities in children's education in the Western world in mainstream families is that adults read storybooks to children constantly from a very young age (DeBruin-Parecki, 1999). Studies of the last 4 decades have shown how powerful this activity is, especially for the child's oral language, with less clear results regarding emergent or early literacy (Stahl, 2003; van Kleeck, 2003; Whitehurst et al., 1999). The proposed study examined how e-books compare with traditional printed books in the support of LSES children's EL with and without adult assistance.

Biliteracy and Bilingual Development in a Second-Generation Korean Child: A Case Study

Through case study methodology, this study examined how a second-generation bilingual child developed his two languages and associated literacies, the role of the parents' and child's goals as well as the family's daily effort to attain those goals, and the influences of environmental, social, and cultural factors. Based on sociocultural theoretical frameworks, extensive qualitative data from multiple sources were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, document reviews, and informal/narrative assessments of the focal child's bilingual and biliteracy development over 10 months. Findings suggest that the focal child's oral home language and literacy were supported through tutoring and heritage language school attendance, the family's value on bilingualism and biliteracy, and the parents' significant financial resources. Consequently, the focal child made gains in Korean literacy. Nevertheless, this child's Korean language abilities were largely supplanted by his rapidly growing oral English language and literacy abilities, in part due to his all-English schooling. This study has implications for families, educators, and researchers who hope to support children's oral language and literacy abilities in two languages: English and their heritage language.

“Whow—when I was going to pretend drinking it tasted coke for real!” Second-language learners' out-of-frame talk in peer pretend play: A developmental study from preschool to first grade

Much research has pointed to the importance of out-of-frame negotiations in peer pretend play for preschool children's social, cognitive and literacy development. However, few studies have investigated the longitudinal relations between out-of-frame talk in preschool and children's oral-language skills when entering school, or the pragmatic language competencies second-language learning children have to draw upon to be involved in this planning and negotiating phase of play. In this study, a group of children, who had Turkish as their first language and Norwegian as their second language, was followed for two years, from preschool to first grade, and videotaped in play with peers (N = 15 at age 4, and N = 23 at ages 5 and 6). In the first part of the analysis, relations between out-of-frame talk in preschool and vocabulary skills and story comprehension in first grade were investigated. The second part of the analysis focused on how children developed in regulating their peers through addressing and opposing others in out-of-frame negotiations. The main findings indicate that out-of-frame talk in the preschool years explained variance in oral-language skills in first grade, and that these second-language learners developed to increasingly address and oppose their peers over this two-year period.

The relationship of parenting stress and child temperament to language development among economically disadvantaged preschoolers

Oral language skills in the preschool years are predictive of children's later reading success and literacy acquisition, and among these language skills, vocabulary and narrative ability play important roles. Children from low socioeconomic families face risks to their language development and because of threats to these skills it is important to identify factors that promote their development among high-risk groups. This preliminary study explored two potential factors that may be related to language skills in 56 low SES mother-child dyads (children aged 2; 8-4; 10), namely child temperament and parenting stress. Results showed that child temperament and parenting stress were related to children's oral language skills. Child temperament characteristics that would likely aid social interaction were related to narrative ability and children rated high on emotionality had poorer receptive vocabulary skills. Parenting stress was related to children's receptive and expressive vocabulary skills. Results are interpreted in terms of the possible mediating role of parent-child interactions in children's oral language skill development, and future directions for family intervention are discussed.

Turkish‐speaking First Graders in Norway Acquiring Second Language Vocabulary, Listening Comprehension and Literacy Skills

This study explored relationships between characteristics of classroom talk exposure and immigrant first graders' acquisition of second language oral skills (vocabulary and listening comprehension) and literacy skills. Twenty‐six children (mean age = 6.10 years) with Turkish as their first language and Norwegian as their second, attending various multilingual and ethnically diverse classrooms in Norway, were videotaped during classroom conversations. Classroom talk was coded for vocabulary richness, discursive complexity and emergent phonics talk and the children's oral language and literacy skills were assessed. Classroom vocabulary richness and discursive complexity predicted the children's second language vocabulary skills and listening comprehension after controlling for maternal education, but did not predict their literacy skills. The density of emergent phonics talk did not predict target children's code‐related skills in this sample. Applied perspectives related to second language learning in multiparty settings are discussed.

Literacy skills in children with cochlear implants: the importance of early oral language and joint storybook reading.

The goal of this study was to longitudinally examine relationships between early factors (child and mother) that may influence children's phonological awareness and reading skills 3 years later in a group of young children with cochlear implants (N = 16). Mothers and children were videotaped during two storybook interactions, and children's oral language skills were assessed using the "Reynell Developmental Language Scales, third edition." Three years later, phonological awareness, reading skills, and language skills were assessed using the "Phonological Awareness Test," the "Woodcock-Johnson-III Diagnostic Reading Battery," and the "Oral Written Language Scales." Variables included in the data analyses were child (age, age at implant, and language skills) and mother factors (facilitative language techniques) and children's phonological awareness and reading standard scores. Results indicate that children's early expressive oral language skills and mothers' use of a higher level facilitative language technique (open-ended question) during storybook reading, although related, each contributed uniquely to children's literacy skills. Individual analyses revealed that the children with expressive standard scores below 70 at Time 1 also performed below average (<85) on phonological awareness and total reading tasks 3 years later. Guidelines for professionals are provided to support literacy skills in young children with cochlear implants.

Assessing Story Comprehension in Preschool Children

Many of the foundational abilities that are necessary for learning to read emerge in preschool children's oral language in advance of formal literacy instruction. This is not only true of phonemic awareness skills but also true of oral language comprehension, particularly of stories. Thus, clinical evaluation of preschoolers' story comprehension abilities is an important part of a preliteracy assessment. Ensuring that the outcomes of these evaluations accurately reflect children's abilities and lead to optimal clinical decisions requires familiarity with the available tools, their task demands, and psychometric properties. To provide clinicians with information necessary for making evidence-based choices in their assessment of story comprehension, we review the development of story comprehension in young children with and without language impairment. We then describe the procedures, both traditional and novel, that have been used to measure early story comprehension, assessing strengths and limitations.

Maternal Contributions: Supporting Language Development in Young Children with Cochlear Implants

The principal goal of this study was to investigate the relationships between maternal contributions (e.g., involvement, self-efficacy, linguistic input) and receptive and expressive (oral and sign) language skills in young children with cochlear implants. Relationships between maternal contributions and children's language skills were investigated by using correlation and regression analyses. Thirty-two mothers (mean age = 36.0 yr) and their children (mean age = 4.8 yr) were videotaped during free play and storybook interactions. Mothers' and children's quantitative (MLU, number of word-types) and mothers' qualitative (facilitative language techniques) linguistic input were analyzed. Mothers completed a measurement tool specifically designed to quantify their sense of involvement and self-efficacy (Scale of Parental Involvement and Self-Efficacy). The Reynell Developmental Language Scales and data from videotaped transcription analyses were used to evaluate children's oral and sign language skills. Maternal involvement and self-efficacy relating to children's speech-language development were positively related to mothers' quantitative and qualitative linguistic input. After controlling for child's age, mothers' MLU and two facilitative language techniques (recast and open-ended question) were positively related to children's language skills. The performance of young implant users may vary in part because of their mothers' sense of involvement and self-efficacy, as well as the ways in which mothers interact with their children. Given this information, it would be fruitful for professionals working with these families to incorporate goals that enhance caregivers' involvement, self-efficacy, and linguistic input to better support language development in young children after cochlear implantation.