Children's Competence Research Articles

Pragmatic Competence of Children With Cochlear Implants in Linguistic Activities.

The objective of the study was to analyze the pragmatic competence of children with cochlear implants (CIs). The researchers explored whether children with CIs participated in communicative exchanges in a similar way to children with typical hearing (TH), as well as how the participation of children with CIs was regulated by the activity they performed. The sample consisted of 31 children with CIs (prelingually deaf, with a hearing age equal to or greater than 2 years) and 31 children with TH. The researchers used two activities to carry out the study: conversation and picture naming. The results showed that the children with CIs participated in longer communicative exchanges than their peers with TH and had greater difficulty providing adequate responses to their interlocutor. The type of linguistic activity and their hearing age influenced the responses of the children with CIs.

다문화가정 여성과 자녀의 유튜브에 대한 인식 및 활용 경험에 대한 이해: 생애사 이야기식 접근으로

This study conducted in-depth interviews using Schütze's(1983) biographical narrative approach to explore the perceptions and experiences of YouTube among three multicultural women and three children in K County, within the context of their life stories. The research findings are as follows. First, they discerned the value of watching YouTube videos and perceived YouTube as an active companion and a realm of engagement in their lives. The participants of the study perceived YouTube as a source of solace, joy, and hopeful future. YouTube was a space where individuals could enjoy their native culture and music while on foreign soil, simultaneously facilitating inter-generational communication and shared joy among different cultures and generations. Furthermore, multicultural women with insufficient educational backgrounds envisioned becoming cultural exchange YouTubers on a platform where formal education was not a necessity. In the meantime, the counter productive aspects of YouTube were also mentioned, which make them compare their lives with those of successful multicultural women on YouTube. However, during YouTube viewing, they demonstrated a discerning attitude toward the economic value and commercial aspects, making efforts to distinguish between the fictitious and genuine aspects of videos. Secondly, regarding the utilisation experience of YouTube, multicultural women and children use YouTube in their daily lives, sometimes becoming addicted to it, but prioritising privacy protection and professionalism regarding video creation and sharing. YouTube deeply integrated into their lives, fostering a sense of intimacy and connection with others. While multicultural children possessed video creation skills, women felt a sense of regret due to a lack of opportunities and time for learning. Furthermore, although some participants expressed concerns about privacy exposure in video creation and sharing, some women aimed to help others through video production and sharing. Therefore, this study suggests developing and implementing programs by social welfare facilities and educational institutions to enhance the YouTube literacy competence of multicultural women and children. These programs should focus on helping them distinguish the commercial and fictitious aspects of YouTube while enabling them to accumulate collective knowledge through video viewing, communication, video creation, and sharing activities, thereby preparing them for the future and utilising YouTube as a platform for economic engagement.

Does vision therapy for visual information processing improve academic performance? A randomised clinical trial.

To determine whether a typical vision therapy (VT) programme designed to improve visual information processing (VIP) skills is effective in improving these skills and/or academic performance. We used a double-blind, randomised clinical trial to compare VIP VT to placebo training. Participating schools referred a sample of 579 early primary school children identified as being within the lower third of their class for literacy. From the referred sample, we identified 247 children eligible to participate (passed visions and auditory processing screening, and VIP performance <34th percentile), 94 of whom participated. Matching IQ, school grade and sex was achieved by sorting hierarchically on these values and then alternately allocating to VT or placebo groups. Both programmes ran for 10 weeks and consisted of 33 h working at home and 4 h working in office. The VT programme was indicative of that employed in Australian paediatric optometry practices, with the placebo programme containing similar activities, except targeting skills within a child's competencies and with specific VIP development activities removed. The main outcome measures were score change on three standardised educational tests (reading comprehension, spelling and mathematics) and six VIP tests, both immediately post-intervention (PI) and 6 months later. Sixty-nine children completed the programmes. The VT programme produced no significant improvement in the three educational tests or in five of the six VIP tests compared to the control. The VT programme improved visual sequential memory (VSM) by a moderate amount compared to the control (Cohen's d = 0.57 and 0.52, immediately PI and at 6 months, respectively: p < 0.03 and p < 0.02). The VIP and academic performance benefits from a VT programme were largely identical to those from a control programme, both immediately and 6-month PI. Placebo effects and general effects such as improvements in executive function and/or regression-to-the-mean could be mistaken for specific programme effectiveness.

Children’s perceptions of teacher feedback: Portuguese validation of a scale

ABSTRACT This research aims to validate the Portuguese version of the Teacher Feedback Scale (TFS) in a sample of 628 children from third and fourth grade. Teacher feedback is a crucial factor in child development, with an impact in students’ motivation and learning. It provides daily cognitive and emotional information about children’s academic performance and their abilities as learners. The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and subsequent confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the TFS consists of five subscales: praise, ability-effort in reading, ability-effort in math, general negative feedback and specific negative feedback. The measure shows that good reliability estimates and factor loadings were invariant across gender. Evidence of predictive validity is presented through gender differences and associations of feedback with children's competence perceptions. The potential of the measure in educational settings and research is discussed.

Effectiveness of Nutrition and Play Activities in Enhancing Basic Motor Skills of Urban Children Over a 16-Week Period

This research was carried out on the basis of the low basic motor competence of urban children. It is estimated that there are many influencing factors including play activity methods and nutritional status. This study aims to determine the effect of play activity methods on nutritional status in urban children. This type of research is a quasi-experimental with a total sample of 40 people based on certain considerations. Basic movement skills are obtained by the TGMD-2 test which consists of object control and locomotor, then nutritional status data is obtained by measuring body mass index. Data were analyzed using a quantitative t test technique that describes comparative data. The results of the research and data analysis show that: 1) There are differences in the basic movement skills of students who have high and low nutritional status 2) There is an interaction between learning approaches and nutritional status. 3) There are differences in the basic movement skills of students who are given a playing approach that has a high nutritional status. 4) There are differences in the basic movement skills of students who are given a playing approach that has low nutritional status. The findings in this study show that children who have high nutrition enjoy playing activities more and are more physically active compared to children who have low nutrition in play activities. and play activity is an intermediary to see the movement skills of children Keywords: approach to play, nutritional status, basic movements of children, TGMD-2.

Configurations of mother-child and father-child attachment relationships as predictors of child language competence: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

An individual participant data meta-analysis was conducted to test pre-registered hypotheses about how the configuration of attachment relationships to mothers and fathers predicts children's language competence. Data from seven studies (published between 1985 and 2014) including 719 children (Mage : 19.84 months; 51% female; 87% White) were included in the linear mixed effects analyses. Mean language competence scores exceeded the population average across children with different attachment configurations. Children with two secure attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one or no secure attachment relationships (d = .26). Children with two organized attachment relationships had higher language competence scores compared to those with one organized attachment relationship (d = .23), and this difference was observed in older versus younger children in exploratory analyses. Mother-child and father-child attachment quality did not differentially predict language competence, supporting the comparable importance of attachment to both parents in predicting developmental outcomes.

Parents, Teachers, and Community: A Team Approach to Developing Physical Competence in Children.

Increasing children's physical activity engagement has short- and long-term health benefits. Developing physical competence is a key component of children's engagement in physical activity. The purpose of our study was to assess if a 12-week home, school, and community-based physical literacy intervention improved the physical competence of children in kindergarten and grade one. Four schools were either assigned to receive the intervention (n = 2 schools) or continue with their usual practice (control sites) (n = 2 schools). Physical competence was evaluated pre- and post-intervention in 103 intervention (41 female) and 83 usual practice (36 female) children using PLAY Fun. PLAY Parent and PLAY Coach tools measured parent and teacher perspectives of children's physical competence, respectively. The intervention effect was assessed with repeated measures MANOVA to evaluate change in physical competence, with alpha set at p < 0.05. Children in both groups improved their locomotor, object control, and overall physical competence (p < 0.05) over the 12-week intervention. There was a significant intervention effect for locomotor and overall physical competence (p < 0.05). Interestingly, parents did not perceive these changes in physical competence (p > 0.05). However, teachers perceived improved physical competence for children in the intervention. Our physical literacy intervention improved the physical competence of children in kindergarten and grade one.

The impact of cerebral visual impairment on school related competences in elementary school children

The impact of cerebral visual impairment on school related competences in elementary school children

‘Being well’: the master key to unlocking competencies? How outdoor and adventure activities contribute to the development of children within a competency-based curriculum

ABSTRACT The Draft Primary Curriculum Framework (NCCA 2020) and the Primary Curriculum Framework in Ireland (NCCA, 2023) identified 'Wellbeing' as a broad curricular area. This study explores the inclusion of outdoor and adventure activities (OAA) in a redeveloped curriculum to support one of the seven key competencies, 'Being Well' (NCCA 2023). Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with expert participants to elicit their views on OAA within a redeveloped curriculum. The findings show that OAA has the potential to foster wellbeing and other competencies, but it is currently neglected due to demands on teachers and a lack of support. These findings suggest that if OAA is to realise its potential, teachers require strong leadership and consistent support to become competent and confident in teaching OAA, underpinned by an understanding of its potential. Further research is needed to track OAA's implementation in schools and its contribution to children's competencies.

Polish adaptation of multisource assessment of children’s social competence

This study aimed to adapt the Multisource Assessment of Social Competence Scale for the Polish population. The population examined in the study included only Polish participants of European (Caucasian) ancestry. The tool is composed of two scales, Prosocial and Antisocial, and four subscales. For the purpose of adaptation, children’s social competence was evaluated based on their own and their parents’ perspective. The sample consisted of children aged 9–15 (n = 253) and their parents (n = 248), with boys and girls accounting for 43% (n = 109) and 57% (n = 144) of child participants, respectively. All the participants originated from the western-central Greater Poland Voivodeship. The data analyzed in this study were collected in 2019. Internal consistency of the subscales and correlation between them were measured using Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient and Spearman's correlation coefficient, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for both groups (children and parents) in two-, three- and four-factor models. The confirmatory factor analysis for both groups (children and parents) attributed the four-factor model with the highest goodness-of-fit, fulfilling the criteria of a good-fitting model. The results show that the Multisource Assessment of Children’s Social Competence Scale is an appropriately adapted tool for the evaluation of the social competence of children in Poland, taking different rater perspectives into account.

Language Sample Analysis to Assess Communicative Competence of Children Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Communicative competence for people who use augmentative and alternative communication consists of four interrelated domains: linguistic, strategic, social, and operational. Ongoing assessment and progress monitoring within these domains is crucial to (a) providing information to teach targeted skills in a manner contextualized within the curriculum, (b) determining measurable annual individualized education plan goals, and, ultimately, (c) ensuring maximal participation in the school environment. Currently, language sample analysis (LSA) is one of only three assessment techniques that provide information across each domain of communicative competence for children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). As such, LSA is a valuable tool for assessing communication competence in children who use AAC in the school setting. This clinical forum describes information that may be obtained from an LSA as it relates to each domain of communicative competence and educational standards.

Implementasi Kurikulum Merdeka dalam Pembelajaran Pendidikan Agama Islam (Pai) pada Anak Berkebutuhan Khusus (Abk) Di Slb Negeri 1 Ngawi

This research describes the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in Islamic Religious Education Learning for Children with Special Needs (ABK) at SLB Negeri 1 Ngawi in the 2022/2023 academic year, conducted at SLB Negeri 1 Ngawi. The method used is a qualitative method. The research subjects consist of three informants, including the Curriculum Vice Principal, Islamic Religious Education teacher, and parents/guardians of the students. Data collection methods include observation, interviews, and documentation, and the data analysis technique follows an interactive analysis model. Data validation is conducted using triangulation, specifically triangulation of sources. The research findings show that the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum at SLB Negeri 1 Ngawi is running fairly well. The learning process is adjusted by forming classes based on the developmental stages of the children. The school first assesses the children, allowing them to understand their developmental phase and be placed in their respective classes. The implementation of Islamic Religious Education learning is conducive and innovative as teachers use various media and methods. The children's conditions become the main hindering factor in the application of the Merdeka Curriculum at SLB, but with the Merdeka Curriculum, teachers have flexibility in the assessment process, allowing for better exploration of the children's competencies.

Investigating the Impact of Control Modes to Competency and Engagement in Serious Game Play for Children with ADHD.

Serious games are designed to reduce symptoms of attention deficit among children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These games predominantly use touchscreen interfaces that children with ADHD play in a sitting position, which contributes to already-problematic sedentary behaviors. In an effort to mitigate negative impacts of sedentary behavior, we set out to investigate the use of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) mats with serious games to induce gross movements. To that end, we designed and implemented Breathtaking Glass Bridge to investigate the impact of interface (DDR vs. touchscreen) on competency and engagement in children with ADHD. Our investigation with 30 children with ADHD reveal that the DDR mat was as engaging as the conventional touchscreen interface despite relatively lower competence shown by our participants. Our study opens new research opportunities for developing and strategically using movement-based control interfaces to encourage gross movements while reducing attention deficit symptoms among children with ADHD.

Competence in multiple foreign languages as cultural capital in family language policy: Parents’ perceptions

AbstractFamily language policy for children's foreign language learning has emerged as an important topic for research on language education policy and second language learning in general. Whilst there is no shortage of studies that examine how parents engage in the formation and transformation of family foreign language education policies, little has been known as to how parents perceive the value of multilingual competence which influences their decisions about how their children's foreign language learning should be planned and resourced. Drawing on Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital, this multiple‐case study explored the perceptions of the parents from 16 middle‐class families with children aged 6–14 in Shanghai via interviews (with their children as well) and textual data. Data analysis reveals that parents perceived the language‐derived cultural capital as measured by its exchangeable social benefits at present or in the future. Their perceptions were thus divided as manifested in the three distinctive approaches they took to conceptualize their children's competence in multiple foreign languages as cultural capital, that is, the extra‐point view (language competence as advantage), immediate deficiency view (lack of such competence as immediate disadvantage), and prospective deficiency view (lack of competence as disadvantage in a future scenario).

부모코칭역량이 유아의 사회정서능력에 미치는 영향

Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating effect of positive psychological capital and the moderating effect of parents' emotional coaching style in the effect of parental coaching competency on early children's social-emotional competence.&#x0D; Methods The subjects of the study were 306 parents of 3-5 year old children at early childhood educational institutions located in G Metropolitan City and J Province. As a measurement tools, young children’s social-emotional competence scale developed by Lee Eun-jeong(2015) and the parent coaching competency scale developed by Do Mi-hyang, Kim Geun-ju, and Lee Gyeong-ju(2019) were used. In addition, the positive psychological capital scale developed by Luthans, Avolio, and Orman(2006) and translated into the Korean version by Lim Tae-hong(2013) was used. For statistical analysis of the collected data, SPSS 21.0 and Amos 21.0 Program were used.&#x0D; Results First, parental coaching competency had a statistically significant positive effect on early children's social-emotional competence, and among these variables, parental positive psychological capital played a partial mediating role. Second, parents' emotional coaching style moderated the relationship between parental coaching competency and positive psychological capital statistically significantly, and moderated the relationship between parental coaching competency and early children’s social-emotional competence statistically significantly.&#x0D; Conclusions This study reveals that parental variables are important in improving early children's social-emotional competence. In particular, the more parents used the emotional coaching style, the more parents’ positive psychological capital was enhanced, and it had a positive effect on the development of their early children's social-emotional competence. This suggests that it is necessary to develop various parent-support programs so that parents can form an emotional coaching style.

Trilingual children’s narratives: a longitudinal study of lexical development

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on vocabulary development in oral language productions of three elementary school-age sibling pairs growing up in a trilingual setting. This longitudinal study describes the development of the children's narrative competence over three years. The corpus analysed consists of retellings of animated films. The contribution deals with the lexical development in the three languages of the children, in particular the length of the productions, lexical diversity and lexical sophistication. Lexical diversity is measured by the Guiraud Index. It is assumed that the children's vocabulary becomes more diverse with increasing age. Lexical sophistication is examined by measuring the average frequency of words used by the participants. It is assumed that as children's vocabularies grow, they will include more and more ‘rare’ low-frequency words in their productions. Assuming that the school language is the dominant language, the question is whether lexical diversity and sophistication increase with age in all three of the children's languages, or whether this is only the case in the school language. The results show that lexical development varies from child to child. However, a certain trend can be observed, indicating that school vocabulary is becoming more sophisticated.

PENGARUH METODE BERNYANYI TERHADAP KEMAMPUAN MEMBACA AWAL PADA ANAK USIA 5-6 TAHUN DI TK YAMASSA SURABAYA

The ability to read is an important foundation in opening up opportunities for a child's future, because it is the first step in mastering knowledge and knowledge. Therefore, teaching reading, especially early reading, can be done at the Kindergarten (TK) level. Observations made at the Yamassa Kindergarten in Surabaya showed that group B children were less interested in learning to read and 6 out of 11 children still could not read. To be able to improve children's early reading skills, educators must pay attention to children's competencies and consider methods that children will like so that learning is effective, such as the singing method. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not there was an influence of the singing method to improve early reading skills in children aged 5-6 years at Kindergarten Yamassa Surabaya. This study uses a quasi-experimental research type and uses a non-equivalent control group design which uses a pretest and posttest given to the experimental group and the control group. Data collection techniques in this study are observation, interviews, tests, and documentation. This study used the Mann Whitney U Test and the results showed that there was a significant effect of the singing method on early reading skills in children aged 5-6 years at Kindergarten Yamassa Surabaya.

The feasibility of TOGETHER: a collaborative educator-parent programme for teaching social and emotional competence in young children

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of the TOGETHER: Growing Children’s Social and Emotional Competence programme. This programme was designed to build a more collaborative relationship between educators and parents so that they could, together, develop children’s social and emotional competence skills by using positive behaviour support strategies in an Australian early year setting. The findings are reported on two educators, two children and their mothers. Data were collected via a questionnaire, rating scale, direct classroom and home observations and educator/parent interviews. The results indicated an increase in educator and parent positive responses to the two young children’s appropriate behaviour and a decrease in their challenging behaviour. The findings also showed inconsistencies between educators in implementing the strategies. Educators and parents developed a more collaborative relationship. Identified barriers families have with accessing this type of programme are discussed.

Cross-lagged associations between father-child numeracy activities and very young children's number competence

Utilizing a sample of 109 young Chinese children who were followed up from the end of their nursery programs (Time 1 [T1]; age: M ± SD = 38.01 ± 2.68 months) to the beginning of their preschool programs (Time 2 [T2]), this study examined the reciprocal relation between father-child math activities and children's numerical ability. The results demonstrated that children's numerical ability at T1 negatively predicted the frequency of father-child number-skill activities and number-book activities at T2, but these predictions were only significant among girls. The frequency of father-child number-application activities at T1 positively predicted children's numerical ability at T2, but these predictions were only significant among boys. The findings highlight the significance of father-child number-application activities for boys' math learning. They also underline the possibility of fathers' participation in number-skill activities and number-book activities to remedy girls' limited numerical ability.

Study of musical competences of early childhood education teachers

The article presents the results of a survey conducted among early childhood education teachers in randomly selected primary schools in Poland. The aim of the study was to determine the level of musical competence of early childhood education teachers and to identify tools that would help improve the quality of their music lessons. In the theoretical part, the authors show how important the period of early childhood is in music education, i.e., among others, stage of early childhood education, and they refer to research showing that teachers with appropriate musical education have a much greater impact on the development of musical competences in children compared to teachers without such education. The conclusions of the study indicate the need for better education of early childhood education teachers in the field of musical competences at the academic level, e.g., increased number of hours devoted to music classes, learning to play harmonic instruments such as guitar or ukulele, and training in new digital technologies possible to use in music education, that would help them conduct their classes.