Language In Kindergarten Research Articles

Critically Conscious Family Engagement: Positioning Families as Co-Teachers Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT This research article highlights how two dual language kindergarten teachers in an urban Title I school incorporated family relationships and cultural practices to support children’s learning through online schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report from ethnographic work conducted during the 2020–21 school year through virtual classroom observations and teacher interviews. We combined the lenses of equitable family engagement and critical consciousness to examine how the teachers regarded the role of families as schooling entered homes. Our findings show that the teachers perceived families’ expertise as equally influential as teachers’ knowledge of children’s learning, considering them “co-teachers.” Rooted in their beliefs about families’ central role in education, the teachers’ approach exemplifies what we term “critically conscious family engagement,” a novel conceptualization of family engagement that connects critical consciousness to teachers’ active and consistent relationship-building with parents, caregivers, and children. Our implications highlight strategies for educators to build and sustain such relations in any instructional modality.

Exploring the Current Status and Optimization Strategies of Chinese Kindergarten Language Education from the Perspective of Artificial Intelligence

This article analyzes the current situation and challenges of kindergarten language education in China in the context of digital transformation. It discusses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on kindergarten language education and proposes optimization strategies, including innovating teaching methods, designing engaging courses, improving evaluation mechanisms, and enhancing teacher AI literacy. The article concludes that integrating AI into kindergarten language education is an inevitable trend, and kindergartens should actively embrace intelligent education while addressing potential risks.

Reflections on Conducting Kindergarten Language Education Activities Based on Children’s Literature

In early childhood education, language education is a crucial component, yet in kindergarten teaching, there often exists issues such as “emphasis on knowledge and neglect of practice.” To address this problem, teachers need to incorporate children’s literature in a reasonable manner to create a conducive environment for language education for young children. This article analyzes and discusses the significance of integrating children’s literature into kindergarten language education activities, and proposes strategies for addressing the current issues in kindergarten language education activities and conducting them based on children’s literature.

Relationship between quality of professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers and children's language development: the mediating role of kindergarten language education activities quality.

Strengthening the professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers is crucial for improving the quality of kindergarten education and promoting children's development. In order to explore the impact of the quality of professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers and kindergarten language education activities quality on children's language development, a study was conducted. A total of 1,584 children from 90 kindergartens in 5 provinces in China were randomly selected as research participants. Utilizing an independent sample t-test and correlation analysis (with SPSS 26.0 as the tool), the study analyzed the disparities in the professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers of different types, kindergarten language education activities quality, and the children's language developmental levels, as well as the interrelationships among these factors. A multilevel structural equation model (using MPLUS 8.3 as the tool) was employed to analyze the mediating role that the kindergarten language education activities quality plays between the quality of professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers and children's language development levels. The results indicate that children in public kindergartens demonstrate significantly higher language development levels than those in private kindergartens. A positive correlation exists between the quality of professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers, kindergarten language education activities quality and children's language development levels. Furthermore, kindergarten language education activities quality shows partial mediating effects on the relationship between them. These findings highlight the need to enhance the quality of education in private kindergartens, reduce the disparities in language development levels between private and public kindergartens, and reinforce the quality of professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers to provide effective support for children's language development. Ultimately, the study suggests concentrating on the organization and implementation of kindergarten language education activities as a means of evaluating the quality of professional capacity building for kindergarten teachers.

¡BE PREBEARED! TEATRO EN EDUCACIÓN - THEATRE IN EDUCATION: A multilingual project for early learners

ABSTRACT This article documents the creation and implementation of a multilingual (Spanish and English) Theatre in Education (TIE) play for general education and Dual Language kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. The author illustrates how enacting “role work” and dramatic play in TIE supports Lev Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development and Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theories in enhancing learning in the early childhood classroom. The author argues for the need to create more multilingual Theatre in Education. Through an analysis of critically engaged pedagogy by scholars Sonia Nieto and D. Pakkar-Hull, as well as the author’s implementation of a multilingual TIE play, the article highlights the positive outcomes in classroom learning when students’ languages and cultures are embraced in the learning environment while wrestling with the challenges of creating multilingual spaces in traditional monolingual theatrical and classroom structures.

Learning to Read in Arabic Diglossia: The Relation of Spoken and Standard Arabic Language in Kindergarten to Reading Skills in First Grade

ABSTRACT The contribution of linguistic skills to reading has been reported in different languages; however, this contribution varies according to the specific features of each language. Arabic is characterized by diglossia, i.e. the existence of two distinct varieties: Spoken Arabic (SpA) and Standard Arabic (StA). This study examined the extent to which linguistic components (phonemic awareness, vocabulary, morphological and syntactic knowledge) and orthographic knowledge of kindergartners (N = 261) predict future reading skills, i.e. word reading accuracy, fluency, and reading comprehension in the first year of elementary school (first grade). In addition, the relevant contributions of SpA and StA to reading skills were tested. The results revealed that while phonemic awareness, syntactic and orthographic knowledge significantly predicted almost all reading skills, morphological knowledge and vocabulary predicted only reading comprehension. In addition, hierarchical regression showed that the general index of StA linguistic measures predicted all reading measures, after controlling for orthographic knowledge and SpA linguistic measures. The results are discussed in relation to the critical role of StA in reading acquisition despite the difficulties of Arabic-speaking kindergartners in processing language in StA compared to SpA. The study emphasizes the influence of oral and written linguistic skills on reading acquisition in Arabic.

Quantität des Inputs – eine ausschlaggebende Voraussetzung im Spracherwerb?

Access to language is a crucial factor in language acquisition, as the learner requires the necessary input to learn a new language. However, there is a question about whether the quantity of exposure to the target language is the key factor for a successful language acquisition. This study examines 80 students, with 10 students from each year from 5th to 12th grade, at a German high school in Romania. The students start learning the German language in kindergarten, meaning that they have their first contact with the language at the age of three, which could correspond to a gradual first language acquisition. They continue their language learning intensively in school, being exposed to at least five hours of German language every day. However, even after twelve years, their level of language proficiency does not reach the expected level of a near-native speaker. They conspicuously search for words and use an unusual sentence structure when they need to engage in free conversation. This study aims to answer the question of why, even after so many years of daily exposure to the German language, the students are not able to approach a near-native level, when according to the Goethe Institute, only 600 class hours of 60 minutes each would be necessary to reach the C1 level.

Coding as another language: Research-based curriculum for early childhood computer science

This paper describes the iterative research and evaluation of the Coding as Another Language (CAL) curriculum that utilizes the free ScratchJr programming language in kindergarten to second grade. CAL was designed using principles of three theoretical frameworks: Curriculum Research Framework (CRF), which proposes different phases in the creation of research-based curriculum; Constructionism, which presents a computationally-rich project-based methodology based on identifying powerful ideas from a learning domain; and Positive Technological Development, which intentionally integrates socio-emotional and ethical dimensions into curricular experiences. The pedagogical foundation of CAL involves the understanding of coding as a literacy, that is, putting developmentally-appropriate powerful ideas of computer science in conversation with those taught in language arts. The paper first describes CAL and then presents results from both a pilot study and a cluster randomized controlled trial that set to evaluate CAL's feasibility and impact on students’ learning outcomes. Our findings showed that the CAL curriculum was not only feasible to implement, but also effective for improving coding skills. However, CAL's impact on computational thinking is less clear given that in the cluster randomized controlled trial, both the control and the intervention groups improved equally on a measure of computational thinking.

Storytelling and Its Role in the Development of Children’s Language in Kindergarten

The storytelling, one of the most used methods in the instructive-educational activity in kindergarten, brings children closer to the world of words through imagination. Among the many benefits that storytelling brings to children’s life, there is the improvement of the language to the stage of a functional tool that allows children to express messages accurately, nuanced and rich in different communicational situation. In this study we aim at identifying the structural components of this method: characteristics, stages, tools used, specific forms, advantages, when used by teachers for preschool children language development. We will also offer a series of suggestions to use in kindergarten activities.

Modeling associations of English proficiency and working memory with mathematics growth.

Using kindergarten up to fourth-grade data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (2010-2011 cohort), we investigated systematic variability in English language learners' (ELLs; n = 303) mathematics growth as well as relations of kindergarten language growth and working memory (WM) to ELLs' mathematics growth. Using growth mixture modeling, only one class of growth emerged from ELLs' English mathematics growth from first through fourth grades. WM related to ELLs' English mathematics growth from Grades 1 to 4, as did kindergarten growth in English early literacy. We also investigated kindergarten to Grade 4 mathematics growth between ELLs and English proficient students (EPSs; n = 4,711) using latent change score models and whether WM differentially predicted growth patterns. ELLs and EPSs did not exhibit markedly different growth patterns, and WM similarly predicted these patterns. Implications for future research as well as practical implications and limitations are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sources of individual differences in early elementary school science achievement among multilingual and English monolingual children in the U.S.

Using the public use file of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten class of 2010–2011, this study is the first to examine the extent to which science achievement is distinct from math and reading in kindergarten, first, and second grade; and the utility of kindergarten language proficiency and executive functioning (EF) for predicting science achievement among multilingual (n = 1022) and English monolingual (n = 12,343) children at each grade level. The results demonstrate that science is separable from math and reading achievement, though highly correlated. The results also indicate that kindergarten language proficiency and EF support science achievement similarly across elementary school for both groups. These results coupled with large correlations among science, math, and reading achievement suggest that integrated instruction that takes advantage of domain interconnectedness may reduce redundancies and help children connect with science content.

Predicting Language Performance From Narrative Language Samples.

Analysis of narrative language samples is a recommended clinical practice in the assessment of children's language skills, but we know little about how results from such analyses relate to overall oral language ability across the early school years. We examined the relations between language sample metrics from a short narrative retell, collected in kindergarten, and an oral language factor in grades kindergarten through 3. Our specific questions were to determine the extent to which metrics from narrative language sample analysis are concurrently related to language in kindergarten and predict language through Grade 3. Participants were a sample of 284 children who were administered a narrative retell task in kindergarten and a battery of vocabulary and grammar measures in kindergarten through Grade 3. Language samples were analyzed for number of different words, mean length of utterance, and a relatively new metric, percent grammatical utterances (PGUs). Structural equation models were used to estimate the concurrent and longitudinal relationships. The narrative language sample metrics were consistently correlated with the individual vocabulary and grammar measures as well as the language factor in each grade, and also consistently and uniquely predicted the language factor in each grade. Standardized path estimates in the structural equation models ranged from 0.20 to 0.39. This study found narrative language sample metrics to be predictive, concurrently and longitudinally, of a latent factor of language from kindergarten through Grade 3. These results further validate the importance of collecting and analyzing narrative language samples, to include PGU along with more traditional metrics, and point to directions for future research. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.17700980.

Research on Teaching Reform of Kindergarten Language Education Activities

With the implementation of the two-child policy in China, early childhood education has attracted great attention from the society and families. However, the current preschool language education can no longer meet the needs of development, and it is necessary to reform the preschool language education and training mode. It is particularly important to strengthen the combination of work and study through curriculum reform and find a path suitable for kindergarten language education.

Frühe Mehrsprachigkeit in Slowenien

In many documents, the European Union has set the promotion and development of multilingualism as a goal and commitment. Although many foreign and domestic studies demonstrate the benefits of early foreign language learning/second language acquisition, and thus the development of early multilingualism, the decision to involve pre-school children in various forms of language learning is solely in the hands of parents. Parents who enrol their children in foreign language activities can choose between different private providers – language schools – as there is no foreign language kindergarten in the compulsory programme. Some kindergartens offer language classes, mostly English, given by external providers, but there is a fee for this offer. Since there is no systematically regulated foreign language teaching in preschool in Slovenia, we were interested in the attitudes of parents whose children go to kindergarten towards early foreign language learning and early multilingualism. The results of the research, which included parents of kindergarten children from all statistical regions of Slovenia, show that multilingualism has positive connotations and that parents perceive multilingualism as an added value that should be developed from childhood, as it allows children to learn about other cultures and other languages during a period that is extremely favourable for learning a foreign language, and does not represent any additional effort. At the same time, the results also clearly show that a large proportion of parents understand multilingualism to mean learning English and not necessarily other languages. However, this tells us that it will be necessary to invest quite a bit of effort in informing parents and the public about the real benefits of speaking more languages.

Neural processing of vision and language in kindergarten is associated with prereading skills and predicts future literacy

The main objective of this longitudinal study was to investigate the neural predictors of reading acquisition. For this purpose, we followed a sample of 54 children from the end of kindergarten to the end of second grade. Preliterate children were tested for visual symbol (checkerboards, houses, faces, written words) and auditory language processing (spoken words) using a passive functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm. To examine brain–behavior relationships, we also tested cognitive–linguistic prereading skills at kindergarten age and reading performance of 48 of the same children 2 years later. Face‐selective response in the bilateral fusiform gyrus was positively associated with rapid automatized naming (RAN). Response to both spoken and written words at preliterate age was negatively associated with RAN in the dorsal temporo‐parietal language system. Longitudinally, neural response to faces in the ventral stream predicted future reading fluency. Here, stronger neural activity in inferior and middle temporal gyri at kindergarten age was associated with higher reading performance. Our results suggest that interindividual differences in the neural system of language and reading affect literacy acquisition and thus might serve as a marker for successful reading acquisition in preliterate children.

The Effect of Hands-On Minds-On Learning on Reducing Kindergarteners' Foreign Language Learning Anxiety

Abstract W hile research has mainly focused on foreign language learning anxiety, its causes and effects on the learning process and the ways to alleviate it among learners, it has rarely focused on foreign language learning anxiety among kindergarteners. Thus, this study aims at qualitatively investigating the effect of hands-on minds-on learning on reducing kindergarteners’ foreign language learning anxiety. The sample group consisted of 21 experts and teachers of English as a foreign language in kindergarten. Interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data. Results revealed that hands-on minds-on learning can reduce foreign language learning anxiety among kindergarteners, and that much more research attention should be given to foreign language learning anxiety and to the use of hands-on minds-on learning in classes of teaching English as a foreign language in kindergarten.

Praktycyzm w badaniach naukowych z zakresu glotto- i translodydaktyki

The aim of the present review is the discussion of a monograph entitled “Selected issues from glotto-and translodidactics” edited by Artur Dariusz Kubacki and Katarzyna Sowa-Bacia. The work consists of six articles, of which the first three cover teaching foreign language in kindergarten, a summary of the functioning of a chosen teaching college, and linguistic aspects of teaching the German language at a Faculty of German Philology. The remaining three articles, presented in the second part of the work, focus on translation didactics, in particular on the Kussmaul cognitive model, the competencies of an academic translation teacher, and the non-academic schooling of prospective sworn translators in Poland. The article’s intention is to present practicalism in academic research in the discussed monograph.

Beginning to Read in Vietnamese: Kindergarten Precursors to First Grade Fluency and Reading Comprehension.

Measures of decoding and oral language have been shown to predict early reading comprehension across a wide variety of languages, though the timeframe and strength of the predictions vary by orthographic depth. This study is the first to examine predictors of early reading in Vietnamese, a transparent orthography of Romanized letters and diacritics. Eighty-two children in Hanoi, Vietnam, completed measures of decoding and oral language in kindergarten (phonological awareness, PA; rapid automatized naming, RAN; receptive and expressive vocabulary) and measures of decoding and reading comprehension in first grade. Average performance at the end of first grade, after just one year of formal instruction, was near ceiling on word reading but more variable on nonword and text reading. Kindergarten PA and RAN (but not vocabulary) predicted first-grade decoding after controlling for maternal education and kindergarten decoding, and PA was a stronger predictor than RAN (10% vs 4% of unique variance). The best predictors of first grade reading comprehension were first-grade decoding (47% of unique variance) and kindergarten expressive vocabulary (4% of unique variance) after controlling for maternal education. Overall, Vietnamese children became accurate and efficient decoders after one year of instruction. Findings from RAN and PA suggest their utility in guiding differentiated instruction on decoding. Kindergarten vocabulary, which differed as a function of maternal education, significantly predicted first-grade comprehension.

Head Start Classroom Features and Language and Literacy Growth among Children with Diverse Language Backgrounds

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: Using a nationally representative sample of Head Start recipients, this study compared Head Start classroom contexts and English language and literacy skill trajectories for Spanish-speaking dual-language learners (DLLs) and English speakers from preschool through kindergarten. It also examined whether Head Start classroom characteristics were differentially associated with skill development across groups, both concurrently in Head Start and longitudinally in kindergarten. Results indicated that classroom characteristics tended to be similarly associated with skills across language subgroups. Regardless of language status, children whose classrooms were instructionally supportive and not overly managed tended to have higher language and/or literacy skills in Head Start. Children whose Head Start classrooms had higher Emotional Support and were not overly managed had higher kindergarten language skills. Child-initiated activities were associated with higher language skills, whereas teacher-directed activities were related to higher literacy skills. DLLs benefited more from Emotional Support and child-initiated activities in some skills. Practice or Policy: If replicated, findings have practical implications for Head Start professional development and classroom practices. Specifically, teacher professional development might focus more intensively on improving Emotional and Instructional Support, and teachers and program administrators might consider allocating more time to child-initiated and teacher-directed activities to build specific skills.

Implementing a multimodal online program for very young learners of Russian: Educators' perspective

CALL and MALL learning programs have been introduced by preschool teachers into their language classrooms (Sadykova, Kayumova, Khalitova, & Gimaletdinova, 2017; Segers & Verhoeven, 2003), despite reports saying that some of these programs have little educational value (Kazanci & Okan, 2009). This exploratory mixed-methods study aims at examining how Russian language kindergarten and preschool teachers integrate resources of a Russian language online school Live Fairytales™ (Zhivye skazki, 2017) and what design elements of this multimodal digital resource they find conducive or impediment to successful language acquisition by young learners. The data come from the reports of six teachers and survey responses of 18 educators who described and reflected on their experiences integrating resources of the Russian language online school. The data show that teachers made productive use of the digital resource by utilizing its multimodal presentation of the content, integrating interactive activities mostly in a whole-class format, and creating an engaging and enjoyable learning environment of play. Visual representation of material was reported to be the most valuable and necessary for accompanying audio input, introducing or practicing vocabulary, supporting listening comprehension, and overall motivating very young learners to stay on task. This study extends our understanding of what early childhood educators expect from quality digital resources and how they integrate them into educational programs that support language acquisition of bilingual and multilingual preschool children.