Language Learning In Young Children Research Articles

Effects of face masks on novel word learning in preschool children

Face masks worn by talkers compromise the speech signal children use to learn language. There is debate, however, about which type of face mask will be more supportive of language learning in young children. Although clear masks provide more visual access to the talker’s face than surgical masks, they distort the speech signal more than surgical masks. Our goal is to better understand the effects of different face masks on word learning in preschool-age and kindergarten-age children. To achieve this goal, we are comparing children’s ability to learn novel words in conditions that vary on the spectral fidelity of speech and visual access to the talker’s face to simulate the effects of different mask types. Children’s performance is quantified by the number of words learned and the phonological precision of words learned. To date, twelve children have completed the protocol, and the study is ongoing. We will compare children’s word-learning across conditions and evaluate the influence of individual factors such as visual speech reading skills, verbal working memory, and vocabulary knowledge on children’s performance in the various conditions. These findings will have implications for supporting word learning in young children in educational and childcare settings when masks are used.

Fostering Multilingual Children’s Language Development through iPad Apps

AbstractThis article shares a case study of a classroom of multicultural and multilingual children in an early childhood center to explore how iPad apps can support young children in learning English as an additional language. Situated in Sydney, Australia, this study found that iPad apps have the potential to promote 4‐ and 5‐year‐old children's language learning, including their vocabulary development. During the iPad sessions, the children were excited to engage with the app and share their relevant life experiences with their friends and their teacher. In this classroom, the lead teacher believed in the importance of iPad apps to encourage young children's language learning and multimodal meaning making. However, there was a disconnect between her beliefs and her practices, which suggests that targeted professional development could be instrumental in fostering early childhood educators’ ability to scaffold children's English language development with iPad apps.

Teachers’ Literal and Inferential Questions and Children’s Responses: A Study of Teacher–Child Linguistic Interactions During Whole-Group Instruction in Hong Kong Kindergarten Classrooms

This study investigated the extent to which preschool teachers and children (ages 4–6) used literal and inferential language within the context of whole-group instruction in four kindergarten classrooms in Hong Kong. A total of 20 sessions of videotaped classroom observations of linguistic interactions between teachers and children were transcribed and then analyzed using a coding scheme to determine the cognitive complexity of teacher questions and child responses with reference to four levels of abstraction, representing a literal-to-inferential continuum. The results indicated that the teachers’ questions were predominantly literal in nature (83 %), and similarly the majority of the children’s responses (77 %) were also literal. Furthermore, it was revealed that in an average instructional session: (a) teachers produced significantly more utterances than children; (b) the difference in the quantity of teachers’ questions between literal and inferential levels was statistically significant; (c) similarly, the difference in the quantity of children’s responses between literal and inferential levels was also statistically significant; and (d) children produced a significantly larger quantity of shorter than longer utterances. As there is distinct value in whole-group instruction as a salient context for teacher–child interactive, linguistic engagement in kindergarten classrooms in Hong Kong, it is particularly vital that early childhood educators understand what types of linguistic interactions are occurring there and how to target professional development for teachers to better support language learning in young children.

Curenton's "Conversation Compass: A Teacher's Guide to High-Quality Language Learning in Young Children" (Book Review)

Curenton's "Conversation Compass: A Teacher's Guide to High-Quality Language Learning in Young Children" (Book Review)

Supporting Young Children's Language Learning through Teachers' Use of Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies

Much is known about the skills that young children need to be successful readers. The literature identifies two kinds of skills that are key to young children’s language and literacy development: meaning-related skills and code-related skills. This article focuses on one of these key skills: meaning-related skills. It provides an overview of what is known about the importance of young children’s language development to children’s success as readers and describes several evidence-based instructional strategies (strategies that researchers have shown to have a positive impact on children’s language learning) that early childhood teachers should use to support children’s language development. By using the described strategies, early childhood educators can ensure that their teaching is in harmony with current research findings and that they are providing their young learners with the very best meaning-related skill instruction known today.

Supporting Young Children's Language Learning through Teachers' Use of Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies

Supporting Young Children's Language Learning through Teachers' Use of Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies

유아 언어학습용 단어게임 애플리케이션 분석

본 연구의 목적은 현재 사용되는 유아 언어학습용 단어게임 애플리케이션의 내용 및 수준을 평가하고, 한글과 영어 단어 게임 애플리케이션 간의 차이가 어떠한지를 파악하는 것이다. 분석대상은 스마트폰, 태블릿 PC 애플리케이션 다운로드 센터에서 제공하는 유아 언어학습용 단어게임 애플리케이션으로 영어단어게임 애플리케이션, 한글단어게임 애플리케이션 각 30개씩이다. 분석도구는 CTR(Children's Technology Review)에서 개발한 소프트웨어 평가 도구(Children's Software Evaluation Instrument), 박희숙, 이영주(2007)의 멀티미디어 콘텐츠 평가 준거, 최수의(2003)의 모바일 콘텐츠 평가 준거를 참고로 유아의 발달적 특성을 고려하여 수정 보완한 평가 준거를 사용하였다. 연구 결과, 전체 단어게임 애플리케이션의 분석결과는 평가영역별 중 교육적 가치에서 가장 높은 점수를 받았으나, 디자인의 특성에서는 가장 낮은 점수를 받았다. 한글 영어 단어게임 애플리케이션 간의 비교에서는 영어단어게임 애플리케이션이 한글단어게임 애플리케이션보다 전체적으로 모든 영역의 점수가 높았다. 본 연구의 결과는 유아를 위한, 발달적으로 적합한 게임 애플리케이션의 개발에 도움을 줄 수 있을 것이다. The purpose of this study was firstly, to evaluate the contents of vocabulary game applications for young children's language learning. and secondly, to examine whether there is any differences between Korean and English word games in terms of the evaluation score. For this purpose, the word game applications in smart phone and tablet PC were analyzed, which included 30 Korean word games and another 30 English ones. The criteria to evaluate the contents were developed based on Children's Software Evaluation Instrument developed by CTR, the multimedia evaluation standard by Hee Sook Park, Young Joo Lee, and mobile contents evaluation standard by Soo Ui Choi. As a result, the educational value got the highest score whereas the design characteristics area got the lowest score in the whole evaluation analysis. And English word game applications mostly got higher score than Korean versions. The result of this study would suggest the way to evaluate educational game applications in use and to contribute to developing educational game contents aimed at young children's language learning.

Education practitioner-led intervention to facilitate language learning in young children: An effectiveness study

In the UK there is much concern about the educational progress of children from areas of significant social disadvantage entering primary school with impoverished language skills. These children are not routinely referred to speech and language therapy services and therefore education practitioners in schools deliver intervention to facilitate their language learning. The evidence base to support these interventions is small and more needs to be known about their effectiveness. However, evaluating such interventions in an educational context can be challenging due to limited opportunities and resources. The study evaluated small-group language intervention for Key Stage 1 children with impoverished language delivered by trained education practitioners in schools. Children receiving the language intervention were compared to a matched comparison group not receiving the intervention. Baselines of receptive and expressive language ability were taken pre-intervention and post-intervention using standardized language assessments. The intervention consisted of eight sessions delivered over eight weeks by trained education practitioners. The children in the intervention group made significant gains in their expressive language compared to the comparison group in the length and complexity of their utterances. Neither the intervention group nor the comparison group made any gains in their receptive language. This effectiveness study showed that small-group language intervention for children with impoverished language delivered by trained education practitioners in schools is effective in facilitating children’s expressive language. It is proposed that education practitioners would benefit from more knowledge of children’s speech, language and communication development and training in how to assess and measure these skills in young children appropriately in a school context.

Joining the Literacy Flow: Fostering Symbol and Written Language Learning in Young Children with Significant Developmental Disabilities through the Four Currents of Literacy

This article is both an ethnographic and an action-based description of how excellent early childhood teachers in seven inclusive preschool and kindergarten classrooms fostered the developing literacy profiles of young children with significant developmental disabilities alongside their typically developing peers through active, engaging, social means. I have developed four broad themes, described here as currents, that support the meaning-based literacy learning of children still commonly cast as intrinsically incapable of literate citizenship, using participant observation; in-depth interviews with teachers, therapists, and parents; the implementation of increasingly responsive, systematic literacy-based themes, opportunities, and activities into certain inclusive classrooms; and the development of process-oriented portfolio documentation. Important findings include the following: (a) children with significant developmental disabilities can join the early childhood literacy flow; (b) they do so through interactive means; and (c) spoken language need not serve as the foundation of written language learning.

An English-Speaking Prekindergarten Teacher for Young Latino Children: Implications of the Teacher–Child Relationship on Second Language Learning

This case study was designed to describe how an effective English-speaking prekindergarten teacher develops strategies for communicating with and teaching young English language learners. The teacher’s classroom practices to enhance her own relationship with the children promoted opportunities for the Latino children to become full participants in the classroom community. At the end of the year, the Latino children showed progress in formal and informal measures of receptive vocabulary in both English and Spanish. Findings from the study suggest the importance of the affective and social nature of second language learning in young children. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Sound Beginnings

For many families of young children who are deaf, a cochlear implant may be the most viable option for promoting spoken language development. Children may qualify for a cochlear implant as young as 12 months if they have demonstrated minimal benefit from conventional amplification. In order for oral language to occur, however, parents need to be fully involved in their children's early-intervention program. This article presents 2 family constructs that are associated with language learning in young children with cochlear implants: parental involvement and maternal self-efficacy. After reviewing the theoretical and clinical applications of these family constructs, we provide practical suggestions for professionals working with families who have young children with cochlear implants.

Responsiveness of Child Care Providers in Interactions With Toddlers and Preschoolers.

This exploratory study investigated the responsive language input of 26 child care providers to young children enrolled in community child care centers. Three subtypes of responsive interaction strategies were rated and compared across two age groups (toddlers, preschoolers) and two naturalistic contexts (book reading, play dough activity). The toddlers were between 17 and 33 months of age and the preschoolers were between 30 and 53 months of age. Caregiver-child interactions were rated using the Teacher Interaction and Language Rating Scale (Girolametto, Weitzman, & Greenberg, 2000) to provide information about the frequency of responsive language strategies. Caregivers used similar levels of child-centered and interaction-promoting strategies with both age groups, but used more labelling with toddlers and more topic extensions with preschoolers. The context of the interaction exerted a systematic influence on the caregivers' use of responsive strategies, with the play dough activity providing the most responsive input overall. There was a strong positive relationship between all three subtypes of caregivers' responsiveness and variation in the preschoolers' language productivity. In contrast, only interaction-promoting strategies were positively related to measures of the toddlers' language productivity. The results of this study suggest that caregivers' responsiveness in group interactions is highly dependent on the context of the interaction and, to a lesser extent, on the language abilities of the children. Future research is required to determine if inservice training can enhance levels of responsiveness and accelerate language learning in young children in group care.

Acquisition of Multiple Languages Among Children of Immigrant Families: Parents' Role in the Home-School Language Pendulum

This study examined immigrant parents' role in their young children's language learning and development in linguistically different contexts in Chicago. At home the children lived with parents who spoke little or no English. At school the children were taught by mostly English speaking teachers, occasionally with teacher aides who spoke some of the other languages the children understood. The children had to operate in two linguistic worlds that were considerably different. The study sought to explain the means by which immigrant parents helped their children learn English effectively and also maintain their mother tongue. Five data collection instruments were used in the study: a parent questionnaire, an activity chart, audio recorders, an observation guide during home visits and parent interviews. The parent interviews were conducted towards the end of the study as a means to triangulate information and to crosscheck and clarify meanings of the data from the other instruments. The study revealed that parents' roles included different factors that supported children's learning of the languages. The factors included: the parents' attitudes towards language in general, parents' interest in both mother tongue and English, joint parent-child activities and direct, linguistic exchange between child and parent. Other factors included teacher flexibility, teacher-parent communication, parents' English classes school support, and parents' sensitivity to school support. Problems faced by parents and teachers included parents' lack of English proficiency to communicate effectively about children's school learning, and lack of effective linguistic link between home learning and school learning.

Rethinking the role of reading in teaching a foreingn language to young learners

In this article the author argues that early students of English, even those who have not yet learnt to read in their native tongue, will benefit from learning to read from the beginning of their contact with a foreign language. The author starts by reviewing the basic methods of teaching reading, before reporting on and explaining the results of a pilot study of learning by kindergarten children. The study indicated that the early introduction to reading additionally speeds their progress in under- standing and speaking the foreign language. The author suggests that text-oriented programmes based on textbooks with recordings should be developed as an option for some teachers. The significance Speech is undoubtedly the primary mode of communication in natural of teaching language. Children are able to speak before they learn to read and write. reading to young Even before they start to speak, they already have a considerable learners of passive command of the language of their parents, who effectively test fng/ish the linguistic competence of their children every time they issue them with a spoken command. Based on these simple observations, the current methodology of teaching a foreign language to children emphasizes teaching speaking, and establishes speech communication as the primary goal of language programmes for young children. Current trends in teaching methodology also recommend providing young beginners with an extended, introductory period of time, in which they are only expected to learn to understand the spoken language. At that introductory stage, children demonstrate their understanding of the new language by responding correctly to teachers' requests. They are encouraged to do this either by giving answers in their native tongue, or by an action, such as drawing something, going somewhere, bringing the right item, etc. Focusing research efforts on methods of developing understanding of the spoken language and acquiring speaking skills, along with the conviction that reading is too difficult for pupils who have just entered school, have led teachers to underestimate the role of reading in the process of foreign language learning in young children. Although several progammes centred around stories and fairy tales have already been tested and popularized, (for example, Brewster and Ellis 1991, Briggs and Ellis 1995, Wood 1994) these mainly exploit the content of the texts in the oral form. Brewster and Ellis, for instance, stated in their handbook for teachers that they only used one copy of a book in class-to read the stories out loud to their students. It will be

Stories for thinking‐‐the Philosophy in Primary Schools (PIPS) project∗

Stories have long been seen as a natural stimulus for discussion and investigation in primary schools. The focus of this paper is to show ways that stories can be used to generate philosophical discussion and so develop the thinking and literacy skills of primary children (Years 1‐6). Lessons using philosophy with children have been given in a number of primary schools in the London area during 1993/94 as part of a continuing programme of research at the Centre for Thinking Skills into Cognitive Enrichment in the Early Years. The paper charts a theoretical background for the research, and draws on findings from the project to show how stories can be used to generate higher order thinking and language learning in young children. ∗An account of research into the use of stories for developing thinking skills through philosophy with young children in primary schools

Accelerating language learning in young children.

ABSTRACTTo examine the effects of direct intervention on language learning, 18 children ranging in age from 3;6 to 4;6 were systematically taught linguistic structures still beyond their developmental grasp. Four types of relative clause sentences were trained, using a toy manipulation task. Solid improvement was found in the performance of subjects in the two experimental conditions between the Pre- and Post-test Phases. No significant improvement was demonstrated by the control condition subjects. This successful outcome is viewed as demonstrating that the language learning process is somewhat independent of cognitive development. In addition, error response analyses indicated that the First Noun strategy accounted for the majority of errors, providing support for the canonical–sentoid hypothesis.