Language intervention research in early childhood care and education: A systematic survey of the literature (original) (raw)
Related papers
Efficacy of language intervention in the early years
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2012
Background: Oral language skills in the preschool and early school years are critical to educational success and provide the foundations for the later development of reading comprehension. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 180 children from 15 UK nursery schools (n = 12 from each setting; M age = 4;0) were randomly allocated to receive a 30-week oral language intervention or to a waiting control group. Children in the intervention group received 30 weeks of oral language intervention, beginning in nursery (preschool), in three group sessions per week, continuing with daily sessions on transition to Reception class (pre-Year 1). The intervention was delivered by nursery staff and teaching assistants trained and supported by the research team. Following screening, children were assessed preintervention, following completion of the intervention and after a 6-month delay. Results: Children in the intervention group showed significantly better performance on measures of oral language and spoken narrative skills than children in the waiting control group immediately after the 30 week intervention and after a 6 month delay. Gains in word-level literacy skills were weaker, though clear improvements were observed on measures of phonological awareness. Importantly, improvements in oral language skills generalized to a standardized measure of reading comprehension at maintenance test. Conclusions: Early intervention for children with oral language difficulties is effective and can successfully support the skills, which underpin reading comprehension.
2017
This review has been commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation and Public Health England to identify priorities for improving practice in the support and management of children with delays in early language development between birth and five years (72 months). In addition, it has the specific objectives of highlighting interventions that have the greatest potential to improve children's life chances, reduce inequalities in outcomes, and potentially inform further rounds of research funded by the EEF. The review starts with an overview of the most recent findings associated with our understanding of early language and preliteracy development. It goes on to look at prevalence and at the proportion of children not attaining the appropriate levels of attainment in the early years. It then turns to interventions, their efficacy and effectiveness, and contextual factors that affect their implementation. Finally, we move on to the way that services are delivered on the ground in England and highlight the profile of five local authorities, the services they deliver, and factors affecting that delivery. The review ends with a summary of the main findings and recommendations for which interventions could usefully be taken forward. In the Appendices we provide summaries of the interventions identified and a table of interventions and their outcomes and then provide some additional details about the five case studies identified in Chapter 5. Early language development Early language development generally progresses through a series of distinct but overlapping stages and the majority of children follow similar patterns in a given language, albeit at different rates. Although language acquisition is a very robust process there is evidence that the rate at which children develop language is sensitive to the amount of input they receive from the adults around them. The quality of input that children receive is likely to be more important than the quantity. Children's gestures, such as pointing, are important precursors of subsequent language development. There are a number of well-developed measures of early language development. Some directly test receptive and expressive language skills, other rely on parental report. Although children often have different patterns of interaction as they start to speak (some use lots of words, others combine words very early on in their development), broadly speaking children need to be using between 50 and 100 words before they start putting words together into word combinations or proto-sentences. At some point between two and three years of age, children typically start to produce longer, more complex sentences, and begin to include function words (for example pronouns like I/you/he, auxiliary verbs like can/will/might, articles like a/the) and word endings/ morphology (such as dogs, finished). Putting words together may be a better predictor of later abilities than the number of words that a child uses.
Randomized Trial of a Population-Based, Home-Delivered Intervention for Preschool Language Delay
PEDIATRICS, 2013
Relationships between child language development and temperament have been little studied in young children, although it is known that children with language impairment are at risk in a number of domains of psychosocial development involving temperamental influences. Aims: To investigate the relationships between temperament and language development, along with child behavioural adjustment and maternal psychosocial factors.
Journal of Modern Rehabilitation, 2022
In recent years, some studies have indicated that some aspects of language performance of children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families are lower in language tests. Appropriate and timely interventions can partially prevent communication problems in these children. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a parental education program on word acquisition rates in Iranian toddlers from low SES families. Materials and Methods: Sixty-six mothers (toddlers aged 12-14 months) participated in this randomized controlled trial study. These mothers were allocated to the experimental group and control group using the randomization method of the permuted block (each block=6). After baseline assessments, mothers in the experimental group received parental education program aimed at enriching the mother-child interactions and mothers' knowledge of communication development for 9 weeks. The control group did not receive any education. The outcome measures were children's scores on the Persian version of the McArthur-Bates communicative development inventories and mothers' scores in multiple-choice exams regarding workshops' contents. Data were analyzed using of Chi-square test, independent t test and paired samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Both groups had a significant increase in vocabulary size, while changes in the experimental group were more than double that of the control group (P\u003c0.001). Other aspects of communicative behaviors, such as imitation, naming, and intentionality were changed only in the experimental group according to the course of typical development (P\u003c0.001). Mothers significantly got higher scores after the workshops in a multiple-choice exam regarding children's communication, language, and interaction (P\u003c0.001). Conclusion: The results demonstrate that mothers' knowledge of communication development is malleable and probably has positive effects on the communication behaviors of toddlers from low SES backgrounds.
PsycEXTRA Dataset
Early childhood represents a critical period in the development of young children's language and literacy skills. Children's experiences both inside the home and in early care and education settings play a significant role in the development of their emerging language and literacy skills. Early childhood interventions and curricula have been designed to promote children's development in language and literacy. Results from experimental evaluations of approaches have suggested that children's literacy skills can be influenced by effective early childhood programs. Given the importance of the early childhood period as a time when the foundation is laid for later language and literacy, it is important to determine what activities and experiences lead to positive language and literacy outcomes in early childhood. This Fact Sheet reviews fifteen experimentally-evaluated programs and intervention strategies that were primarily focused on improving early language and literacy skills. The review does not include comprehensive early childhood programs or early intervention strategies that may produce literacy and language outcomes, such as Even Start, Head Start, the Carolina Abecedarian Project, Tools of the Mind, or Ready to Learn. In addition, this Fact Sheet is not an exhaustive list of effective early language and literacy programs and interventions. Rather, it is an overview of experimentally evaluated programs and intervention strategies that have been identified for Child Trends' database of random assignment, intent-to-treat studies of social interventions for children and youth-LINKS (Lifecourse Interventions to Nurture Kids Successfully). 1 The interventions presented in this review focus on strategies to directly improve specific aspects of young children's language or literacy skills (e.g., vocabulary development, print knowledge, listening skills). A table summarizes literacy and language interventions that have been found to be effective, or not, in producing results for specific outcomes. It is important to note that some interventions may have been successful in producing growth in one area of development (e.g., expressive vocabulary development 2), but less effective in affecting change in other areas (e.g., phonological awareness 3). 1 http://www.childtrends.org/links If programs evaluated with a random assignment, intent-to-treat evaluation have been overlooked, please submit the evaluation at http://mercury.charlesworks.com/\~admin23/LINKS/PS/index.php. 2 See Appendix A for a glossary of terms. 3 See Appendix A for a glossary of terms.
Efficacy of a parent-implemented early language intervention based on collaborative consultation
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 1998
A group of ve preschool children with developmental disability and their mothers participated in a study into the eYcacy of a parent-implemented language intervention. Each parent was included in the team as a consultee, with a speech pathologist and special educator acting as consultants within a collaborative consultation process. Treatment for each child was developed using this process, with speci c strategies to increase language production skills decided by the team. Strategies were used within an interactive model of early language intervention. The eVectiveness of treatment was determined within a multiple baseline design. For three children, the impact of treatment was evident, but the results were not replicated for the other two children. Descriptive analysis of mothers' communicative behaviours indicated that, following treatment, they tended to direct more utterances to their children, used more models, fewer questions and directives, and more (although limited) teaching strategies.
BMC Pediatrics, 2012
Background: Early language delay is a high-prevalence condition of concern to parents and professionals. It may result in lifelong deficits not only in language function, but also in social, emotional/behavioural, academic and economic well-being. Such delays can lead to considerable costs to the individual, the family and to society more widely. The Language for Learning trial tests a population-based intervention in 4 year olds with measured language delay, to determine (1) if it improves language and associated outcomes at ages 5 and 6 years and (2) its cost-effectiveness for families and the health care system. Methods/Design: A large-scale randomised trial of a year-long intervention targeting preschoolers with language delay, nested within a well-documented, prospective, population-based cohort of 1464 children in Melbourne, Australia. All children received a 1.25-1.5 hour formal language assessment at their 4 th birthday. The 200 children with expressive and/or receptive language scores more than 1.25 standard deviations below the mean were randomised into intervention or 'usual care' control arms. The 20-session intervention program comprises 18 one-hour home-based therapeutic sessions in three 6-week blocks, an outcome assessment, and a final feed-back/forward planning session. The therapy utilises a 'step up-step down' therapeutic approach depending on the child's language profile, severity and progress, with standardised, manualised activities covering the four language development domains of: vocabulary and grammar; narrative skills; comprehension monitoring; and phonological awareness/pre-literacy skills. Blinded follow-up assessments at ages 5 and 6 years measure the primary outcome of receptive and expressive language, and secondary outcomes of vocabulary, narrative, and phonological skills.
Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
can manifest as long-term achievement gaps. 12 Improving child outcomes by supporting high-quality early language interaction represents a public health need. Caregiver-implemented early language intervention is an evidence-based approach for supporting language development. 11,12 Designing and implementing effective interventions is challenging, particularly with underserved or high-risk populations. The families with the greatest need for services are often the hardest to reach. 13,14 Furthermore, there is a need for balance between efficiency and individualization;
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2001
This paper tests whether two prelinguistic communication interventions have a differential effect on productive and receptive language development 6 and 12 months after the end of treatment. We predicted that treatment effects on language development would vary as a function of pretreatment maternal responsivity or amount of mothers' formal education. Fifty-eight prelinguistic children with developmental delays and their mothers participated in the study. Children were randomly assigned to one of two staff-implemented treatments that were designed to increase intentional communication ability. Results confirmed the prediction that treatment effects on children's receptive and expressive language 6 and 12 months after the end of interventions vary as a function of pretreatment maternal responsivity and education level.