Enhancing preschoolers reasoning skills : an intervention to optimise the use of justificatory speech acts during peer interaction

It has long been acknowledged that justificatory speech is linked with both social and cognitive development. Yet many studies suggest that pre-school children might lack the ability or experience to produce such discourse in routine interaction. In contrast, researchers such as Eisenberg and Garvey (1981) have found evidence of pre-schoolers' justifications in conflictual play contexts. Although this has positive implications for child development, the conflictual context may sit uneasily with parents' and teachers' expectations. It is encouraging therefore that McWilliam (1999) has demonstrated that pre-schoolers can produce justificatory dialogue in both conflictual and nonconflictual situations, even if occurrence in the latter context is less frequent. Based on this, the aim of the present study was to encourage pre-schoolers' production of justificatory discourse during peer exchanges in a non-conflictual context. Twenty-two dyads from a state-run nursery were subject to verbal modelling of either justificatory speech (experimental condition) or a more commonly used alternative (control condition) in daily ten-minute sessions over five consecutive days. All interactions were videorecorded for subsequent coding and analysis. Results showed that both 'why' questions and 'justifications' were significantly higher in the experimental condition, indicating that pre-schoolers' explanatory speech can be effectively enhanced by a cooperative intervention programme

Assessing Vocabulary of Children: Investigating the Evaluation and Instruction of Basic Concepts

Vocabulary knowledge of preschool children is a key factor in predicting literacy success in elementary school (Hammer, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2010). However, few deliberate attempts to teach basic concept vocabulary have been studied (Bowers & Schwarz, 2013; Wilson, 2004). The purpose of this research is to determine if large group explicit instruction with interactive activities of specific basic concept vocabulary will increase preschool children\u27s understanding of basic concept terms when measured by a standardized basic concept assessment. This research will also assess the validity of a basic concept-curriculum based measure (BC-CBM) as an efficient tool to monitor a child\u27s understanding of basic concept vocabulary over time. There were 30 preschool children (M age=53.8 months) who participated in this experiment. Results demonstrated the standardized assessment and BC-BM raw scores improved through intervention. Further research is supported to evaluate the BC-CBM on a larger scale and control for more factors, which influence vocabulary development in children. Keywords: basic concept, vocabulary, preschool, assessmen

Targeting the expressive language of children with Down syndrome who are minimally verbal : bridging research and practice

textChildren with Down syndrome present with an array of physical and cognitive sequelae that can hinder speech and language development. These individuals can constitute a considerable portion of a speech-language pathologist’s caseload. Based on the principles of best evidence, clinicians are ethically responsible for providing the most effective treatment for their clients. The available literature focuses mainly on describing the linguistic characteristics in this population, while relatively less focus is placed on effective intervention programs. This paper investigates the available evidence regarding speech and language interventions for children with Down syndrome who are in the mild to moderate range of linguistic functioning, and provides an outlook for future research based on best evidence.Communication Sciences and Disorder

Education and Achievement: A Focus on Latino "Immigrant" Children

Describes the Institute for Teaching English Language Learners' comprehensive program to boost English language learners' academic achievement by optimizing the environment, supporting teachers, increasing learning opportunities, and engaging families

Speech-Language Pathologists Collaborating with Head Start to Improve Children’s Early Language and Literacy Skills: Efficacy and Intensity Effects

The current study examined the efficacy of a speech-language pathologist–designed and implemented emergent literacy program for Head Start preschoolers and the influence of intensity of intervention on children’s gains. Results indicated that children who participated in the intervention program exhibited greater gains than the control group on oral language, phonological awareness, and alphabet/print knowledge. Children who received a higher dosage of intervention made greater gains on vocabulary and oral language compared to the lower intensity group. Speech-language pathologists may be valuable collaborators in promoting emergent literacy skills in at-risk children