Tidlig språkkartlegging, til barnets beste?

Den offentlige debatten om språkkartlegging av barne­hagebarn er i stor grad preget av ytterpunkter, og argu mentene som brukes for eller mot kartlegging har ofte grunnlag i ideologiske motsetninger. Det er uheldig for både praksisfeltet og den faglige utviklingen i barne­språkfeltet at denne debatten får være så polarisert. Tidlig språkkartlegging er et komplekst fenomen og i praktisk virksomhet vil de vurdering ene en gjør måtte ta hensyn til hele mangfoldet av pro og contra­argumenter. Vi vil i denne artikkelen drøfte språk kartleggings rolle i praktisk pedagogisk og spesialpedagogisk virksomhet i lys av prinsippet «til barnets beste»

Re-conceptualizing "directiveness" in educational dialogues: A contrastive study of interactions in preschool and special education

This study investigated the role of teacher directiveness in educational dialogues as it relates to several types of dyads and child engagement. The effect of directive teacher behavior, such as the use of instructions and commands, on children's engagement and learning is a controversial matter in the field of educational research. Two types of dyads were examined: typically developing children and their preschool teachers (PreschDyads) and children with Down syndrome and their special education teachers (SpecEdDyads). Fourteen Norwegian dyads participated in the study and were videotaped while solving a construction task. The results indicated higher levels of teacher directiveness in the SpecEdDyads. Children with Down syndrome showed lower levels of engagement with the task than the typically developing children did. However, closer examination of the results of the SpecEdDyads with the highest scores in teacher directiveness revealed that these children scored above their group average on engagement. The pattern differed in the PreschDyads, in which the least directive teachers interacted with the most engaged children. A qualitative analysis of dialogue excerpts suggested that in educational contexts in which a child struggles with goal-oriented engagement, emotionally supportive teacher directives may generate joint problem solving, thereby enabling children to successfully complete cognitively demanding tasks that they may not be able to complete independently. In the PreschDyads, the children appeared to be more self-motivated and less dependent on directive support. These findings extend our knowledge of the qualities and functions of teacher directiveness in educational dialogues by illuminating how the individually adapted use of directives may enhance child engagement and learning

Contributions of the Home Literacy Environment and Underlying Language Skills to Preschool Invented Writing

This study aimed to enhance our knowledge of the constituent variables affecting invented writing skills in 5-year-olds by investigating the concurrent relationships among home literacy, underlying language skills, and invented writing. The study comprised 111 Norwegian-speaking children (mean age: 5.7 years; 58 girls) and their parents. The children’s language skills were tested individually. The results showed that, on average, children achieved low scores on tests of word writing; however, the within-group variations in the children’s invented writing performances were large. The statistical modeling showed that parental education was significantly related to the home literacy environment, which was, in turn, directly related to both vocabulary and phonological awareness and indirectly related to invented writing skills. Implications of the findings are discussed

Barnehagelæreres samtalestrategier og fem-seks-åringers deltakelse i utvidende samtaler

I denne casestudien undersøkte vi hvordan kvaliteter ved barnehagelæreres samtalestrategier legger til rette for barns deltakelse i utvidende samtaler. Vi studerte samtaler mellom barnehagelærere og barn i fem-seks-årsalderen i en dyrelekssituasjon. Totalt syv barn– barnehagelærer- samspill ble filmet, transkribert og kodet ifølge en tilpasset versjon av Initiativ– Respons-analyse (I-R-analyse) som avdekket symmetri- og koherensmønstre i turtakingen (Linell & Gustavsson, 1987). Med utgangspunkt i samspillenes turtakingsprofil (I-R-profil) gjennomførte vi kvalitative innholdsanalyser av de fire dyadene (samspillene) der barnehagelærer tok henholdsvis flest sterke og flest svake initiativ. Analysen avdekket hvordan barnehagelærerne på ulike måter muliggjorde barnas deltakelse i samlek som involverte dem i utvidende samtaler. I tråd med tidligere forskning fant vi at initiativ rettet mot sentrale sider ved det barnet til enhver tid er opptatt av bidro til samtaler over flere turer. Vi registrerte flere tilfeller av «late-som-lek», det vil si lek som ofte inviterer til å samtale om forhold utover «her-og-nå». Leken hadde imidlertid en konkret forankring i de fysiske lekene «her-og-nå». Dermed fikk også partenes «late-som-ytringer» et feste i den umiddelbare situasjonen. Betydningen av utvidende samtaler som en del av barnehagens språkmiljø diskuteres. Artikkelen bygger på masteroppgaven til Røe-Indregård (2013)

Barnehagelæreres samtalestrategier og fem-seks-åringers deltakelse i utvidende samtaler

I denne casestudien undersøkte vi hvordan kvaliteter ved barnehagelæreres samtalestrategier legger til rette for barns deltakelse i utvidende samtaler. Vi studerte samtaler mellom barnehagelærere og barn i fem-seks-årsalderen i en dyrelekssituasjon. Totalt syv barn– barnehage lærer-samspill ble filmet, transkribert og kodet ifølge en tilpasset versjon av Initiativ–Respons-analyse (I-R-analyse) som avdekket symmetri- og koherensmønstre i turtakingen (Linell & Gustavsson, 1987). Med utgangspunkt i samspillenes turtakings profil (I-R-profil) gjennomførte vi kvalitative innholdsanalyser av de fire dyadene (samspillene) der barnehage lærer tok henholdsvis flest sterke og flest svake initiativ. Analysen avdekket hvordan barne hagelærerne på ulike måter muliggjorde barnas deltakelse i samlek som involverte dem i utvidende samtaler. I tråd med tidligere forskning fant vi at initiativ rettet mot sentrale sider ved det barnet til enhver tid er opptatt av bidro til samtaler over flere turer. Vi registrerte flere tilfeller av «late-som-lek», det vil si lek som ofte inviterer til å samtale om forhold utover «her-og-nå». Leken hadde imidlertid en konkret forankring i de fysiske lekene «her-og-nå». Dermed fikk også partenes «late-som-ytringer» et feste i den umiddelbare situasjonen. Betydningen av utvidende samtaler som en del av barnehagens språkmiljø diskuteres. Artikkelen bygger på masteroppgaven til Røe-Indregård (2013)

Immediate and delayed effects of invented writing intervention in preschool

This study examined the effects of a 10 week invented writing program with five-year-old preschoolers (mean age 5.7 years) on their immediate post intervention literacy skills and also the facilitative effects of the intervention on the subsequent learning to read during the first 6 months of schooling. The study included 105 children (54 girls) from 12 preschools in Norway. The preschools were randomly assigned to the experimental group with the invented writing program, or the control group with the ordinary program offered to preschoolers. The classroom-based programs (40 sessions) were conducted by the children’s regular teachers. The children’s emergent literacy skills were evaluated using a pre-test, a post-test and a follow-up test 6 months later, and the data were analyzed using latent autoregressive models. The results showed that the invented writing group performed significantly better than the control group on the post-test for the measures of phoneme awareness (d = .54), spelling (d = .65) and word reading (d = .36). Additionally, indirect effects were observed on the delayed follow-up tests on phoneme awareness (d = .45), spelling (d = .48) and word reading (d = .26). In conclusion, we argue that invented writing appeared to smooth the progress of emergent literacy skills in preschool, including the subsequent reading development in school. Contextualized in a semi-consistent orthography and a preschool tradition that does not encourage the learning of written language skills, the findings add to our knowledge of how children learn to write and read

Screening for Language Delay: Growth Trajectories of Language Ability in Low- and High-Performing Children

Purpose This study investigated the stability and growth of preschool language skills and explores latent class analysis as an approach for identifying children at risk of language impairment. Method The authors present data from a large-scale 2-year longitudinal study, in which 600 children were assessed with a language-screening tool (LANGUAGE4) at age 4 years. A subsample (n = 206) was assessed on measures of sentence repetition, vocabulary, and grammatical knowledge at ages 4, 5, and 6 years. Results A global latent language factor showed a high degree of longitudinal stability in children between the ages of 4 to 6 years. A low-performing group showing a language deficit compared to their age peers at age 4 was identified on the basis of the LANGUAGE4. The growth-rates during this 2-year time period were parallel for the low-performing and 3 higher performing groups of children. Conclusions There is strong stability in children's language skills between the ages of 4 and 6 years. The results demonstrate that a simple language screening measure can successfully identify a low-performing group of children who show persistent language weaknesses between the ages of 4 and 6 years

Sentence repetition is a measure of children’s language skills rather than working memory limitations

Sentence repetition tasks are widely used in the diagnosis and assessment of children with language difficulties. This paper seeks to clarify the nature of sentence repetition tasks and their relationship to other language skills. We present the results from a 2-year longitudinal study of 216 children. Children were assessed on measures of sentence repetition, vocabulary knowledge and grammatical skills three times at approximately yearly intervals starting at age 4. Sentence repetition was not a unique longitudinal predictor of the growth of language skills. A unidimensional language latent factor (defined by sentence repetition, vocabulary knowledge and grammatical skills) provided an excellent fit to the data, and language abilities showed a high degree of longitudinal stability. Sentence repetition is best seen as a reflection of an underlying language ability factor rather than as a measure of a separate construct with a specific role in language processing. Sentence repetition appears to be a valuable tool for language assessment because it draws upon a wide range of language processing skills

The literacy environment of preschool classrooms in three Nordic countries: challenges in a multilingual and digital society

This study investigates the physical literacy environment of preschools in three Nordic countries. The environments were assessed using an observation protocol in a total of 131 classrooms with children aged between one and seven in Sweden, Norway and Finland. The results showed that children’s books were common and accessible in all three countries. Half of the preschools had a writing centre, and digital devices were available in less than half of them. Multilingual children were present in 82% of the classrooms, but texts and books in the multilingual children’s first languages were rare. Taken together, the results suggest that children’s books were the main gateway to literacy in these preschools, while artefacts supporting writing skills and digital literacy were less common. The findings indicate that the physical environment in these preschools did not reflect the ongoing societal changes towards increased multimodal literacy