Australian Early Childhood Teachers’ Training in Language and Literacy: A Nation-Wide Review of Pre-Service Course Content

Early childhood teachers are well-positioned to maximise preschoolers’ development in oral language and emergent literacy; both of which are vital predictors of academic success at school. Research investigating their pre-service training in language and emergent literacy remains limited. This issue is addressed in the present study, with the first nation-wide review of the oral language and emergent literacy course content across all 84 Australian early childhood teacher pre-service courses. Qualitative Content Analysis was employed to gain an overview of language and emergent literacy teaching content reported in publicly available course documents. Study findings demonstrated large variation in the oral language and emergent literacy course content reported. The results showed that course content on the structure of language and code-related skills including phonological awareness and concepts of print, do not feature prominently across pre-service course documents. Further, course content on evidence-based strategies to foster children’s oral language and emergent literacy development, such as dialogic book reading, and intentional adult-child interactions were also limited. Findings are discussed with respect to their implications for preparing early childhood teachers to support the oral language and emergent literacy growth of preschooler

The role of background knowledge in reading comprehension: A critical review

© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. A critical review was conducted to determine the influence background knowledge has on the reading comprehension of primary school-aged children. We identified twenty-three studies that met our criteria and focused on the links between background knowledge and reading comprehension of children in the mid to late primary years. Review findings highlight that higher levels of background knowledge have a range of effects that are influenced by the nature of the text, the quality of the situation model required, and the presence of reader misconceptions about the text. Our findings also indicate that background knowledge impacts differentially on stronger and weaker readers. Readers with lower background knowledge appear to benefit more from text with high cohesion, while weaker readers were able to compensate somewhat for their relatively weak reading skills in the context of a high degree of background knowledge. Implications of the findings for early years classroom practice are outlined, together with suggested future research directions

Elementary teachers\u27 perspectives on teaching reading comprehension

PURPOSE: We report findings from a survey of elementary teachers regarding reading instruction. The purpose was to examine teachers\u27 beliefs about how children in the first 7 years of schooling develop reading comprehension skills and to characterize the self-reported practices and strategies they use to support children to comprehend connected text. METHOD: A web-based survey was used to collect data from 284 Australian elementary teachers about their beliefs and practices regarding reading comprehension instruction. Selected Likert-scale items were aggregated to determine the degree to which participants held child-centered or content-centered views of reading instruction. RESULTS: Australian elementary school teachers hold a wide range of beliefs about reading instruction, some of which are in direct opposition to each other. Our findings indicate low consensus about what elements of instructional practice are useful in classrooms or how time should be apportioned to different tasks. Commercial programs had significant penetration in schools, and many participants reported using multiple commercial programs, with varying degrees of pedagogical harmony. Participants indicated that their most common source of knowledge about reading instruction was their own personal research, with few nominating university teacher education as a primary source of knowledge or expertise. CONCLUSIONS: Little agreement exists within the Australian elementary teacher community regarding the ways that reading skills can and should be taught. There is significant room for teacher practice to have improved theoretical underpinnings and to develop a consistent repertoire of classroom practices aligned with these

Educators’ perspectives about teaching and supporting students with learning difficulties in reading

We explored the perspectives of school-based educators located in Victoria, Australia, regarding their support of students who have reading difficulties. An anonymous survey was completed by 523 participants, including educators, educational leaders and Student Support Services staff. Results revealed multiple areas of concern related to their capacity to work on reading intervention with these students. Although participants reported that students with reading difficulties were present in most classes, confidence to work effectively with these students was mixed. They described feeling poorly prepared by preservice programs and indicated that insufficient time and mentorship prevented them from serving these students optimally. As a group, they privileged many approaches that align with best practice for struggling readers, such as explicit instruction, but perceived that such practices are not always feasible to implement. Support was also strong for practices considered non-evidence-based, such as adhering to students’ preferred ‘learning-style’. Recommendations for school-based practice, with a specific focus on students with reading dif- ficulties, are made

Making sense of qualitative data

The analysis of qualitative data is a rich experience that requires the researcher to combine creative and reflective thinking alongside systematic and rigorous standards of empirical enquiry. As such, the process of qualitative analysis is data-based and data-driven (Bogdan & Biklen 2007). There are several analytical approaches available to the qualitative researcher in order to be able to turn data, which is often voluminous, into ‘a clear, understandable, insightful, trustworthy and even original analysis’ (Gibbs 2007, p. 1). In this chapter we will focus on two more commonly used approaches: content analysis and thematic analysis

Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS)

Over the last two decades, computers have had an extensive impact on our lives. and not surprisingly, this is the case when we do research. For qualitative research, as in other fields of research, the use of computers has gained increasing prominence in both data collection and data analysis. 'Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software' (CAQDAS), a term first coined by Lee and Fielding {1991), refers to specifically designed software programs for analysing your data (see CHAPTERS 5, 6, 7, 8, 23). In this chapter we will briefly discuss some of the key functions available via CAQDAS. We will also describe how we have adopted this software in our own research, along with the circumstances when we have decided not to use it. We do not present a step-by-step approach to using computer programs (see Bryman 2012, ch. 25; Gibbs 2008, ch. 8 for such detail), nor do we promote any one program over another. As Bryman (2012, p. 592) notes, there is 'no industry leader' with regard to computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software options

The in-depth interviewing method in health

Among qualitative research methods, in-depth inte rviewing is the most commonly known and is widely employed (Patton 2002; Kvale 2007; Minichiello et al. 2008; King & Horrocks 2010; Bryman 2012; Gubrium et al. 2012; Liamputtong 2013). Conversation itself is a fundamental means of interaction among individuals in society. Through conversation, Kvale (2007) contends, individuals have an opportunity to know others, to learn about their feelings, their experiences, and the world in which they live. So if we wish to learn how people see their world, we need to talk with people (see also CHAPTER 8). Interviews in social research are seen as 'special conversations'. In an interview conversation, the researcher asks questions and then listens to what individuals say about their lived experiences, such as their dreams, fears and hopes. The researcher will then hear about the interviewees' perspectives in their own words, and learn about their family and social life and work (Kvale 2007). Most people, including researchers, will claim that they know about in-depth interviews, and that it is not difficult to ask questions and talk to people. But conducting a quality in-depth interview requires a lot more preparation and skill than just asking questions and talking to people. There are many salient matters and techniques that qualitative researchers must consider to enable the eliciting of rich, detailed and accurate information from their participants

Oral language predictors for the at-risk reader : a review

The importance of early identification of at-risk readers has received attention in recent literature. This paper reviews evidence for oral language components, shown to have predictive capacity to identify at-risk readers at an early age. Both phonological and non-phonological components of oral language difficulties are linked to poor reading outcomes in a majority of children. At-risk preschoolers may present with phonological deficits, sub-clinical or clinical language impairment. The nature and importantly the trajectory of reading difficulty will vary, depending on the area of language breakdown. Irrespective, difficulty with reading comprehension is likely to result. Importantly, the variation in the trajectory of reading difficulty means that some children may struggle during the initial phases of learning to read, whereas others may experience initial success, but encounter difficulties at a later point when reading demands increase. Clinical implications for speech-language pathology assessment practices and ongoing monitoring of oral language and reading skills are discussed