Language Intervention in Early Childhood

Developments in early intervention have paralleled those in early language intervention. Such parallels are not surprising given that general early childhood special education and language intervention practices have been influenced by the same theories of development and learning. In addition, because of the importance of communication to learning and academic achievement, and the prevalence of communication problems in children with special needs, language intervention has been fundamental to early intervention services and, reciprocally, language intervention practices have been challenged as a result of changes in early childhood services. In light of this relationship, this paper provides a focus on developments in language intervention within a framework of early intervention.     

在传承民族传统优秀文化中促进少数民族幼儿全面发展

每个少数民族都有自己独特的物质文化与精神文化.少数民族幼儿教育应继承和发扬本民族的传统优秀文化,才能促进本民族幼儿的全面健康和谐发展.然而当前无论是少数民族幼儿园还是少数民族年轻一代的家长都盲目遵从城市主流汉文化,在教育内容与方式上没有体现本民族的文化特色.为促进少数民族幼儿民族认同感与民族自豪感的形成,促进少数民族幼儿社会性的积极健康发展,少数民族幼儿园与家长应积极创设富有民族特色的教育环境,带领幼儿感受传统民族节日与风情,为幼儿提供丰富多彩的具有民族文化内涵的教育活动,并在言传身教中培养幼儿具备本民族的传统美德.     

幼儿语言交流的价值、现状及其教育策略

幼儿之间的语言交流对幼儿语言的习得、认知的发展以及人际交往能力的改善都具有非常重要的意义.目前幼儿园的语言交往教育尚不能满足幼儿的发展需要,主要表现为教师对幼儿交谈缺乏关注,对儿童的交流缺乏有效引导,没有为儿童提供充足的交流时间等.因此,幼儿教师应帮助幼儿树立语言交往的信心,以幼儿感兴趣的内容和形式激发幼儿语言表达的欲望,并为幼儿提供充足的交流时间,在教学活动中有意识地提高幼儿交流的技能,从而促进幼儿语言交流水平的提高.     

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Math-Mediated Language

This study argues that maximizing early childhood educators' abilities to create social opportunities for co-construction of knowledge rests on two understudied assumptions, one theoretical and one empirical. Theoretically this study rejects the notion of language as an impartial conveyor of knowledge in favor of one in which math and language interact. This alternative framework is termed Math- Mediated Language (MML) and argues that the perception of common terms that adults possess is an important part of the knowledge that practitioners possess about linking conceptually related linguistic and mathematical knowledge. Empirical findings from a survey recording participants' reactions to seven categories of terms with mathematical meanings and three categories of distracter terms were analyzed. The data indicated that when asked to think about math, practitioners more readily accessed words for operation terms than relational terms. Additionally, participants demonstrated stronger tendencies toward additive terms conveying addition or subtraction concepts over multiplicative ones conveying multiplication or division concepts. The findings point to patterns in the ways that participants view mathematical language demonstrating that language interacts with even simple interpretations of basic mathematical terminology. The implications of this are that practitioners interpretations of everyday language may influence their ability to see opportunities for teaching mathematical concepts not only in the context of an explicit math lesson but throughout the broader early childhood curriculum.     

Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Math-Mediated Language

This study argues that maximizing early childhood educators' abilities to create social opportunities for co-construction of knowledge rests on two understudied assumptions, one theoretical and one empirical. Theoretically this study rejects the notion of language as an impartial conveyor of knowledge in favor of one in which math and language interact. This alternative framework is termed Math- Mediated Language (MML) and argues that the perception of common terms that adults possess is an important part of the knowledge that practitioners possess about linking conceptually related linguistic and mathematical knowledge. Empirical findings from a survey recording participants' reactions to seven categories of terms with mathematical meanings and three categories of distracter terms were analyzed. The data indicated that when asked to think about math, practitioners more readily accessed words for operation terms than relational terms. Additionally, participants demonstrated stronger tendencies toward additive terms conveying addition or subtraction concepts over multiplicative ones conveying multiplication or division concepts. The findings point to patterns in the ways that participants view mathematical language demonstrating that language interacts with even simple interpretations of basic mathematical terminology. The implications of this are that practitioners interpretations of everyday language may influence their ability to see opportunities for teaching mathematical concepts not only in the context of an explicit math lesson but throughout the broader early childhood curriculum.     

Early Communicative Gestures Prospectively Predict Language Development and Executive Function in Early Childhood

Using an epidemiological sample (N = 1,117) and a prospective longitudinal design, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of preverbal and verbal communication (15 months to 3 years) on executive function (EF) at age 4 years. Results indicated that whereas gestures (15 months), as well as language (2 and 3 years), were correlated with later EF (φ_s ≥ .44), the effect was entirely mediated through later language. In contrast, language had significant direct and indirect effects on later EF. Exploratory analyses indicated that the pattern of results was comparable for low‐ and not‐low‐income families. The results were consistent with theoretical accounts of language as a precursor of EF ability, and highlighted gesture as an early indicator of EF.     

Maternal Support for Play and Language across Early Childhood

Patterns of development in language and play for full term and preterm children from 6 to 54 months and the effects of maternal parenting strategies (i.e., maintaining attentional focus, use of directiveness) were examined. Significant risk differences in the growth of both language and play were found. The high risk children were more likely to show delays in both these skills. Maintaining had a positive influence on children's skills, while directiveness had a largely negative influence, especially at older ages. The relation between growth in play and language was stronger for the high risk, preterm, when compared to the low risk and full term, children, but only during the infancy and toddler period. Given that play and language development is more likely to be delayed for preterm, high-risk children and the relation between the development of these skills is stronger for high risk preterm children, particularly early, it would be important to provide the parents and educators with information about play and language development. For example, communicating the need to be consistent in using some interactive behaviors (e.g., maintaining) as children develop while modifying other behaviors (e.g., directiveness) would be essential.     

隔代抚养家庭幼儿语言教育的问题及对策

隔代抚养是目前社会广泛存在的一种家庭教育方式,在幼儿阶段最为普遍。幼儿期是孩子语言发展的关键期,而隔代抚养对孩子的语音、语言运用乃至社会交往等方面都有不同程度的影响。文章分析了隔代抚养的家庭中幼儿语言教育的现状、问题,并从呼吁父母参与幼儿教育、祖辈更新教育观念、家园配合共同促进幼儿发展、优化社区资源创造良好氛围几方面提出优化策略。     

元语言意识与儿童早期书面语言获得

儿童早期书面语言的获得,包括早期阅读能力和早期书写能力的发展,它与儿童语言的全面发展及今后的学业成就密切相关。元语言意识,包括语音意识、正字法意识、语素意识、词意识等,与儿童早期读写能力的发展密切相关。幼儿园语言教育应关注儿童早期语言发展的全面性,正确认识早期阅读活动,同时重视与早期书面语言获得密切相关的一般认知能力的培养。     

绘画在幼儿语言教育中的应用分析

幼儿期是人一生中语言学习的最佳时机,良好的语言教育不仅能促进幼儿语言表达能力的发展,同时对幼儿认知、社会性的发展也产生积极的影响。绘画作为一种特殊的语言符号,在幼儿语言教育中深受幼儿的喜爱,有助于提高幼儿语言教育质量。将绘画应用在幼儿语言教育中的途径为:创设绘画环境,提供幼儿说话的源泉;参与绘画指导,引导幼儿在绘画中随机渗透语言;讲述绘画作品,提高幼儿语言表达能力;运用记录与分析,增强幼儿语言学习效果。     

全语言教育理念下的幼儿早期阅读

幼儿早期阅读的重要性早已得到广大教育者的认可和重视,但目前在幼儿早期阅读实践中存在着大量问题,已严重影响了幼儿早期阅读作用的发挥。本文将幼儿早期阅读置于全语言教育的视域下进行考察,提出整体性学习、整合性学习、开放式语言教学等建议,以为提升幼儿早期阅读效果提供参考。     

我国西部贫困地区儿童早期语言发展现状及影响因素分析

语言能力的获得是儿童早期发展阶段非常重要的一个组成部分。儿童早期的语言和认知发展对未来的学业表现、教育水平、工作表现及生理与心理健康、非认知能力等具有重要的作用。本研究使用来自中国西部贫困地区的调查数据对中国农村儿童早期语言发展的现状及影响因素进行了分析。此外,为了找到更为有效的衡量儿童早期语言发展水平的工具,本研究以《贝利婴幼儿发展量表(第3版)》为标准,与《汉语言沟通量表(短表)》及《年龄与发育进程问卷(第3版)》沟通部分进行了对比。本研究发现:我国贫困地区6-36个月样本婴幼儿普遍存在早期语言发展滞后风险问题,57%的样本婴幼儿存在语言发展滞后风险;农村地区婴幼儿与城市地区婴幼儿在语言发展水平上有显著差距;除性别、早产、家庭经济状况及户口等风险因素与儿童早期语言发展相关外,照养人的养育知识水平和养育行为都与儿童早期语言发展有显著的正相关关系。我们还发现,《汉语言沟通量表(短表)》和《年龄与发育进程问卷(第3版)》沟通部分与贝利婴幼儿发展量表语言部分的相关性较高。     

Early Home Activities and Oral Language Skills in Middle Childhood: A Quantile Analysis

Oral language development is a key outcome of elementary school, and it is important to identify factors that predict it most effectively. Commonly researchers use ordinary least squares regression with conclusions restricted to average performance conditional on relevant covariates. Quantile regression offers a more sophisticated alternative. Using data of 17,687 children from the United Kingdom's Millennium Cohort Study, we compared ordinary least squares and quantile models with language development (verbal similarities) at 11 years as the outcome. Gender had more of an effect at the top of the distribution, whereas poverty, early language, and reading to the child had a greater effect at the bottom. The picture for TV watching was more mixed. The results are discussed in terms of the provision of universal and targeted interventions.     

Language Choice in a Minority School

This article arises from fieldwork in a school of the German minority in South Jutland, Denmark. The minority exists as a result of frontier changes between Germany and Denmark, most recently in 1920. A referendum held in that year as a result of the Treaty of Versailles left a cultural and linguistic minority which, by today, has its own school system, political party, and cultural rights.     

Longitudinal Relations Among Language Skills,Anger Expression,and Regulatory Strategies in Early Childhood

Researchers have suggested that as children's language skill develops in early childhood, it comes to help children regulate their emotions (Cole, Armstrong, & Pemberton, 2010; Kopp, 1989), but the pathways by which this occurs have not been studied empirically. In a longitudinal study of 120 children from 18 to 48 months of age, associations among child language skill, observed anger expression, and regulatory strategies during a delay task were examined. Toddlers with better language skill, and whose language skill increased more over time, appeared less angry at 48 months and their anger declined more over time. Two regulatory strategies, support seeking and distraction, explained a portion of the variance in the association between language skill and anger expression after toddlerhood.     

Rigidity in Gender‐Typed Behaviors in Early Childhood: A Longitudinal Study of Ethnic Minority Children

A key prediction of cognitive theories of gender development concerns developmental trajectories in the relative strength or rigidity of gender typing. To examine these trajectories in early childhood, 229 children (African American, Mexican American, and Dominican American) were followed annually from age 3 to 5 years, and gender‐stereotypical appearance, dress‐up play, toy play, and sex segregation were examined. High gender‐typing was found across ethnic groups, and most behaviors increased in rigidity, especially from age 3 to 4 years. In addressing controversy surrounding the stability and structure of gender‐typing it was found that from year to year, most behaviors showed moderately stable individual differences. Behaviors were uncorrelated within age but showed more concordance in change across time, suggesting that aspects of gender‐typing are multidimensional, but still show coherence.     

Early Childhood Services in Ireland

This paper gives background information on early childhood services in Ireland and presents the results of a survey of the preschool experiences of 1065 children. The results of the survey suggest that the majority of children experienced some form of early childhood service before starting school. The most common service was a playgroup although a significant proportion of the children had experienced home‐based care with a relative or family day care provider. The implications of the findings for the development of a policy on early childhood services are discussed.     

Goodness-of-Fit in Early Childhood Settings

Practitioners in early childhood settings meet diverse families and children on a regular basis. Their relationships with these families vary in strength and quality. This article reports a research study using the theoretical concept of goodness-of-fit to examine teacher–child and teacher–parent relationships and their impact on child outcomes within a Head Start population. The child's goodness-of-fit with his or her teacher on temperament characteristics was positively correlated with child cognitive and social outcomes. Also, teachers' and parents' goodness-of-fit on parenting and child characteristics was positively correlated with child social competence. The results and theoretical background are discussed within the context of early childhood education settings.