Contributions of Children's Temperament to Teachers' Judgments of Social Competence From Kindergarten Through Second Grade

Research Findings: Children's social competence has been linked to successful transition to formal school. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of children's temperament to teachers' ratings of their social competence from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Children (N = 1,364) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network participated in this study. Mothers rated children's shyness, attentional focusing, and inhibitory control with the Children's Behavior Questionnaire at 4½ years, and teachers rated children's social competence with three subscales (cooperation, assertion, and self-control) of the Social Skills Rating System at kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. Latent growth curve analysis indicated that both shyness and effortful control contributed to children's social competence. Bolder children were likely to have higher assertion ratings, and shyer children with greater attentional focusing were likely to have higher assertion ratings. Shyer children and children with greater inhibitory control and attentional focusing were likely to have higher teacher ratings of self-control and cooperation. Practice or Policy: Findings highlight the importance of considering child temperament characteristics when understanding children's social competence and successful adjustment to kindergarten. Information may help parents, preschool teachers, and early elementary teachers prepare children who may be at particular risk for lower social competence.     

School entrance age, social acceptance, and self-perceptions in kindergarten and 1st grade

Concerns about the effect of school entrance age have generally focused on academic achievement. The effect of school entrance age on the social acceptance and self-perceptions of kindergarten and 1st-grade students was examined in two studies. In Study 1, the social acceptance and competence of 476 children was assessed in kindergarten and first grade through peer nominations and ratings, teacher ratings, and report card grades. In Study 2, a subgroup of 116 students was interviewed in kindergarten and first grade to assess their perceptions of their school adjustment, loneliness at school, cognitive and physical competence, and peer and maternal acceptance. Few differences were found related to school entrance age. Teachers' ratings and peer nominations generally described initial social problems for the youngest children which were overcome by first grade. There were no differences in self-reported school adjustment, loneliness, perceptions of competence, or acceptance related to school entry age.     

Child Temperament and Home-Based Parent Involvement at Kindergarten Entry: Evidence From a Low-Income,Urban Sample

Research Findings: Home-based involvement—defined as the actions parents take to promote children’s learning outside of school—is often the most efficient way for low-income parents to be involved with their children’s education. However, there is limited research examining the factors predicting home-based involvement at kindergarten entry for low-income families. This is a notable oversight given established links between parent involvement and children’s educational outcomes. To learn more about this gap, we used data from 220 low-income, urban students to examine associations between 4 dimensions of child temperament—negative reactivity, task persistence, withdrawal/shyness, and motor activity—and home-based parent involvement. Parent–child conflict was also examined as a mechanism explaining associations between dimensions of child temperament and parent involvement. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that a withdrawn/shy temperament in children predicted lower levels of home-based parent involvement, whereas a task-persistent temperament predicted higher levels of home-based parent involvement. Parent–child conflict partially mediated the relationship between task persistence and home-based parent involvement. Practice or Policy: Results expand understanding of home-based involvement at kindergarten entry in low-income families and illuminate the need to consider child temperament within the context of early intervention programs.     

Profiles of Child Developmental Dimensions in Kindergarten and the Prediction of Achievement in the First and Second Grades of Primary School

A successful transition from kindergarten to 1st grade requires a positive combination of multiple dimensions of child competence. Using latent class analysis, we simultaneously examined the academic skills, work attitude, and social/behavioral competence of a large sample of Dutch kindergarten children to identify profiles of kindergarten competence. We tested the predictive power of the profiles by means of multivariate multilevel analyses with language, arithmetic, and work attitude scores as outcome variables. Research Findings: Five profiles of children with distinctive combinations of skills were identified. The results showed that the profile solution forms a significant basis on which to predict later performance. In particular, children in the 2 profiles with the highest kindergarten competence levels perform significantly better in Grade 1 than children with less advantageous skill sets, an effect that tends to increase in magnitude at the end of Grade 2. Practice or Policy: We suggest a practical validation of these profiles to be used as tools for tailoring learning opportunities in kindergarten according to children's skill sets.     

Parents’ and teachers’ views on the psychosocial adjustment of students with and without a history of early grade retention

The study compared teachers’ and parents’ views about elementary school children’s psychosocial adjustment with and without a history of early grade retention. The sample included retained and non-retained students currently in Grades Two and Four (age range 7.5 to 11.6 years) in Cypriot public schools. The retained students experienced early grade retention either in kindergarten or Grade One and, therefore, were one year older than their current classmates. Both parents and teachers of all children completed a psychosocial adjustment inventory designed to assess social, emotional, and school competence as well as behaviour problems. The findings indicated important differences between teachers and parents in their evaluation of children’s psychosocial adjustment, but notable similarities in consistently evaluating early-retained children lower on all aspects of adjustment. Teachers evaluated all students lower than parents in terms of behaviour, school, and social competence. Both groups, however, considered retained students lower in social and school competence regardless of grade level. The implications of these findings in relation to evaluation aspects of psychosocial adjustment and the practice of early-grade retention are discussed.     

幼儿园教师融合教育胜任力的问卷编制及初步应用

幼儿园教师的融合教育胜任力对于提升学前融合教育质量至关重要。本研究以950名有融合教育经验的在岗专任教师为研究对象,编制了《幼儿园教师融合教育胜任力问卷》。探索性因素分析发现幼儿园教师融合教育胜任力包括辅具使用、言行鼓励、家园沟通、环境改变、行为支持、预设调整6个维度。验证性因素分析表明此6维度模型数据拟合较好,问卷的信度和效度均达到心理测量学要求。利用该问卷对363名幼儿园教师进行调查,结果表明当前幼儿园教师的融合教育胜任力总体水平较高;融合幼儿园教师的胜任力水平显著高于非融合幼儿园教师;普通学前儿童家长的融合教育态度不同,其所在班级的教师胜任力也存在显著差异。为提升幼儿园教师的融合教育胜任力水平,国家应设置学前融合教育资源教师岗位,幼儿园教师资格证考试应适度增加学前融合教育内容,以此保障学前融合教育的师资。同时,幼儿园应注意在家园合作中渗透融合教育价值观,提高普通儿童家长对学前融合教育的接受度,使其支持班级教师开展融合教育。     

Levels of Language Competence and Reading Ability: an Exploratory Investigation

Associations have been found between reading ability around the age of seven to eight years and communicative competence, indicating a stage corresponding to the Piagetian concrete operations stage. It was not known, however, whether children who lagged at that stage in learning to read and in acquiring communicative competence would eventually‘catch up’with their peers in both these areas. This paper reports an exploratory study of this issue with adults who had not learnt to read as children although they were of average intelligence, and had no obvious physical defect. The objectives were: (a) to investigate whether these adults would perform on the same level as normal reading peers on language tasks requiring communicative and analytic competence; (b) to investigate whether performance on these tasks would be related to level of vocabulary comprehension and intelligence. No significant differences were found between the groups in their performance on the tasks involving communicative competence. However, normal readers scored significantly higher in tasks requiring analytic competence or the ability to retrieve and transform verbal material. In addition, the pattern of correlations was different for the two groups, suggesting that they had undergone different courses of cognitive development. The results cannot tell us whether the ability to read, or lack of it, influenced the development of these functions or vice versa. It seems from this investigation, however, that not all functions of oral language develop to the same extent in readers and in non-readers, and that this is not related solely to IQ.     

基于语言知识模式之汉语交际能力评量研究

本研究的目的是建立融入文化和语用知识的汉语交际能力测验。试题编制主要是参考CEFR语言交际的能力指标,同时涵盖43道个别和整合任务型的试题。本研究在测验的建置上,主要贡献有三:1)考虑华人文化知识和生活习惯等汉语使用时的情境和交际任务;2)考虑汉语交际时个别和整合型的任务;3)同时测量汉语交际能力及其三种领域(语言、社会语言和语用)能力。实证资料分析发现,女性华裔学生的汉语总体交际能力显著高于男性。其次由于侨居地接触汉语机会的高低不同,华裔学生在汉语语言能力上有显著的国别差异,但是在汉语社会语言和语用能力上则均没有显著的差异。     

Does amount of time spent in child care predict socioemotional adjustment during the transition to kindergarten?

To examine relations between time in nonmaternal care through the first 4.5 years of life and children's socioemotional adjustment, data on social competence and problem behavior were examined when children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care were 4.5 years of age and when in kindergarten. The more time children spent in any of a variety of nonmaternal care arrangements across the first 4.5 years of life, the more externalizing problems and conflict with adults they manifested at 54 months of age and in kindergarten, as reported by mothers, caregivers, and teachers. These effects remained, for the most part, even when quality, type, and instability of child care were controlled, and when maternal sensitivity and other family background factors were taken into account. The magnitude of quantity of care effects were modest and smaller than those of maternal sensitivity and indicators of family socioeconomic status, though typically greater than those of other features of child care, maternal depression, and infant temperament. There was no apparent threshold for quantity effects. More time in care not only predicted problem behavior measured on a continuous scale in a dose-response pattern but also predicted at-risk (though not clinical) levels of problem behavior, as well as assertiveness, disobedience, and aggression.     

经贸英语课堂教学模式探究

经贸英语课堂教学存在着三个层面,即知识层面,能力层面和跨文化交际素养层面.经贸英语课堂教学亦包含三个纬度,或称之为三个教学切入点,分别是语言纬度,经贸专业纬度和作为ESP的经贸英语纬度.三个层面和三个维度是经贸英语课堂教学本质的不同方面,相辅相成,共同构成了经贸英语课堂教学模式的宏观架构.在此架构下,经贸英语课堂教学还需贯彻和实施相应的具体的经贸英语教学策略.     

高校英语专业大学生语言学习策略与口语交际能力研究——一项以Bialystock的语言学习策略分类理论为依据的实证研究

本研究采用问卷法和口语测试法探讨了英语学习策略与英语口语交际能力各构成要素及其总体水平的关系。结果表明：（1）形式操练策略和功能操练策略都是促进英语口语交际能力总体水平提高的重要因素,但形式操练策略对语音、语法的影响较之对内容、流利性、得体性的影响更为显著,而功能操练策略则对后者的影响较之前者更为显著;（2）交际策略对口语表达的流利性影响最为显著,而对于口语表达内容及其总体水平的影响则具有一定的限度;（3）母语策略不利于口语交际能力各要素及其总体水平的提高。     

Identifying and promoting social competence with African American preschool children: Developmental and contextual considerations

School psychologists and teachers are frequently asked to assess the level of social competence of preschool children as one indicator of their academic readiness. However, many assessment instruments available to psychologists working in early childhood settings fail to consider important contexts where children acquire social competencies. This study presents a comprehensive picture of multiple constructs that play a role in understanding African American preschool children's social competence. Domains of temperament, language, self‐regulation, and peer play were assessed within a classroom context for a sample of 139 low‐income African American children attending Head Start. Findings support the importance of considering both children's developmental stage and their gender when evaluating aspects of social competence, particularly temperament and interactive peer play abilities. As a group, younger boys experienced the greatest difficulties with initiating and sustaining play activities with classmates. Language abilities and self‐regulation were significantly greater among older preschool children. Implications for school psychologists conducting preschool assessment, intervention, and outreach to parents and teachers within early childhood settings are discussed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

交际途径若干问题探讨

交际能力理论，交际途径原则是现代语言学尤其是社会语言学发展的产物。交际能力理论，交际途径原则促使外语教学研究从以教学方法为中心转向以学习过程为中心，促使外语教学的重点从句子水平的形式准确上升到语篇水平的意义流利，从而引起了外语教学理论的革命和外语教学实践的飞跃。交际途径是外语教学的一种大纲设计法，是以培养交际能力为最终目的的外语教学原则。交际能力的内涵决定了交际途径可以成为不同外语教学流派的汇合点，可以成为语法词汇大纲与功能意念大纲之间的一种拆衷。探索交际途径教学的策略和方法的突破点在于，如何在外语教学实践中妥善处理语言能力和交际能力的关系。将来形成的占主导地位的教学策略和方法应该是以培养交际能力为最终目的的，个性化的，铃铛样化的，折衷化的。     

英语交际能力调查及学习策略探析

针对大学生普遍英语交际能力不高的现状,可以从“管理策略”与“语言学习策略”两方面,制定几点具有针对性的学习策略,来提高其英语交际能力。     

Continuity of individual adaptation from infancy to kindergarten: a predictive study of ego-resiliency and curiosity in preschoolers

In this longitudinal study, individual differences in security of attachment at 18 months and effective autonomous functioning at age 2 years were related to the dimensions of ego-control and ego-resiliency at age 4--5 years. The kindergarten or nursery school teachers of 26 children completed California Child Q-Sorts. The children were also given a short form of the Block's laboratory battery (Banta's curiosity box, level of aspiration, motor impulse control delay of gratification, the Shure and Spivack Preschool Interpersonal Problem-solving Test, and the Lowenfeld mosaics). Following the Blocks, composited ego-resiliency and ego-control scores were derived from each data set. Children earlier classified as securely attached were, as predicted, significantly higher on ego-resiliency on both laboratory and Q-sort composites. They were also higher than anxiously attached infants on 3 independent measures of curiosity. An independently composited index of competence from 2-year tool-using measures also correlated significantly with later resiliency, as did 2-year measures of mothers' support and quality of assistance. The data provide initial links between the infant's quality of attachment, the toddler's effectiveness in a problem-solving situation, and competence during the preschool years.     

Teacher-Rated Family Involvement and Children's Social and Academic Outcomes in Kindergarten

This study examines the relation between teachers' report of family involvement in school and children's social and academic competencies during kindergarten, after accounting for the contribution of socioeconomic status and early maternal sensitivity. Teachers reported on the family involvement for 223 children. Two dimensions of family involvement with school were measured: families' attitudes toward schools and families' activities with schools. Children's social and academic competence was assessed through classroom observations and teachers' reports. Results describe the contribution of socioeconomic status and maternal sensitivity in predicting some aspects of kindergarten competence, and the association of family involvement and child competence after accounting for these covariates. Findings suggest that teachers' reports of family attitudes are a more consistent predictor of outcomes than teachers' reports of family involvement activities. These findings support the position that families and schools can collaborate and provide a social resource to children in kindergarten.     

基于气质评定的幼儿自信心促进实验研究

研究者选取60名中班幼儿(平均年龄4岁)为被试,基于幼儿气质特点,进行自信心促进实验。先通过教师评定问卷来确定幼儿的气质特点和自信心水平,然后基于幼儿气质特点,结合自信心的三个维度设计教育活动方案,进行为期10周的促进实验。10周后发现,基于幼儿气质特点设计的教育活动方案能有效改善幼儿的气质,促进幼儿的自信心发展。     

Understanding Emotional Response Theory: The Role of Instructor Power and Justice Messages

Self‐efficacy is the belief or confidence people have in their ability to achieve their goals. This study tested a path model involving past communicative experience, situation difficulty, self‐efficacy, interpersonal communication competence, and interpersonal communication outcomes. We found that self‐efficacy mediated the effect of past experience and situation difficulty on interpersonal communication outcomes. Interpersonal communication competence directly effected rewarding, satisfying communication. The study also provided concurrent validity information on the Interpersonal Communication Competence Scale, a skills measure of competence that taps 10 dimensions of the construct.     

再议“幼儿园教师的专业技能”——基于《幼儿园教师专业标准（试行）》的思考

已有研究及现状表明,幼儿园教师专业技能的界定及其认识,需要基于《幼儿园教师专业标准（试行）》进一步梳理和反思。通过相关文本调研,并运用内容分析法进行分析、整理和统计,结果显示：1.在幼儿园教师的实际工作中,＂观察了解儿童、交流沟通、教育活动设计与组织＂等心智技能的需求更为迫切,而绘画、弹唱、舞蹈等操作技能,则实现着锦上添花的作用。2.专业技能和专业知识是幼儿园教师提升自身专业能力之必要条件,幼儿园教师的工作性质和状态决定了其专业技能和专业能力常常互通互融,而专业能力能更加全面地反映幼儿园教师的专业技能及其所处的水平和状态。     

语言能力·交际能力·双语能力-兼论对二语教学的启示

在第二语言学习的研究中,有两个重要的概念,一个是Linguistic Competence,另一个是Communicative Competence.20 世纪60 年代起,语言能力与交际能力的概念及其范围逐渐广为人们接受,特别是交际能力作为了衡量第二语言水平的标准.当学习者对第二语言的掌握达到一定程度时,双语能力这一概念也日渐凸显出来.首先需要对这三概念提出的背景、理论依据,具体表现进行阐述,进而探求这三个概念之间的关系.从语言研究上,语言能力、交际能力一般是在一种语言内部的探讨,多是探讨第二语言的学习,双语能力一般是在至少两种语言间进行探讨;从位属关系上,语言能力、交际能力是实现双语能力的前提和基础,双语能力是对语言能力、交际能力的深化;从教学要求上,对双语能力的要求要高于语言能力与交际能力,进而针对三个概念的提出,阐述和分析了进行第二语言教学的启示.