Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T14:37:02.112Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

22 - Educational Interventions Targeting Language Development

from Part Three - Impact, Intervention and Equity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

James Law
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Sheena Reilly
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Cristina McKean
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Get access

Summary

There is a great need to develop and test school-based interventions that improve children’s language skills. These interventions can be used to support language development in all children as well as those with developmental disabilities affecting language, such as developmental language disorder (DLD). For young children in the pre-primary grades, these interventions aim to improve children’s readiness for formal schooling and the language demands on classroom settings. For children in the primary grades, these interventions are designed to improve the language skills considered most critical to reading comprehension, such as vocabulary knowledge and inferencing. This chapter addresses these contemporary issues. First, we describe language skills as a critical element of school readiness and an important contributor to reading comprehension. Second, we describe current approaches to facilitating language skills in pre-primary children via classroom-based interventions. Third, we describe current approaches to improving language skills in primary-grade pupils as a mechanism for improving reading comprehension. The over-arching purpose is to provide a contemporary overview of practices used in classroom settings to facilitate children’s language skills.

Type
Chapter
Information
Language Development
Individual Differences in a Social Context
, pp. 519 - 538
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, R., & Freebody, P. (1981). Vocabulary knowledge. In Guthrie, J. T. (Ed.), Comprehension and teaching: Research reviews (pp. 77117). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.Google Scholar
Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2001). Text talk: Capturing the benefits of read-aloud experiences for young children. The Reading Teacher, 55(1), 1020.Google Scholar
Beck, I. L., & McKeown, M. G. (2007). Increasing young low-income children’s oral vocabulary repertoires through rich and focused instruction. The Elementary School Journal, 107(3), 251271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, I. L., Perfetti, C. A., & McKeown, M. G. (1982). Effects of long-term vocabulary instruction on lexical access and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 506.Google Scholar
Bleses, D., Højen, A., Justice, L. M., Dale, P. S., Dybdal, L., Piasta, S. B., … Haghish, E. (2018). The effectiveness of a large‐scale language and preliteracy intervention: The SPELL randomized controlled trial in Denmark. Child Development, 89(4), e342e363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowyer‐Crane, C., Snowling, M. J., Duff, F. J., Fieldsend, E., Carroll, J. M., Miles, J., … Hulme, C. (2008). Improving early language and literacy skills: Differential effects of an oral language versus a phonology with reading intervention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49(4), 422432.Google Scholar
Cabell, S. Q., DeCoster, J., LoCasale-Crouch, J., Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2013). Variation in the effectiveness of instructional interactions across preschool classroom settings and learning activities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(4), 820830.Google Scholar
Cabell, S. Q., Justice, L. M., McGinty, A. S., DeCoster, J., & Forston, L. D. (2015). Teacher–child conversations in preschool classrooms: Contributions to children’s vocabulary development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 30, 8092.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabell, S. Q., Justice, L. M., Piasta, S. B., Curenton, S. M., Wiggins, A., Turnbull, K. P., & Petscher, Y. (2011). The impact of teacher responsivity education on preschoolers’ language and literacy skills. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20, 315330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cain, K., Oakhill, J., & Bryant, P. (2004). Children’s reading comprehension ability: Concurrent prediction by working memory, verbal ability, and component skills. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(1), 3142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cervetti, G. N., Barber, J., Dorph, R., Pearson, P. D., & Goldschmidt, P. G. (2012). The impact of an integrated approach to science and literacy in elementary school classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(5), 631658.Google Scholar
Clarke, P. J., Snowling, M. J., Truelove, E., & Hulme, C. (2010). Ameliorating children’s reading-comprehension difficulties: A randomized controlled trial. Psychological Science, 21(8), 11061116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Connor, C. M., Dombek, J., Crowe, E. C., Spencer, M., Tighe, E. L., Coffinger, S., … Petscher, Y. (2017). Acquiring science and social studies knowledge in kindergarten through fourth grade: Conceptualization, design, implementation, and efficacy testing of content-area literacy instruction (CALI). Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(3), 301320.Google Scholar
Dickinson, D. K., Darrow, C. L., & Tinubu, T. A. (2008). Patterns of teacher–child conversations in Head Start classrooms: Implications for an empirically grounded approach to professional development. Early Education and Development, 19(3), 396429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, D. K., Freiberg, J. B., & Barnes, E. (2011). Why are so few interventions really effective? A call for fine-grained research methodology. In Neuman, S. B. & Dickinson, D. K. (Eds.), Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Vol. 3 (pp. 337357). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Elleman, A. M., Lindo, E. J., Morphy, P., & Compton, D. L. (2009). The impact of vocabulary instruction on passage-level comprehension of school-age children: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2(1), 144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foorman, B., Beyler, N., Borradaile, K., Coyne, M., Denton, C. A., Dimino, J., … Justice, L. (2016). Foundational skills to support reading for understanding in kindergarten through 3rd grade. Educator’s practice guide. NCEE 2016-4008. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.Google Scholar
Forget‐Dubois, N., Dionne, G., Lemelin, J. P., Pérusse, D., Tremblay, R. E., & Boivin, M. (2009). Early child language mediates the relation between home environment and school readiness. Child Development, 80(3), 736749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Girolametto, L., Hoaken, L., Weitzman, E., & Lieshout, R. V. (2000). Patterns of adult–child linguistic interaction in integrated day care groups. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 31(2), 155168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Girolametto, L., Pearce, P. S., & Weitzman, E. (1996). Interactive focused stimulation for toddlers with expressive vocabulary delays. Journal of speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 39(6), 12741283.Google Scholar
Girolametto, L., Weitzman, E., & Greenberg, J. (2003). Training day care staff to facilitate children’s language. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12(3), 299311.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, J. E., Pollard-Durodola, S., Simmons, D. C., Taylor, A. B., Davis, M. J., Kim, M., & Simmons, L. (2011). Developing low-income preschoolers’ social studies and science vocabulary knowledge through content-focused shared book reading. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 4(1), 2552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and Special Education, 7(1), 610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hair, E., Halle, T., Terry-Humen, E., Lavelle, B., & Calkins, J. (2006). Children’s school readiness in the ECLS-K: Predictions to academic, health, and social outcomes in first grade. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21(4), 431454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halle, T. G., Hair, E. C., Wandner, L. D., & Chien, N. C. (2012). Profiles of school readiness among four-year-old Head Start children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(4), 613626.Google Scholar
Heidlage, J. K., Cunningham, J. E., Kaiser, A. P., Trivette, C. M., Barton, E. E., Frey, J. R., & Roberts, M. Y. (2019). The effects of parent-implemented language interventions on child linguistic outcomes: A meta-analysis. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 50, 623.Google Scholar
Hogan, T., Bridges, M. S., Justice, L. M., & Cain, K. (2011). Increasing higher level language skills to improve reading comprehension. Focus on Exceptional Children, 44(3), 120.Google Scholar
Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., Cymerman, E., & Levine, S. (2002). Language input and child syntax. Cognitive Psychology, 45(3), 337374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Justice, L. M., Bowles, R. P., Pence Turnbull, K. L., & Skibbe, L. E. (2009). School readiness among children with varying histories of language difficulties. Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 460476.Google Scholar
Justice, L. M., Jiang, H., Khan, K. S., & Dynia, J. M. (2017). Kindergarten readiness profiles of rural, Appalachian children from low-income households. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 50, 114.Google Scholar
Justice, L. M., Mashburn, A. J., Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2008). Quality of language and literacy instruction in preschool classrooms serving at-risk pupils. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23(1), 5168.Google Scholar
Justice, L. M., Mashburn, A., Pence, K. L., & Wiggins, A. (2008). Experimental evaluation of a preschool language curriculum: Influence on children’s expressive language skills. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 51(4), 9831001.Google Scholar
Justice, L. M., McGinty, A. S., Cabell, S. Q., Kilday, C. R., Knighton, K., & Huffman, G. (2010). Language and literacy curriculum supplement for preschoolers who are academically at risk: A feasibility study. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 41(2), 161178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Justice, L. M., Meier, J., & Walpole, S. (2005). Learning new words from storybooks. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 36(1), 1732.Google Scholar
Kim, H. Y., Hsin, L. B., & Snow, C. E. (2018). Reducing academic inequalities for English language learners: Variation in experimental effects of Word Generation in high-poverty schools. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 24(7), 10241042.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kintsch, W. (2005). An overview of top-down and bottom-up effects in comprehension: The CI perspective. Discourse Processes, 39(2–3), 125128.Google Scholar
Landry, S. H., Smith, K. E., Miller-Loncar, C. L., & Swank, P. R. (1997). Predicting cognitive-language and social growth curves from early maternal behaviors in children at varying degrees of biological risk. Developmental Psychology, 33(6), 10401053.Google Scholar
Language and Reading Research Consortium (2015). Learning to read: Should we keep things simple? Reading Research Quarterly, 50(2), 151169.Google Scholar
Language and Reading Research Consortium (2016). Use of the curriculum research framework (CRF) for developing a reading-comprehension curricular supplement for the primary grades. The Elementary School Journal, 116(3), 459486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Language and Reading Research Consortium (2017). Oral language and listening comprehension: Same or different constructs? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60, 12731284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Jiang, H., & Davis, D. (2017). Let’s Know! Proximal impacts on prekindergarten through grade 3 students’ comprehension-related skills. The Elementary School Journal, 118(2), 177206.Google Scholar
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Jiang, H., & Logan, J. (2019). Improving reading comprehension in the primary grades: Mediated effects of a language-focused classroom intervention. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62, 28122828.Google ScholarPubMed
Language and Reading Research Consortium, Pratt, A., & Logan, J. (2014). Improving language-focused comprehension instruction in primary-grade classrooms: Impacts of the Let’s Know! Experimental Curriculum. Educational Psychology Review, 26, 357377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Language and Reading Research Consortium & Yeomans-Maldonado, G. (2017). Development of comprehension monitoring in beginner readers. Reading and Writing, 30, 20392067.Google Scholar
Lepola, J., Lynch, J., Kiuru, N., Laakkonen, E., & Niemi, P. (2016). Early oral language comprehension, task orientation, and foundational reading skills as predictors of grade 3 reading comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 51(4), 373390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesaux, N. K., Kieffer, M. J., Faller, S. E., & Kelley, J. G. (2010). The effectiveness and ease of implementation of an academic vocabulary intervention for linguistically diverse students in urban middle schools. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(2), 196228.Google Scholar
Lonigan, C. J., Clancy-Menchetti, J., Phillips, B., McDowell, K., & Farver, J. (2005). Literacy express: A preschool curriculum. Tallahassee, FL: Literacy Express.Google Scholar
Lonigan, C. J., Farver, J. M., Phillips, B. M., & Clancy-Menchetti, J. (2011). Promoting the development of preschool children’s emergent literacy skills: A randomized evaluation of a literacy-focused curriculum and two professional development models. Reading and Writing, 24(3), 305337.Google Scholar
Lonigan, C. J., & Whitehurst, G. J. (1998). Relative efficacy of parent and teacher involvement in a shared-reading intervention for preschool children from low-income backgrounds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13(2), 263290.Google Scholar
Marulis, L. M., & Neuman, S. B. (2010). The effects of vocabulary intervention on young children’s word learning: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 80(3), 300335.Google Scholar
McNamara, D. S., & Kendeou, P. (2017). Translating advances in reading comprehension research to educational practice. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(1), 3346.Google Scholar
Mol, S. E., Bus, A. G., & De Jong, M. T. (2009). Interactive book reading in early education: A tool to stimulate print knowledge as well as oral language. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 9791007.Google Scholar
National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning. (2015a). Preschool curriculum consumer report. Washington, DC: Office of Head Start, US Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning. (2015b). Language and literacy preschool curriculum consumer report. Washington, DC: Office of Head Start, US Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
National Reading Panel. (2000). Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Bethesda, MD: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development/National Institutes of Health.Google Scholar
Neuman, S. B., & Kaefer, T. (2018). Developing low-income children’s vocabulary and content knowledge through a shared book reading program. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 52, 1524.Google Scholar
Neuman, S. B., Newman, E. H., & Dwyer, J. (2011). Educational effects of a vocabulary intervention on preschoolers’ word knowledge and conceptual development: A cluster‐randomized trial. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(3), 249272.Google Scholar
Nicholas, H., Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2001). Recasts as feedback to language learners. Language Learning, 51(4), 719758.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penno, J. F., Wilkinson, I. A., & Moore, D. W. (2002). Vocabulary acquisition from teacher explanation and repeated listening to stories: Do they overcome the Matthew effect?. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 2333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perfetti, C. (2007). Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies of Reading, 11(4), 357383.Google Scholar
Perfetti, C., Landi, N., & Oakhill, J. (2005). The acquisition of reading comprehension skill. In Snowling, M. J. & Hulme, C. (Eds.), The science of reading: A handbook (pp. 227247). Malden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Piasta, S. B., Justice, L. M., Cabell, S. Q., Wiggins, A. K., Pence Turnbull, K., & Curenton, S. M. (2012). Impact of professional development on preschool teachers’ conversational responsivity and children’s linguistic productivity and complexity. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27, 387400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruston, H. P., & Schwanenflugel, P. J. (2010). Effects of a conversation intervention on the expressive vocabulary development of prekindergarten children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 41(3), 303313.Google Scholar
Sabol, T. J., & Pianta, R. C. (2012). Patterns of school readiness forecast achievement and socioemotional development at the end of elementary school. Child Development, 83(1), 282299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snow, C. E. (2010). Academic language and the challenge of reading for learning about science. Science, 328(5977), 450452.Google Scholar
Toub, T. S., Hassinger-Das, B., Nesbitt, K. T., Ilgaz, H., Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh-Pasek, K., … Dickinson, D. K. (2018). The language of play: Developing preschool vocabulary through play following shared book-reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 45, 117.Google Scholar
Wasik, B. A., & Hindman, A. H. (2018). Increasing preschoolers’ vocabulary development through a streamlined teacher professional development intervention. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 50, 101113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehurst, G. J., Arnold, D. S., Epstein, J. N., Angell, A. L., Smith, M., & Fischel, J. E. (1994). A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. Developmental Psychology, 30(5), 679689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehurst, G. J., Falco, F. L., Lonigan, C. J., Fischel, J. E., DeBaryshe, B. D., Valdez-Menchaca, M. C., & Caulfield, M. (1988). Accelerating language development through picture book reading. Developmental Psychology, 24(4), 552559.Google Scholar
Williams, J. P., Hall, K. M., Lauer, K. D., Stafford, K. B., DeSisto, L. A., & deCani, J. S. (2005). Expository text comprehension in the primary grade classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(4), 538550.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, F. J., Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., Christakis, D. A., Xu, D., Gray, S., & Yapanel, U. (2009). Teaching by listening: The importance of adult–child conversations to language development. Pediatrics, 124(1), 342349.Google Scholar
Zucker, T. A., Cabell, S. Q., Justice, L. M., Pentimonti, J. M., & Kaderavek, J. N. (2013). The role of frequent, interactive prekindergarten shared reading in the longitudinal development of language and literacy skills. Developmental Psychology, 49(8), 14251439.Google Scholar
Zucker, T. A., Cabell, S. Q., Petscher, Y., Mui, H., Landry, S., & Tock, J. (2021). Teaching Together: Pilot study of a tiered language and literacy intervention with Head Start teachers and linguistically diverse families. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 54, 136–152.Google Scholar
Zucker, T. A., Carlo, M. S., Landry, S. H., Masood-Saleem, S. S., Williams, J. M., & Bhavsar, V. (2019). Iterative design and pilot testing of the Developing Talkers tiered academic language curriculum for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 12(2), 274306.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×