For parents of children with speech-language impairments, the assumption that their children will become literate is a natural, but not always fulfilled, expectation. This study explored the literacy experiences reported to be available in the homes of three groups of preschool children. Surveys were sent to the families of children aged 3 to 5 years who had (a) a speech-language impairment, (b) a disability other than speech-language impairment, and (c) no disability or delay. Respondents described the literacy-related materials and activities that were made available to the children at home. Respondents also described the children’s and adult’s reading and writing behaviors at home. Despite similarities in socioeconomic status, age, access to materials, and parental expectations for the children’s literacy abilities at age 21, the results suggested significantly different activities and interactions with print for the group of children with speech-language impairments. Implications for the design of early literacy and language intervention programs are discussed. The importance of considering the child’s literacy experiences at home in the assessment of the child’s language and literacy needs is also highlighted.
This study explored the semantic content of children's talk during their pretend play at home and at preschool. The spontaneous speech of ten children (C.A. 4:0 to 5:2)was tape-recorded during two hours of preschool activity and two hours following dismissal from school. Transcripts were coded for references to pretend/fantasy time, and references to specific persons and content were noted. There were no significant differences in the frequency with which children used referents to pretend/fantasy time at home and preschool. During their pretend play, the children spoke most often about themselves alone or themselves with others in both settings. Significantly more references were made to family members at home; peers and self were referenced significantly more often during pretend play at school. The actions and locations of themselves or others were frequent referents in both settings. Fantasy/cartoon characters were used by half of the children in each setting but were not used significantly more in one setting or another. Familiar daily routines were common play themes at home and at school, but never were associated with the activity of cartoon/fantasy characters. The results are discussed as they relate to the design and implementation of intervention programs for children with speech-language impairments in integrated settings with nondisabled peers.
The signed communication of five preschool children who are deaf (ages 4:5 to 5:6) was analyzed for its semantic content. Videotaped samples were collected while the children participated in activity-based classroom routines and familiar play themes with teachers and peers in a 2 1/2-hour preschool classroom. The children demonstrated expected limitations in their language skills (mean MLU=2.01) but talked about many of the same topics at school as children of the same age who were not disabled (Marvin, Beukelman, Brockhous, & Kast, 1994). The five children who are deaf generally talked about the here-and-now and themselves and appeared to be heavily influenced by the materials, people, and activities in the immediate environment of the preschool classroom. Talk concerning teachers, peers, class projects, needed supplies and utensils, and food were common and frequent in the children's talk with teachers and peers. Talk concerning temporally displaced topics was less frequent and less common than talk concerning present time frames. Child-initiated utterances were longer in length and more semantically diverse than teacher-prompted utterances. Implications of these findings for preschool deaf educators and speech-language pathologists are discussed.
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