No abstract

Many early intervention programs have been shaped by the notion that children's development should be studied in the contexts offamily and community. Reciprocal parent-child interaction is a key feature ofchild development in those contexts. Parent involvement, parental self efficacy and parenting style are factors that influence parent-child interactions and contribute to early development, the transition to school, andfuture child outcomes. This study examined parent factors and teacher strategies to foster parent involvement and efficacy in a unique Canadian preschool intervention program in the Greater Toronto area. ESL (n = 64) and English-speaking (n = 59) parent groups, who participated in school-based Parenting and Readiness Center programs with their 4-year olds, were compared on goals for participation, parenting style, feelings ofself efficacy as a result ofprogram participation and on their perceptions ofteachers as model. Overall findings suggest that parents who perceive themselves as more effective are more involved in their children's education at the pre-school level. Teacher strategies are described as a key feature in facilitating parent involvement and parental selfefficacy.

Aims and objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the narrative ability of two subgroups of English Language Learners (ELLs) relative to a group of English monolingual (EL1) peers. Specifically, we investigated whether the three groups of children differed on measures of narrative macrostructure and microstructure. Methodology: Two groups of ELLs were identified on the basis of parent report of the language most often heard and spoken at home (ELL English language users, ELL minority language users). A group of monolingual English children served as a comparison group ( n = 25 per language group). The children averaged 56 months of age. All children completed a narrative retell task. Data and analysis: The retell task was scored in relation to macrostructure (narrative information) and microstructure (number of utterances, mean length of utterance, number of different words, grammaticality). ANCOVAs, partialling out age and memory, revealed distinct performance profiles for the two ELL groups. Findings: There were no group differences on the number of utterances or story grammar. However, the performance of the ELL minority language group was significantly different from that of the EL1 and the ELL English language group on all microstructure measures (number of different words, sentence length, and grammaticality). Overall, the performance of the ELL English language users was indistinguishable from the EL1 group. Originality: The study highlights the heterogeneity in an ELL kindergarten sample with respect to English narrative ability, based on the extent to which English was heard and spoken at home. Implications: The findings highlight the need to gather detailed linguistic information about the home language environments of ELL children when involving them in language- or literacy-related tasks. An important implication of this information is the potential to lead to more nuanced expectations or teaching methods for subgroups of ELL children.

No abstract

This study examines the relationship between complex oral language and phonological awareness in the preschool years. Specifically, the authors investigate the relationship between concurrent measures of oral narrative structure (based on measures of both story retell and generation), and measures of blending and elision in a sample of 89 children between 4 and 6 years of age. A hierarchical linear regression was conducted to determine whether oral narrative structure explained unique variance in skill in