Infant–toddler Educators' Language Support Practices during Snack-time

et al. 2017

Early Years

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Educators' use of commanding language to direct infants' behaviour: Relationship to educators' qualifications and implications for language learning opportunitiesThis study investigated the manner in which 56 infant educators used language to direct the behaviour of infants (defined as children aged birth to two years), on the basis that the ways in which educators frame their commands represent an important component of young children's learning experiences. Underpinned by systemic functional linguistic theory, the study analysed the frequency and type of command produced by educators with university, diploma and certificate qualifications. Suggestive and indirect commands convey a sense of negotiation, as if the addressees' subjective opinions and thoughts are considered, while nonsuggestive and direct commands foreground the speakers' power and authority. The findings demonstrate that commands feature frequently in educators' talk to infants, with nonsuggestive and direct commands being most commonly used. Individual differences were related to the qualifications of staff. University qualified early childhood teachers used significantly fewer nonsuggestive and direct commands than did diploma and certificate qualified educators, and they were more likely to provide infants with a reason for the command. These findings have implications for the way in which learning opportunities are created by the language that educators use, and for the overall quality of infant early childhood programs.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Educators’ use of commanding language to direct infants’ behaviour: relationship to educators’ qualifications and implications for language learning opportunities

et al. 2017

Early Years

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“…The quantity of educator 'near and clear' talk could also be related to structural quality indicators. One such indicator could be educators' level of early childhood qualification through its established relationship with the quality of educator-child interactions (Degotardi 2010;Degotardi et al, 2016;Manlove, Vazquez, and Vernon-Feagans 2008;Phillips et al 2001). Group size and educator-child ratios may similarly be implicated, also due to their relationship with the quality of educator interactions (NICHD 2002a, Vermeer et al 2016 and because these elements impact educators' opportunities to engage in proximal talk to the infants (Manlove, Frank, and Vernon-Feagans 2001).…”

Section: The Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The present analysis did not determine how much of the LENA measure of 'near and clear' adult talk was infant-directed and how much was overheard speech to other staff or children in the infant's proximity. Recent research suggests that a proportion of talk that occurs close to infants in early childhood centres is talk between educators, and that this talk does not relate to the activity that the infant is currently focused on (Degotardi et al, 2016, Torr & Pham 2016. While older children have been found to learn some language features by overhearing talk addressed to others (Akhtar et al 2001), infant-directed talk around a shared attentional focus has been found to be particularly facilitative of younger infants' language development (e.g., Rudd, Cain, and Saxon 2008;Weisleder and Fernauld 2013).…”

Section: Individual Variation In Infants' Experience With 'Near and Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infants’ experience with ‘near and clear’ educator talk: individual variation and its relationship to indicators of quality

Han

International Journal of Early Years Education

2018

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This study investigated the quantity of audible and intelligible ('near and clear') educator talk directly experienced by under-two-year-old infants attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs and examined whether the quantity of educator talk was related to characteristics of quality in their ECEC room. Participants were 57 infants attending separate infant rooms in and around the Sydney metropolitan area, Australia. Each infant was observed for 3 hours, wearing a small, customdesigned digital language processor (DLP) which digitally recorded and generated measures of 'near and clear' adult talk, unclear talk and infant vocalisations. Structural quality indicators include educator qualification, group size and educator-infant ratios, and Interaction Quality was assessed using the ITERS-R Interaction and Listening and Talking subscales. Infants' experience with 'near and clear' talk was predicted by Interaction Quality, the presence of a degree-qualified teacher and group size. 'Near and clear' talk was also significantly and positively related to the quantity of infant vocalisation and, negatively, to their level of exposure to unclear talk. Findings are discussed in terms of conceptualisations of quality in infant ECEC rooms, as well as the potentials and limitations of the 'near and clear' talk measure for use in future studies of language development in this context.

“…Consistent with previous research (Girolametto & Weitzman, 2002;Girolametto et al, 2000;O'Brien & Bi, 1995), we found that different activity contexts were associated with different patterns of educator questioning, and therefore different language opportunities for these infants. These findings add to recent work with infants as well as preschool children that highlights the need to consider closely activity contexts when analysing the language opportunities that are available to young children (e.g., Degotardi et al, 2016;Dickenson, Hofer, Barnes, & Grifenhagen, 2014;Soderstrom & Wittebolle, 2013).…”

Section: Explaining the Variation In Educators' Use Of Pedagogical Qumentioning

confidence: 52%

Infant Educators’ Use of Pedagogical Questioning: Relationships With the Context of Interaction and Educators’ Qualifications

Early Education and Development

Han

2018

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Research Findings: This study investigated the prevalence of pedagogical questions posed by 27 early childhood educators as they interacted with infants in each of two different contexts: book-focused interactions and educator-mediated play. The pedagogical questions expressed by educators to infants during ten-minute naturally-occurring interactions were coded as confirm (yes/no), specify (what, who, where, when) or explain (why, how) questions on the basis that these types of questions present infants with different opportunities to use their developing communication skills to provide information to others. We then sought to determine associations between question use, activity context and educators' qualification levels. Results revealed that explain questions were used very rarely, while confirm and specify questions were more frequent, comprising 7.60% and 8.32% respectively of messages that were expressed by educators to the infants in their care. A 2 (activity context) x 2 (qualification level) mixed factorial MANOVA, supplemented with post-hoc qualitative analyses, demonstrated that, in specific activity contexts, degree qualified early childhood teachers used pedagogical questioning in ways which differed from their less-qualified counterparts. Practice or policy: The findings provide much needed data on how educator questioning is used with children under two, how questioning affords context-specific language learning opportunities for infants in ECEC centres, and how educator qualifications may be implicated in these opportunities.