Speaking Out for Language

Abstract

Although the National Early Literacy Panel report provides an important distillation of research, the manner in which the data are reported underrepresents the importance of language. Unlike other predictors with moderate associations with later reading, language exerts pervasive and indirect influences that are not described by the effect sizes used in the meta-analysis. Also, unlike code-related skills that develop rapidly during the years studied, language develops over an extended time span. Because it is relatively difficult to devise interventions that dramatically alter children's language abilities, the authors of this response are concerned that schools will target the more malleable code-based skills. They warn against such a move.

Linking preschool language and sustained attention with adolescent achievement through classroom self-reliance

“…A second contribution is to demonstrate that preschool language functions differently from preschool sustained attention when achievement outcomes are considered. There is a wealth of evidence showing that early language skills are associated with academic outcomes (e.g., Dickinson et al, 2010;Duncan et al, 2007;NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2005), supporting the finding that children's language skills in preschool are associated with achievement in reading and math at age 10. The current study further suggests that preschool language skills are indirectly associated with changes in math achievement during adolescence through children's displays of self-reliance in the classroom.…”

Teaching Reading: Why the “Fab Five” should be the “Big Six”

“…Thus the underlying and pervasive influence of children's language abilities in relation to reading was not included. Dickinson, Golinkoff & Hirsh-Pasek (2010) argue a similar point in relation to the findings of the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP, 2008), which investigated the skills present in children up to age five that were most predictive of later reading, writing and spelling achievement. Eleven skills were identified: a set of six which had strong associations with reading development, and a 'second tier' of five predictors with moderate to weak associations.…”

“…In fact most comprehension strategies concentrate on reading comprehension rather than oral or listening comprehension. The danger, as Dickinson et al (2010) point out, is that teachers will miss the significance of oral language skills, particularly for children who do not arrive at school with the rich language experiences that provide the basis for learning to read.…”

Student Teachers’ Implementation and Understanding of Repeated Picture-Book Reading in Preschools

“…They also predict reading competency and school achievement. Comprehension related competencies -vocabulary, knowledge of the social and physical world, and inferential skills that continue to develop throughout life -seem to be responsible for the substantial gaps between children raised in different socioeconomic environments from an early age (Dickinson, Golinkoff, & Hirsh-Pashek, 2010;Ferland, Marchman, & Weileder, 2013;Lennox, 2013;Paris, 2005). Hoff (2003) claims, that it is the quality of infants' early language environment that mediates the link between SES and children's vocabulary knowledge.…”