Recognition of the distinction between productivity and complexity of the narrative microstructures of children enrolled in ECEC’s: Promoting children’s language development
Submitted by:
Nancy Allen
Abstract:
Context and Aim
Many studies report levels of overall uneven development from one child to another, when measured in kindergarten (Japel, 2008). Results of those studies (EQDEM, 2012) reveal that 20% of Quebecois children (Canada) evolve under conditions of vulnerability (Janus & Duku, 2007; Kershaw, 2010) in cognitive, linguistics and communication aspects (EQDEM, 2012; Smilansky & Shefatya, 1990). Moreover, the early learning of children is established through the development of their oral communication and communication under-stimulation would have consequences on the overall development of the child. Research has examined different types of knowledge among educational childcare educators working with young children, including knowledge about content (Cunningham, Davidson & Zibulsky, 2007), about concepts (Pianta, Lapari & Hamre, 2008), about procedural knowledge concerning language (Hindman & Wasik, 2011) and about the knowledge that educators use in their practice. Regardless of the type of knowledge studied, educators obtain a low result with respect to their knowledge related to the development of children’s oral communication. This talk will describe the educators’ knowledge of educational childcare regarding the development of oral communication of young children and particularly with regard to their language development and particularly in context of natural play.
Theoretical Framework
This presentation will address the educators’ knowledge and their understanding of children’s abilities for specific areas of language development which includes language production (words, clauses, phrases, gestures, etc.) and the understanding of the production of others through answers or consistent gestures. It will also address some practices that promote the development of oral communication of children who discover new structures and new words as well as interactions and strategies that are put in place in educational contexts by educators in order to enrich the oral communication of children.
Discussion and Conclusion
Language skills have an impact on the overall development of children; those with different difficulties related to oral communication, pragmatic difficulties or under-stimulated children being more likely to have difficulties in oral communication (Norbury & Bishop, 2003). Current knowledge holds that attending a quality educational environment would allow these children to have a language development comparable to that of their peers (Schachter et al., 2016; Zimmerman et al., 2009), as well as making up for various differences related to the conditions of vulnerability for their entry into kindergarten when 5 years old, which is an issue for Quebec’s education policies. We would like to open the discussion on the findings that surround the need for the specific training of educators in the development of children’s oral communication so that their interventions are planned and consistent with the needs of children. We will address the level of the educator’s experience in supporting the development of productivity and the complexity of children’s spontaneous narratives. We will also discuss that fact that we observed children’s dyads where the educators exercise less supervision and that they were more voluble.
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