Category: Language Development

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Kindergarten Language Development

Do Visual Skills predict Chinese Reading Acquisition with Correlation Evidence?

A group of researchers from the University of Iowa (USA), Xiamen University (China) and Fordham University (USA) conducted a meta-analysis on the association between visual skills and Chinese reading acquisition for preprimary and primary students. In order to be included in the review, studies must include preprimary or primary school participants who learned to read the Chinese writing system, were native Chinese speakers, either Mandarin or Cantonese and report at least one correlation between an independent variable measuring visual skills and a dependent variable measuring Chinese reading performance. A total of 34 empirical studies published between 1991 and 2011 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis.

Results indicated that the global construct of visual skills had an average medium effect size associated with general Chinese reading acquisition (effect size = +0.32), and there were no regional differences between Hong Kong and Mainland China. But differences were found by grade level, namely that the lower the grade level became, the higher the effect sizes of visual skills were displayed.

Among the four components of visual skills that were measured– visual perception, memory, speed and visual-verbal association, the last component (visual-verbal association) had a large correlation effect size with Chinese reading acquisition in both lower grades (effect size = +0.58) and higher grades (effect size = +0.64) while the other three components of visual skills had medium correlations with Chinese reading acquisition, ranging from +0.34 to +0.44 for lower grades and only +0.12 to +0.20 for higher grades.

The research demonstrated that the visual-verbal association can predict Chinese reading ability and suggested future research to understand whether the visual-verbal association is a cause of Chinese reading acquisition .

 

Source: Yang, L., Guo, J., Richman, L.C., Schmidt, F.L., Gerken, K.C., & Ding, Y. (2013). Visual skills and Chinese reading acquisition: A meta-analysis of correlation evidence. Education Psychology Review ,25, 115–143… Read the rest

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Kindergarten Language Development Programme Evaluation

Evaluation of an early language intervention

A randomised controlled trial, conducted by Silke Fricke and colleagues, looked at the effect of an oral language intervention and compared the extent to which a 30-week programme beginning in nursery and continuing for 20 weeks in Reception was more effective than delivering a 20-week programme starting in Reception.

Children from 34 nurseries in the UK were randomly allocated to a 30-week intervention (n= 132), a 20-week intervention (n=133), or an untreated waiting control group (n=129). Allocation was minimized for gender, age and verbal skills. The children in the 30-week intervention group received the Nuffield Early Language Intervention programme for 10 weeks in nursery and continued for 20 weeks in Reception. The 20-week intervention group received only the final 20 weeks of the intervention, beginning when they entered primary school. The control group received their usual schooling.

Children in both the 20- and 30-week programme intervention groups showed greater improvement in oral language skills on measures including the CELF Expressive Vocabulary and CELF Sentence Structure subtests, and the Information Score from the Renfrew Action Picture Test, compared to children in the control group (effect size for the 20-week programme = +0.21; effect size for the 30-week programme = +0.30). However, there was no evidence to suggest that either programme improved early literacy or reading comprehension skills.

 

Source: Fricke, S., Burgoyne, K., Bowyer‐Crane, C., Kyriacou, M., Zosimidou, A., Maxwell, L., … & Hulme, C. (2017). The efficacy of early language intervention in mainstream school settings: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Advance online publication.… Read the rest

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Kindergarten Language Development Programme Evaluation

Evaluation of a parent-delivered early language enrichment programme

A study, published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, evaluates the effectiveness of a parent-delivered language programme on pre-school children’s language and emerging reading skills.

Kelly Burgoyne and colleagues conducted a randomised controlled trial with 208 pre-school children (mean age 3 years, 1 month) and their parents living in socially diverse areas of the UK. Children and parents received either an oral language programme or an active control programme targeting motor skills. Parents delivered the 20-minute sessions to their child at home every day over 30 weeks. Children were assessed at pre-test, post-test, and 6 months after post-test on measures of language and motor skills. Early literacy skills (letter-sound knowledge, phoneme awareness and regular and irregular word reading) were assessed at 6 months after post-test only, as children were non-readers at pre- and post-test.

Children who received the language programme made larger gains in language skills (effect size = +0.21) and narrative skills (effect size = +0.36) at post-test than those children who received the active control programme, and these results were maintained six months later. Improvements were also seen in letter-sound knowledge (effect size = +0.42) and regular word reading (effect size = +0.35). No evidence was found that the control programme improved motor skills.

 

Source: Burgoyne, K., Gardner, R., Whiteley, H., Snowling, M. J., & Hulme, C. (2017). Evaluation of a parent‐delivered early language enrichment programme: evidence from a randomised controlled trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Advance online publication.… Read the rest