TY - JOUR

T1 - Teaching the Teachers about Language Support Strategies

T2 - Effects on Young Children’s Language Development

AU - Voltmer, Katharina

AU - Hormann, Oliver

AU - Pietsch, Marcus

AU - Mähler, Claudia

AU - Salisch, Maria

N1 - Funding Information: This study used the data set from the multicenter study Professionalisierung alltagsintegrierter sprachlicher Bildung bei ein-und mehrsprachig aufwachsenden Kindern collected within the BISS framework that was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth under the grant BIS00.00007.16. This publication was funded by the Open Access Publication Fund of Leuphana University Lüneburg. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2021 Voltmer, Hormann, Pietsch, Maehler and von Salisch.

PY - 2021/5/4

Y1 - 2021/5/4

N2 - The feeling thinking talking (FTT) intervention was designed because early childhood seems to be a prime time for fostering young children's language skills. This intervention involved teaching teachers from N = 28 kindergarten groups in N = 13 German kindergartens language support strategies (LSS) to be used in everyday conversations with the children in their care. The FTT intervention was evaluated in a business-as-usual control group design with N = 281 children (mean age = 49.82 months, range = 33-66 months at T1, mixed SES) who were individually tested using objective tests on grammar, vocabulary and working memory before (T1) and after the FTT intervention (T2), and in a follow-up about one year after T1 (T3). After propensity matching was applied, multilevel models demonstrated that the children taught by the intervention group teachers made faster progress in their understanding of sentences, their application of morphological rules, and their memory for sentences when numerous covariates (child age, gender, behavioral self-regulation, multilingual upbringing, and family SES) were controlled. Results suggest that complex language processing abilities in young children can be promoted by a teacher-led intervention in early childhood education. Improved language skills will further all children's academic and social success in school.

AB - The feeling thinking talking (FTT) intervention was designed because early childhood seems to be a prime time for fostering young children's language skills. This intervention involved teaching teachers from N = 28 kindergarten groups in N = 13 German kindergartens language support strategies (LSS) to be used in everyday conversations with the children in their care. The FTT intervention was evaluated in a business-as-usual control group design with N = 281 children (mean age = 49.82 months, range = 33-66 months at T1, mixed SES) who were individually tested using objective tests on grammar, vocabulary and working memory before (T1) and after the FTT intervention (T2), and in a follow-up about one year after T1 (T3). After propensity matching was applied, multilevel models demonstrated that the children taught by the intervention group teachers made faster progress in their understanding of sentences, their application of morphological rules, and their memory for sentences when numerous covariates (child age, gender, behavioral self-regulation, multilingual upbringing, and family SES) were controlled. Results suggest that complex language processing abilities in young children can be promoted by a teacher-led intervention in early childhood education. Improved language skills will further all children's academic and social success in school.

KW - Psychology

KW - Educational science

KW - early childhood

KW - kindergarten

KW - language

KW - language support strategies

KW - teacher-led intervention

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106053733&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660750

DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660750

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 34017290

VL - 12

JO - Frontiers in Psychology

JF - Frontiers in Psychology

SN - 1664-1078

M1 - 660750

ER -