Children with language difficulties: identification and adapted language provision in Early Childhood Education and Care, and subsequent assessment by the Educational Psychological Service

The study investigates how children with language difficulties are identified, and what adaptations and educational provision are given in kindergarten before children are referred to the Educational and Psychological Counselling Service (PPT). The study also focuses on how the PPT assesses children’s language difficulties. The research questions are:

1. How did kindergarten teachers identify and describe children’s language difficulties in kindergarten before referring to the PPT?
2. How did kindergarten teachers adapt educational provision for children with language difficulties in kindergarten before referring to the PPT?
3. How did the PPT assess these language difficulties and the children’s language environment in kindergarten, and what did this assessment contribute to the kindergarten’s identification of the difficulties?

The study shows that kindergartens use observations of social settings to identify language difficulties, and that language difficulties mainly involve pronunciation difficulties. The PPT often identifies a wider range of language difficulties that are not always consistent with kindergarten observations. The adapted educational provision in kindergarten before referral to the PPT, and during the period between referral and decisions on special educational assistance, had shortcomings. The study also points to challenges that may arise in the grey zone between adapted educational provision and special educational assistance where responsibility is shared between the kindergarten and the PPT.

The study is part of The Learning child - The Stavanger Project where over 1000 children from Stavanger Municipality participated from the age of two to the age of ten. The current study looks more closely at the children referred to the PPT. The researchers focus on four children who had language difficulties and Norwegian as their native language. All of them were boys between the ages of two and four. The researchers conducted a qualitative content analysis of 20 documents related to the children. These documents included kindergarten referral to the PPT, the PPT’s case logs, expert assessments, individual training curricula, reports on special needs, meeting minutes and test results. The documents were investigated in light of national regulations, national guidelines and theories on language development and language difficulties.

Joner, M. D., Reikerås, E., & Alvestad, M. (2022). Children with language difficulties: identification and adapted language provision in Early Childhood Education and Care, and subsequent assessment by the Educational Psychological Service. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(5), 758–772.