Educational language practices and language development in early childhood education and care

The study investigates whether there is a correlation between the quality of the language learning environment in kindergarten toddler departments and the children’s vocabulary development from the age of 3 to 5 years old. The author wishes to find out if good language learning support in kindergarten can predict a development in children’s language development. The hypothesis is that both the quality of the language development measures and the extent to which the kindergarten provides the children with opportunities to develop their language predicts development in the children’s vocabulary.

The analysis of collected data showed that the quality of the language learning environment in the kindergarten toddler departments was related to the children’s language development from the age of 3 to 5 years old. The authors believe the results indicate that a language learning environment in kindergarten toddler departments that is characterised by responsive staff, who talk a lot with the children and facilitate conversations, promotes children’s language development. Although this effect is small, the authors believe that it shows the importance of a rich and varied language learning environment during the children’s first year of life.

The sample consists of 1131 kindergarten children from 158 Norwegian kindergartens, drawn from the research project ‘Better provision for Norwegian children in ECEC: A study of children’s well-being and development in ECEC’ (BePro). The children completed the first language test when they were 3 years old, and another test at the age of 5. In addition, the researchers collected data from the children’s parents and observational data regarding the quality of the kindergartens.

Hansen, J. E. (2018). "Educational language practices and language development in early childhood education and care". Akademisk avhandling. Universitetet i Stavanger.