Gender differences in the relationship between attention problems and expressive language and emerging academic skills in preschool‐aged children

This study examined the relationship between attention problems and expressive language and academic readiness skills in preschool‐aged children from middle‐class families. Forty‐three children (44% female) were assessed individually for expressive language skills and knowledge of basic academic concepts (e.g. colours, letters and numbers). The primary caregiver of each child provided information regarding the child’s attention problems, using the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½–5 (CBCL/1½–5). Correlational analyses revealed that for boys, attention problems were related to less well‐developed expressive language skills. For girls, there was a trend for attention problems to be related to lower performance on the academic skills measure. Screening for attention problems before children enter kindergarten is recommended, to identify those children likely to be in need of additional assistance in the early school grades.     

A Culture in Transition: Poor Reading and Writing Ability Among Children in South African Townships

Recent international studies shows that South African pupils compare most unfavourable with other countries with regard to literacy and numeracy development. In the present study our aim was to determine the presence of early childhood developmental factors that might play a role in the subsequent poor performance of these children. Children between the ages of five and a half and seven years from six daycare facilities in the informal settlement of Temba (South Africa) were randomly chosen. From each daycare facility, five children were chosen by means of the lottery method. The home language of all of the children was Tswana, one of the 11 official languages in South Africa. The reading and writing readiness checklist was used to gain insight into the reading and writing readiness of the sample group. The test was developed to determine the literacy level of prospective school beginners. Results indicate that these children are ill-prepared for formal education. They reveal inadequate literacy skill, poor sentence construction, poor sense of syntax, and inadequate sound development, and knowledge of the alphabet. They also reveal poor knowledge of sounds especially pertaining to prefixes and suffixes, transposition of sounds within words, and replacement of a sound within a word by another. These results point to a conglomerate pf factors, namely inadequate visual-motor integrative skills, poor visual analysis and synthesis, and poor fine motor development found in children who have been carried on their mothers' backs for excessively long periods (Pretorius et al. In Press). Additionally, they have also been inadequately exposured to mediated reading and writing experiences due to parental non-involvement. Cultural strengths of these black disadvantaged children include adequate gestalt formation, enjoyment of and ability in visual arts, responsiveness to the concrete, expressiveness of gestures and body language, enjoyment of and ability to learn at hand of pictorial and symbolic representations. They also excel in storytelling and singing, and enjoyment of and ability in creative movement, dance, music, and rhythm should therefore be implemented as medium of instruction in the foundational phase.     

The Speech and Language of Children Aged 25 Months: Descriptive Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

A major epidemiological study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, has provided the opportunity for a population study of children's speech and language. Data collected via direct assessments and maternal self-completion questionnaire on 1127 children aged 25 months is presented in this paper. The speech and language of the children shows great range in terms of the stage of expressive language development achieved, with some children already accomplished talkers and others only just entering the world of words As in other studies, girls showed more advanced skills than boys. A clear pattern emerges regarding the children's use of sound classes with errors in postvocalic sounds reducing first, followed by velars, fricatives, liquids and finally, consonant clusters. Associations were found between the children's verbal comprehension and their reported expressive stage, pretend play, turn taking in games, imitation of words and sounds and singing of nursery rhymes.     

Accelerating early language development with multi-sensory training

This paper reports the outcome of a multi-sensory intervention on infant language skills. A programme titled ‘Rhyming Game and Exercise Club’, which included kinaesthetic–tactile mother–child rhyming games performed in natural joint attention situations, was intended to accelerate Finnish six- to eight-month-old infants’ language development. The participants were 20 infants (10 training group children and 10 control children). Their cognitive skills and both receptive and expressive language skills (Bayley Scales III) were tested three times (pre-, post- and follow-up assessments). The groups differed significantly in receptive language skills at the baseline, in favour of the controls. The results showed that the performance of the training group children in cognition and receptive language increased after the intervention. The training group girls showed more acceleration in receptive language skills than the boys. The results suggested that training consisting of rhyming games and kinaesthetic-tactile stimulation is a useful tool for accelerating early language development and for enriching mother–child interaction.     

Acceptance of a Novel Food is Related to Caregiver Perceptions of Infant and Toddler Food-related Receptive Language

ObjectiveLanguage development, both what is understood (receptive language) and spoken (expressive language), is considered critical to a child's ability to understand and interact with their environment. However, little research has investigated the role children's early language skills might play in their food acceptance. The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between young children's food-related receptive language (FRL) and food-related expressive language (FEL) and acceptance of novel food.MethodsCaregivers (n = 54) reported their perceptions of children's (aged 7–24 months) FRL and FEL using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. Novel food acceptance was observed (grams consumed) during a laboratory visit. Multivariable linear regression tested associations between FRL, FEL, and novel food acceptance, by child age (infants [aged from 7 to < 12 months], toddlers [aged 12–24 months]), and at a significance level of P < 0.1 for hypothesis-generating research.ResultsChildren's FRL and food acceptance differed by age (F = 8.08, P = 0.01). Among toddlers, greater FRL was associated with greater novel food acceptance (0.22 g [95% confidence interval, ?0.04 to 0.49]), P = 0.09). In infants, greater FRL was associated with lower novel food acceptance (?0.80 g [95% confidence interval, ?1.53 to ?0.07], P = 0.03). No association between FEL and novel food acceptance was noted in either group.Conclusions and ImplicationsToddlers’ understanding of food-related vocabulary may facilitate food acceptance; however, young infants may not yet have sufficient FRL to facilitate novel food acceptance.     

Accelerating Early Language and Literacy Skills Through a Preschool-Home Partnership Using Dialogic Reading: a Randomized Trial

Background

This study tested a preschool-home partnership intervention, in which early childhood teachers encouraged the parents/caregivers of preschoolers to engage in dialogic reading at home. This was an experimental test of Bronfenbrenner’s hypothesis that parental involvement in early care and education programs should promote child development, as well as a test of a train-the-trainer approach to the dialogic reading intervention.

Objective

The current study focuses on testing the causality of parent involvement: (1) homework assigned to parents/caregivers will improve the early language and literacy skills of their 2?~?3-year-old children; (2) gains by children in the intervention group with low pre-test language and literacy score, low family literacy score, and high parents/caregivers’ extent of using dialogic reading strategies at home will show larger gains in literacy scores than their counterparts.

Methods

A sample of 12 early care and education programs, 18 early childhood teachers, 87 two–to three-year-old children and their parents/caregivers were followed for 18?~?20 weeks after assignment to the intervention group or the control group.

Results

The impacts of the six-week parent involvement intervention continued to grow during the six-week follow-up phase, and represented substantial gains of the intervention group in four aspects of early language and literacy skills.

Conclusion

This study provides evidence that a simple homework assignment intervention can be an effective tool to promote child development when parents/caregivers are engaged. The intervention also had ongoing influence on children’s early language and literacy skills, even after the intervention period had ended.

     

Relationship between emergent literacy and early social–emotional development in preschool children from low-income backgrounds

Sixty-one preschool children and their parents and teachers participated in a cross-sectional study of the social–emotional correlates of emergent literacy skills. The children's emergent literacy skills were assessed with the standard language and literacy tests: Expressive Vocabulary Test, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (third edition), and Test of Early Reading Ability (third edition). These tests measure oral language (expressive language and receptive language) and print awareness. The children's positive and negative behaviours were measured by the standard behaviour rating scales: the Behavior Assessment System for Children (second edition) and the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment. These behaviours are grouped into four subcategories, namely, externalising behaviour, internalising behaviour, approaches to learning, and interpersonal skills. Results showed a wide range of significant associations between the components of emergent literacy and social–emotional development. Age and sex were found to moderate these significant correlations in different ways. Implications for educational practitioners and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Neuropsychological profile of pre-schoolers with metaphonological difficulties: results from a non-clinical sample

BACKGROUND: The level of language development reached in pre-school age is considered the most reliable predictor of reading acquisition. In normally developing children, learning to read is strongly related to early language skills, and in particular to phonological processing abilities. In dyslexic children, reading abilities seem to show a correlation with phonological awareness. METHODS: A group of 65 children (aged 5-6 years) were recruited and submitted to an in-depth neuropsychological assessment [i.e. metaphonological skills, intelligence, verbal short-term memory (VSTM) and other aspects of receptive and expressive language]. We were able to identify 14 children with significant metaphonological difficulties (MD): 11 children with exclusively MD, and the other three children with specific language impairment. This study compares the neuropsychological profile obtained from children with MD with that of a peer group without any language impairment (N). RESULTS: The performances of the MD were within the normal ability range in almost all the administered tests but significantly lower compared with those of their peers without language impairment (N) in some items of the intelligence scale (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence) and in the tests of VSTM and of receptive/expressive language. Nevertheless, there were not statistically significant differences between MD and N in output phonology. CONCLUSIONS: In pre-school age, in a group of non-clinical children, with a range of abilities, those with MD appear to be at the lower end of the normal range in many other verbal skills. These children could be considered at-risk for possible subsequent difficulties learning to read and thus need to be identified and to warrant prompt treatment.     

Association Between Motor Skills and Musculoskeletal Physical Fitness Among Preschoolers

Objective

Previous work is conflicted regarding the relationship between motor skill development and physical activity. One potential explanation for this equivocality is the difficulty and lack of precision in physical activity measurement, particularly within preschool populations. Our exploration of plank performance as a proxy measure for fitness addresses a void in the literature, as few studies have investigated the role of motor skill development on fitness. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential relationship between motor skill level and musculoskeletal endurance (via the plank test).

Methods

Data from the 2012 National Youth Fitness Survey were used, which included 224 preschool-aged children (3–5 years). Motor skill level was assessed from the Test of Gross Motor Development-Second Edition (TGMD2). Motor skill parameters included general motor skills, locomotor skills, and object control skills.

Results

Within this nationally representative sample of preschoolers, increased motor skills were positively associated with plank performance [General Motor Skills (β?=?0.45; 95% CI 0.31–0.59), locomotor skills (β?=?1.88; 95% CI 1.15–2.61), and object control skills (β?=?2.05; 95% CI 1.11–2.98)].

Conclusion

Motor skill level in this national preschool sample was associated with musculoskeletal endurance. Thus, future interventions should aim to develop and refine motor skills among preschoolers.

     

Longitudinal associations of subjectively-measured physical activity and screen time with cognitive development in young children

PurposeTo examine the longitudinal associations of subjectively-measured physical activity (PA) and screen time with multiple domains of cognitive development in a sample of young children.MethodsParticipants were 96 children (baseline age: 3.69 ± 0.78 years) and their parents from Edmonton, Canada in the Physical Activity and Cognition in Early Childhood (PACE) study. Different types of PA (organized, non-organized) and screen time (television viewing, video games) were measured using a parental questionnaire at baseline and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Total proxy-reported PA, total screen time, and meeting/not meeting the screen time recommendations (2–4 years: ≤1 h/d; 5 years: ≤2 h/d) of the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines were also calculated. Working memory (Nebraska Barnyard task) and inhibitory control (Fish-Shark Go/No-Go task) were assessed at the three time points. Intellectual ability, including language development, inductive reasoning, and perceptual speed, were assessed using the Woodcock-Johnson III test battery at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Multilevel growth modeling was conducted.ResultsOrganized PA (B = 1.26; 95%CI: 0.19,2.33), non-organized PA (B = 0.89, 95%CI: 0.08, 1.71), and total proxy-reported PA (B = 1.03, 95%CI: 0.41,1.66) were positively associated with intellectual ability. In particular, positive associations in regard to language development and inductive reasoning were observed. As for screen time, most associations were not significant, except for positive associations of meeting the screen recommendation with intellectual ability (B = 3.19; 95%CI: 0.002,6.38) and language development (B = 4.32; 95%CI: 0.34,8.30).ConclusionFor young children, promoting PA participation in organized and non-organized activities, as well as meeting the screen time recommendations, appears important for cognitive development.     

孤独症儿童心理理论特征及临床干预的研究进展

心理理论发展的缺损或滞后是导致孤独症谱系障碍(ASD)患儿社交障碍的重要原因之一,这使得ASD患儿缺乏恰当的社会交往技能,无法正常地与人交流,更难以融入家庭、学校、社区等。通过ASD患儿的心理理论能力进行干预训练可以促进他们的社会交往能力的发展。现有的干预训练内容大致包括以下几项:对错误信念理解的干预训练,以正常儿童心理理论发展顺序为参照的多心理理论成分训练,将心理理论能力与社会交往能力相结合的干预训练。已有研究分析,对未来的干预训练更应注重心理理论技能干预的泛化和针对不同层次的ASD儿童设置差异化的干预方案。     

Influences of Language and Parental Involvement on the Development of Counting Skills: Comparisons of French- and English-speaking Canadian Children

French- ( n =27) and English-speaking preschoolers ( n =38) completed four number tasks. French-speaking preschoolers performed more poorly on the rote-counting and number-recognition tasks than English-speaking preschoolers, but the groups did not differ on counting objects. Thus, French-speaking children may find it more difficult to master the number names than their English-speaking peers. Importantly, however, French-speaking parents' reported a lower frequency of teaching their children about numbers, letters, and words than English-speaking parents. Multiple regression analyses indicated that variability in counting and number recognition were predicted both by knowledge of the counting string ( i.e. , language) and by differences in parents' reports of teaching about numbers and letters ( i.e. , culture). Thus, researchers should examine potential variations in cultural factors such as parental involvement when comparing the academic skills of groups of children who ostensibly differ only in language.     

成都市16~24月龄儿童语言发育现状调查

目的 了解成都市16~24月龄儿童语言发育状况。方法 于2013年6-12月以成都市6城区1 063例16~24月龄儿童为研究对象,以《婴幼儿语言发育进程量表》为调查工具,采用Excel进行资料录入、SPSS 18.0软件进行统计描述与分析。结果 1)共发现语言发育迟缓儿童137例,检出率12.89%。2)各年龄组男女儿童语言的发育在与视觉相关的理解与表达、听觉感受和理解、语音及言语表达三个方面差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05),女童的理解及表达能力优于男童(P<0.05)。3)儿童语言发育随年龄增加而增加,其中与视觉相关的理解和表达部分得分在18月后达到稳定,听觉感受和理解部分得分呈平稳上升趋势,语音和语言表达部分得分早期增加比较平缓但于18个月左右明显上升。结论 应加强对成都地区儿童语言发育的关注,增加儿童理解能力训练是提高儿童表达能力的有效方法之一。     

The extended Theory of Planned Behavior in explaining exclusive breastfeeding intention and behavior among women in Kelantan,Malaysia

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVESThe purpose of this study is to utilize an extended Theory of Planned Behavior in identifying predictors of exclusive breastfeeding intention and behavior among women in Kelantan, Malaysia.SUBJECTS/METHODSA prospective cohort study was conducted, recruiting pregnant womenthrough two-stage cluster sampling. Their exclusive breastfeeding intention, attitude, perceived norm, perceived behavioral control and past behavior were obtained at baseline through interviewer-guided questionnaire. At one month after delivery, another interview was conducted to determine the two additional variables in the extended theory, which were their postpartum support and breastfeeding difficulty. The behavior, which was the actual duration of exclusive breastfeeding, was obtained from the second follow-up at six months. Pearson correlation and two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted.RESULTSA total of 200 women completed the study follow-up. Their median intended exclusive breastfeeding duration was 4.0 (IQR 5) months, and the median actual duration was 1.0 (IQR 4) month. The Theory of Planned Behavior explained 51.0% of the variance in intention, with perceived behavioral control and attitude were the significant predictors. It also explained 10.0% of the variance in behavior, but the addition of postpartum support and breastfeeding difficulty increased the amount of explained variance in behavior by 6.0%. The significant predictors of exclusive breastfeeding behavior were intention, postpartum support and breastfeeding difficulty.CONCLUSIONThe extended Theory of Planned Behaviorhad a good predictive ability in explaining exclusive breastfeedingintention and behavior. The women''s intention to practice exclusive breastfeeding may be improved by improving their perceived behavioral control and attitude. Providing correct postpartum support and skills to handle breastfeeding difficulties after delivery will improve their exclusive breastfeeding behavior.     

Social behaviour,socio-cognitive skills and attachment style in school-aged children: what is the relation with academic outcomes?

The present research explored the relation between socio-cognitive skills, as Theory of Mind and affective empathy, social behaviour, attachment style and scholastic success in children, aged from 8 to 11 years (N?=?159; 90 females, 69 males; M_age?=?9,60; DS?=?.78). Several assessment tools were administered to children on mentalizing abilities (Stories), empathy (FASTE), language (PPVT-R), attachment style (SAT) and learning (M.T. and AC-MT 6-11), while the teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire about every child’s social behaviour (SDQ). The correlational analysis and MANOVA prove that ‘secure’ children show more prosocial behaviour, moral mentalizing and empathic capacities in the classroom, receiving better evaluations from teachers and in learning tests. Moreover, socio-cognitive skills and prosocial behaviour are associated with academic performance, while the affective empathy is only related to teachers’ evaluations. Finally, the implications of these findings for theoretical and research development on socio-cognitive skills are discussed.     

Examining relationships between home-based shared book reading practices and children’s language/literacy skills at kindergarten entry

ABSTRACT

At start-up of a book distribution programme (Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library) in a southeastern United States community, we examined baseline relationships between at-home shared book reading (SBR) and children’s language/literacy abilities and skills at kindergarten entry. One hundred fifty-two parent/child dyads participated; children (53% male) had a mean age of 5 years, 6 months. Survey data included family demographics, SBR frequency and practices, and children’s interest in reading. Household income and parent education level were positively associated with SBR frequency. Relationships between SBR frequency and children’s performance on measures of print concepts/ reading behaviours, narrative retelling, narrative comprehension, and interest in reading were statistically significant. Performance on a letter naming fluency and phonemic segmentation measure was significantly related to the SBR practice of stopping to ask the child about letters or words but not to SBR frequency. Differential associations are discussed in terms of constrained and unconstrained abilities and skills, with implications for future research.     

Teacher Professionalism - An Innovative Programme for Teaching Mathematics to Foundation Level Learners with Limited Language Proficiency

This article reports on results derived from a quantitative research into the language proficiency of disadvantaged preschoolers within a Griqua community near Christiana in the Free State province (South Africa) with a population of approximately one hundred and fifty families. The learners' main language is a dialect of Afrikaans, but (to a lesser extent) they also speak Xhosa and Xhoi-San (two of the indigenous African languages), as well as non-standard English at home. Preschoolers from this settlement attend a preschool where standard Afrikaans and English are spoken (double medium preschool). The aim of this project was to determine the ways that limited language proficiency impact on learners' readiness for mathematics instruction, and to define the link between limited language proficiency and non-readiness for mathematics instruction at foundation phase. The results proved a link between limited language proficiency and non-readiness for foundation level mathematics instruction due to limited thinking skills, which constitute limited cognitive academic language proficiency. The concept cognitive academic language proficiency refers to those language skills that are essential to transcend ordinary social language. On average, children need between five and seven years to attain cognitive academic language proficiency of such a level that would support grade-level performance on academic tasks. The findings were utilized to construct and propose a programme for teaching mathematics to foundation level learners with limited language proficiency.     

The covariation between parental and expert evaluations of early language skills

This study investigated the potential interrelationship between parental (maternal) and expert assessments of the expressive and receptive language skills of 12- to 18-month-old children. The language activities of 27 children were monitored by their mothers (MCDI scale: Lyytinen, 2000. Varhaisen kommunikaation ja kielen kehityksen arviointimenetelmä. Jyväskylän yliopiston lapsitutkimuskeskus ja Niilo Mäki Instituutti. Jyväskylä: Yliopistopaino. [An assessment tool for early communication and language development] Jyväskylä: University Press) and trained researchers (Bayley Scales III: Bayley, 2006. Bayley III Scales of Infant Development. Administration Manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation). First and foremost, the results showed that parental and expert assessments of different aspects of child development were in accord, even after controlling for the child's age. Covariance modelling confirmed the strong concordance between maternal and expert assessment of both aspects of early language development. Furthermore, maternal age did have an effect on the child's receptive language, according to experts' assessments. Gender or maternal education level did not have an impact on language skills as measured by Bayley assessment. Parent-reported dyslexia in a close relative was also taken into account.     

Play and theory of mind in early childhood: a Hong Kong perspective

The study seeks to understand the relation between preschool children's mode of participation and negotiation strategies during play and their theory of mind (ToM) development in the Hong Kong context. Forty-two 5-year-old children were recruited. Their emotional and cognitive ToMs were assessed along with expressive language ability. Children's play was observed twice in naturalistic and laboratory settings. Parents completed a questionnaire on their child's emotional and cognitive ToM development, including demographic information and social economic status indexes. The results showed that 5-year-old Hong Kong children mostly engaged in associative and cooperative play and employed two-way, reciprocal strategies in their play. Parent report of emotional ToM predicted children's play strategy in both naturalistic and laboratory settings. Child measure of cognitive ToM predicted their play strategy in the laboratory setting. The study advocates more play time in kindergarten in order to foster an empathetic generation.