Abstract Summary
We present the findings of a novel parent-focused language intervention aimed at increasing parents’ language supporting strategies in their speech to children. Parents in the intervention group received a programme through a shared wordless picture book activity. Comparisons between pre and post-test scores are discussed identifying its effectiveness.
Abstract :
The quality of parents’ linguistic input plays a critical role in shaping children’s early language skills. However, there is significant variability in the language support parents provide. Shared picture book reading interventions have been shown to increase parents’ use of language supporting strategies (e.g., open-ended questions), as well as increase preschool children’s language skills. Using these strategies in various situations beyond reading would confer maximum benefits to children’s language outcomes. Yet, existing research suggests that parents’ improved skills do not transfer to other contexts. To address this problem, we designed a novel parent-focused language intervention to explicitly support the transfer of parents’ skills, drawing on established cognitive science principles. We plan to recruit 50 parents and their 3-4 year old children, who will be randomly assigned to the intervention group, or an active control group. Over the course of two months, parents in the intervention group will receive a smart-phone delivered support programme. During the first 6 weeks, parents will be supported to use language supporting strategies during wordless picture book reading. In the final 2 weeks, parents will be introduced to new contexts. For example, parents will be supported to talk about shared experiences with their child, i.e., personal narrative. Based on the analogical learning and case comparison literature, specific examples of effective language supporting strategies in the familiar and new contexts will be explicitly compared. This will highlight the common underlying language supporting skill, despite surface-level differences (e.g., tense of prompt; book vs photograph of event). Between pre and post-test, we expect to find an increase in parents’ language supporting strategies during wordless book reading (near transfer), and in two novel contexts: reading picture books with words (intermediate transfer) and play with symbolic toys (far transfer). We also expect children’s expressive language, narrative, and inferencing skills to improve.
