Training day care staff to facilitate children's language.
This exploratory study investigated the outcome of in-service training on language facilitation strategies of child care providers in day care centers. Sixteen caregivers were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Caregivers were taught to be responsive to children's initiations, engage children in interactions, model simplified language, and encourage peer interactions. At posttest, the experimental group waited for children to initiate, engaged them in turn-taking, used face to face interaction, and included uninvolved children more frequently than the control group. In turn, children in the experimental group talked more, produced more combinations, and talked to peers more often than the control group. The results support the viability of this training model in early childhood education settings and suggest directions for future research.
Girolametto
Luigi
L
Graduate Department of Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1V7, Canada. l.girolametto@utoronto.ca
Weitzman
Elaine
E
Greenberg
Janice
J
D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education*; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D000078329:Workforce