Research Findings: Early childhood teachers' talk is a key ingredient in children's early language and literacy development, but there has been little systematic synthesis of observational studies that examine relationships between teacher talk and child oral language. In this systematic review of 54 studies, we investigate and synthesize the…

Research Findings: The present study investigates both the proximal processes and contextual influences on children's oral language development in preschool. We examine whether teacher language practices vary across activity settings and program type, which teacher language practices predict children's oral language skills, and potential…

Research Findings: A social validity measure was used to examine 56 bilingual preschool teachers' perceptions and acceptability of an interactive shared book reading vocabulary intervention implemented in English with Spanish-speaking preschool children (N = 334) in a dual language program model. Social validity outcomes indicated that bilingual…

Research Findings: The present study compared effects of explicit instruction on and practice with the phonological form of words (form-focused instruction) versus explicit instruction on and practice with the meaning of words (meaning-focused instruction). Instruction was given via interactive storybook reading in the kindergarten classroom of…

Research Findings: This study of kindergarten monolingual and Dual Language Learners (DLLs) (N=263; mean age = 63.40 months) and their teachers (N=27) found significant mean differences in the observed quality of language interactions in classrooms with differing proportions of DLLs. Teachers instructing in classrooms with higher numbers of DLLs…

Research Findings: This study reports initial descriptive and validity results of a new early childhood classroom observation measure, the Classroom Language Environment Observation Scales (CLEOS), designed to capture teachers' use of both implicit language supports (e.g., incidental scaffolding and shared reading) and more explicit language…

Research Findings: Shared reading is reported to be the single best instructional practice for emergent literacy skills. Vocabulary instruction practices implemented during shared reading by both Head Start (HS) teachers and teachers from more affluent private school settings were compared to determine whether there were differences between the 2…

Research Findings: To extend findings that are mainly based on North American studies with English speakers, we studied 989 Chilean mothers from households of low socioeconomic status and their prekindergarten children, posing 2 questions: (a) Do mothers' self-reported practices about literacy development predict early literacy outcomes over and…

Research Findings: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of linguistic training based on the use of the Drežancic method in educational settings. It is hypothesized that characteristics of this method, based on the typical stages of linguistic and cognitive development, could influence both language competence and executive function (EF). A…

Research Findings: In order to identify the active ingredients in an effective professional development intervention focused on enhancing preschool vocabulary instruction, this study examines the frequency with which teachers and children discussed theme-related vocabulary words during shared book reading. Head Start teachers received 1 year of…

Research Findings: This study compared the effects of content-based shared book-reading instruction versus an explicit vocabulary-only condition on the vocabulary development of preschool dual language learners (DLLs). Using shared book reading as the mode of instruction, we randomly assigned 48 bilingual preschool teachers and 281…

Research Findings: Shared book reading provides a meaningful context for rich conversations to occur between a child and an adult and offers opportunities for children to be exposed to a range of vocabulary and concepts that often extend beyond their everyday experiences. Few studies have examined parent-child shared book reading as a context for…

This study examined the ways in which the language that Head Start teachers used during book reading, as well as the extent to which they made explicit connections between book reading and other instructional activities, were linked to preschoolers' vocabulary development. Participants included 10 Head Start teachers and 153 children in their…

Research Findings: This study examines whether specific teacher instructional practices in early education are associated with children's engagement in prosocial behavior. Teachers' verbal encouragement of prosocial behavior and empathy, emotional warmth, positive behavior management, vocabulary instruction, and encouragement of expressive…

Research Findings: This observational study of preschoolers (N = 140) in their classrooms (N = 41) examined variation in teacher "orienting" (defined as explanations and demonstrations about the procedures and rationale behind activities, including center projects, to the whole group or to individual children) and associations between…