Hindman Annemarie H, Farrow Jean M, Anderson Kate, Wasik Barbara A, Snyder Patricia A
Department of Teaching and Learning, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA, United States.
Front Psychol. 2021 Dec 9;12:719783. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.719783. eCollection 2021.
Child-directed speech (CDS), which can help children learn new words, has been rigorously studied among infants and parents in home settings. Yet, far less is known about the CDS that teachers use in classrooms with toddlers and children's responses, an important question because many toddlers, particularly in high-need communities, attend group-care settings. This exploratory study examines the linguistic environment during teacher-led book readings in American Early Head Start classrooms serving 2-year-olds from households in poverty. Seven teachers in four classrooms were trained to emphasize target words while reading story and informational books. We first analyzed the nature and quality of their book readings from a macro-level, exploring global instructional quality [Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)] and linguistic complexity [i.e., diversity of vocabulary () and sophistication of syntax (MLU-w)], and we also examined micro-level teacher-child talk strategies and use of target words. Compared to prior research, these classrooms had similar global quality and syntactic complexity, although less lexical diversity. Exploratory results also revealed three distinct teacher talk patterns-teachers who emphasized (1) comments, (2) questions, and (3) a balance of the two. Question-focused teachers had more adult and child talk during reading, as well as more repetitions of target words, and stronger CLASS Engaged Support for Learning. However, comment-focused teachers used more diverse vocabulary and had stronger CLASS Emotional and Behavioral Support. Results illuminate the nature and quality of CDS in toddler classrooms, particularly in the context of an intervention emphasizing target vocabulary words, and highlight applications for professional development and questions for further research.
儿童指向性言语（CDS）有助于儿童学习新单词，在家中环境下，婴幼儿及其父母对此已进行了深入研究。然而，对于教师在课堂上与幼儿互动时所使用的CDS以及幼儿的反应，我们了解得却少得多，这是一个重要问题，因为许多幼儿，尤其是在需求较高的社区，都在集体照料环境中。这项探索性研究考察了美国早期启蒙教育课堂上，教师带领两岁贫困家庭儿童阅读书籍时的语言环境。四个班级的七位教师接受了培训，在阅读故事书和信息类书籍时强调目标词汇。我们首先从宏观层面分析了他们阅读的性质和质量，探究整体教学质量[课堂评估评分系统（CLASS）]和语言复杂性[即词汇多样性（）和句法复杂性（平均长度词法单位，MLU-w）]，我们还考察了微观层面教师与儿童的谈话策略以及目标词汇的使用情况。与先前的研究相比，这些课堂的整体质量和句法复杂性相似，尽管词汇多样性较少。探索性结果还揭示了三种不同的教师谈话模式——强调（1）评论、（2）问题以及（3）两者平衡的教师。以问题为重点的教师在阅读过程中有更多的成人与儿童对话，目标词汇的重复次数也更多，并且在CLASS学习参与支持方面更强。然而，以评论为重点的教师使用的词汇更多样化，在CLASS情感和行为支持方面更强。研究结果阐明了幼儿课堂中CDS的性质和质量，特别是在强调目标词汇的干预背景下，并突出了对专业发展的应用以及进一步研究的问题。
