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Enriching children's language learning to support literacy in areas of social
disadvantage
Marion Rutherford & Gill EarlSpeech and Language TherapistsSAACH conference March 2015
Key messages•Oral language skills are the foundation of literacy skills
• There are strong links between social disadvantage and oral language skills
• Socially disadvantaged children start school with poorer oral language skills than social advantaged peers
•Without intervention the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged populations gets wider
• There are life long implications
• In Edinburgh some universal and targeted resources have been developed to address this gap
Oral language predicts literacy•Oral language skills in preschool predict later reading
success and literacy acquisition (Noel et al. 2008)
• Vocabulary at school entry predicts reading comprehension in 3rd/4th grade (Storch & Whitehurst, 2002)
• Preschool narrative skills predict reading comprehension skills in grade 7 (Tabors et al. 2001)
• Early oral language difficulties can undermine healthy outcomes in reading, academic achievement and social/relational achievement. (Justice et al. 2008)
Oral language and social disadvantage As a group, socially disadvantaged pre-school children demonstrate: • poor pre-literacy skills (Peterson et al. 1994)
• below average phonological awareness skills (McIntosh et al. 2007)
• complex syntax skills 10 to 15 standard score points below average (Whitehurst, 1997 etc)
• slow rate of vocabulary learning (Rescorla & Alley, 2001)
Oral language and social disadvantageHoff (2003) • Properties of mothers’ child directed speech were positive
predictors of child vocabulary• SES was significantly associated with the child’s vocabulary
▫ Fewer words▫ Fewer different words▫ Shorter sentences
Hart & Risley (1995)• Children from welfare-recipient families heard an average of
616 words per hour in comparison with an average of 2153 words in professional families
Literacy and social disadvantageChall and Jacobs (2003)• Low SES children may struggle to make the transition from the
early stages of literacy (alphabetic principle, decoding) to reading for meaning
An example from Clackmannanshire literacy project…• Synthetic phonics improved reading outcomes in P1 to P3.
Socially disadvantaged children appeared to have caught up• However, “by P7 socioeconomic disadvantage had begun to
reassert itself” (A Vision for Scotland, 2009)
Life long implicationsUK studies identify links between poor language and: • Juvenile offending (Bryan, Freer and Furlong 2007) • Criminal involvement and risky behaviour (McAra
and McVie 2007) • Lower levels of education (Whitehouse et al. 2009) • Lower independence and ‘skilled’ employment
(Whitehouse et al. 2009) • Problems with social relationships and affective disturbances
(Whitehouse et al. 2009) • Poor literacy, mental health problems and lower levels of
employment (Law et al. 2009)
Language and Literacy Interventions•Health promotion▫ Bookstart▫ Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library!
•Parent programmes▫ PEEP▫ Incredible Years▫ Hanen
•Targeted language interventions ▫ Talking Time ▫ Up, Up and Away▫ Word Boost▫ Language Link
•Targeted literacy interventions▫ Literacy Rich Edinburgh ▫ Fresh Start / Read and Write Inc.
Features of interventions
• collaborative
• embedded in daily experience
• anticipatory
• structured
• progressive
• evaluated
Literacy risk and resilience• There might be risk factors associated with factors outwith
the child…▫ The physical and social environment▫ Daily and social routines▫ Motivation within child and family▫ Parental literacy levels
• And within child risk factors including:▫ temperament▫ confidence▫ SHANARRI indicators ▫ Impoverished speech and language skills
Resources• Information about stages of literacy
development
• A tool to identify the child’s stage
• Risk and resilience tool
• Literacy rich environment tools for home and nursery
• Literacy strategies for each stage
• Parent postcards
Developing children’s vocabulary in Edinburgh
through robust instruction
WORD BOOST
•Need for a targeted approach to vocabulary instruction in areas of social disadvantage
▫evidence based▫relevant▫cumulative▫highly structured▫resourced▫embedded in classroom learning
The approach Robust vocabulary instruction (Beck et al 2001/2008)
•‘Sophisticated’ words meeting certain criteria•Specified number of words each week •Specific instructional components ▫child friendly definitions▫visuals▫multiple contexts ▫ interactive engaging instruction▫scheduled revision
Word Sources - Nursery to early primary
nibble, pounce,
linger, a stroll, ecstatic
Evaluations 2013• At nursery, P1 and P2 we
demonstrated better understanding of vocabulary with intervention.
• Results suggest that this improvement would not have taken place in the absence of intervention.
• Not Primary 3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
N P1 P2
targetgroup
similarFME
lowerFME
Evaluations 2013•At P1, P2 and P3 we
demonstrated better ability to explain the words’ meanings with intervention.
• Results suggest that this improvement would not have taken place in the absence of intervention.
0
5
10
15
20
25
P1 P2 P3
targetgroup
similarFME
lowerFME
Summary•There is a strong link between social disadvantage,
poor oral language and later literacy skills
•A range of interventions exist to address the widening gap
•SLT contributes to a number of collaborative interventions to promote success in school
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