In peer-mediated intervention (PMI), peers act as agents of intervention. Previous reviews in this area have not addressed the effectiveness of using PMI with children with autism who are minimally verbal. Following a systematic search, we reviewed 25 studies where PMI was used to increase communication in minimally verbal participants. The…

During preschool age, three precursors to self-regulated learning (SRL) can be identified: general self-regulation ability, speech competence, and executive functioning. There is evidence for a large interindividual heterogeneity in these precursors which may have an impact on the development of SRL. This study (a) examined heterogeneity in SRL…

Spatial language and ability play important roles in children's cognitive development. Spatial ability in kindergarten predicts achievement in reading, math, science, and technology in primary school and therefore constitutes an important skill set in preparation for school entrance. Good spatial thinking skills are required for learning in…

We evaluated the impact of a supplemental, small-group kindergarten vocabulary intervention designed to reinforce content taught in core classroom instruction implemented within a multitiered system of support (MTSS) framework. Kindergarten teachers implemented a published vocabulary program with all their students during whole-class instruction…

This research assessed the impact of combining small-group cognitive reading intervention with a motivational program targeting students' goals, emotions, and self-efficacy beliefs on the reading performance and motivation of third-grade students at risk for reading difficulties (n = 25, M[subscript age] = 8.99, SD = 0.38). Using a…

This paper attempts to investigate the repetition of Relative Clauses (RCs) in Mandarin children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) (aged 4; 5 to 6; 0) and their typically developing (TD) peers. The results of a sentence repetition task indicate that Mandarin children with DLD perform significantly worse than both groups of TD children,…

The development of beginning decoding and encoding skills is influenced by linguistic skills as well as executive functions (EFs). These higher-level cognitive processes include working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, and individual differences in these EFs have been shown to contribute to early academic learning. The present study…

Purpose: Many children begin school with limited vocabularies, placing them at a high risk of academic difficulties. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of a vocabulary intervention program, "Story Friends," designed to improve vocabulary knowledge of at-risk preschool children. Method: Twenty-four early-childhood…

Background: The use of mobile health (mHealth) technology is rapidly expanding in healthcare worldwide. mHealth tools may provide parents with access to resources essential for promoting language development. Aim: The current study aimed to determine how an mHealth parental resource influenced 42 preschool children's (4.0-5.11 months old) language…

Purpose: Many children begin school with limited vocabularies, placing them at a high risk of academic difficulties. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of a vocabulary intervention program, Story Friends, designed to improve vocabulary knowledge of at-risk preschool children. Method: Twenty-four early-childhood classrooms were…

Intervention to raise the literacy achievement of disadvantaged groups in society has focused on preschool literacy development because it is predictive of later educational achievement and because research has shown that key strands of literacy emerge very early in childhood. Intervention programmes to promote emergent literacy are likely to be…

The development of beginning decoding and encoding skills is influenced by linguistic skills as well as executive functions (EFs). These higher-level cognitive processes include working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, and individual differences in these EFs have been shown to contribute to early academic learning. The present study…

Interactive book reading (IBR) has proven effective for increasing children's lexicons with most of the results based on students' learning of nouns. Little is known about the application of IBR to instructional verbs (i.e., words used during the instruction of academic content). To address this gap, 122 prekindergarten children were recruited…

Background: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) demonstrate deficits in vocabulary development and novel word learning processes, which have been proposed to stem from their speech perception deficits. Aims: This study had two aims. The first was to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention incorporating a computer-based phonetic…

Computer programming for young children has grown in popularity among both educators and product developers, but still relatively little is known about what skills children are developing when they code. This study investigated N = 57 Kindergarten through second grade children's performance on a programming assessment after engaging in a 6-week…