Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a conversation intervention including 500 min of linguistically and cognitively complex talk on the expressive vocabulary growth of prekindergarten children. Method: Children (N = 73) were randomly assigned to control or a 10-week experimental intervention condition. Twice…

The importance of the preschool period in becoming a skilled reader is highlighted by a significant body of evidence that preschool children's development in the areas of oral language, phonological awareness, and print knowledge is predictive of how well they will learn to read once they are exposed to formal reading instruction in elementary…

This meta-analysis examines the effects of vocabulary interventions on pre-K and kindergarten children's oral language development. The authors quantitatively reviewed 67 studies and 216 effect sizes to better understand the impact of training on word learning. Results indicated an overall effect size of 0.88, demonstrating, on average, a gain of…

The present study examined some early performance difficulties of Chinese preschoolers at familial risk for dyslexia. Seventy-six high-risk (40 good and 36 poor readers) and 25 low-risk Chinese children were tested on oral language, reading-related cognitive skills (e.g. phonological processing skills, rapid naming, and morphological awareness),…

Research Findings: Multitiered instructional frameworks are becoming a recommended approach for enhancing prevention and intervention efforts targeting early literacy and language skills. However, few studies to date have studied the feasibility of tiered oral language interventions before kindergarten; therefore, this pilot study explored the…

Purpose: This article describes a database that was created in the process of conducting a large-scale epidemiologic study of specific language impairment (SLI). As such, this database will be referred to as the EpiSLI database. Children with SLI have unexpected and unexplained difficulties learning and using spoken language. Although there is no…

The incorporation of dialogic reading techniques in adult-child book reading has been effective in improving early literacy skills in children with language delays and those from at-risk populations. There is, however, limited research that examines the potential utility of dialogic reading strategies for children with disabilities such as Autism…

A formative experiment investigated how two strategies aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of language interactions could be integrated into a preschool classroom. Strategies for enriching language interactions were introduced during book sharing, semi-structured group activities, and mealtimes. Mixed methods revealed factors that…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a supplemental Spanish language instruction program for children who spoke Spanish as their native language and were attending English-only preschool programs. Specifically, the study evaluated the program's effects on the children's Spanish sentence length in words, subordination…

"Literacy Express" is a preschool curriculum designed for three-to five-year-old children. It is structured around units on oral language, emergent literacy, basic math, science, general knowledge, and socioemotional development. It can be used in half-or full-day programs with typically developing children and children with special…

This study examined the effects of a parent-led intervention focused on developing children's early literacy skills within the home setting. The lesson plans contain scripted steps for completing activities to teach letter names and phonological awareness skills. Archival data were analyzed from a study conducted with 26 families from three…

The goal of this longitudinal study is to examine the relationships between early child factors (i.e., age at identification, enrollment in early intervention, oral language skills) and school readiness skills (i.e., conceptual knowledge) in a group of young children with hearing loss (HL). Standardized language, cognition, and conceptual…

"Headsprout Early Reading"[TM] is an Internet-based supplemental early literacy curriculum consisting of forty 20-minute animated episodes that are designed to teach phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The program adapts to a child's responses, providing additional instruction and review if a child does…

Individual differences in abilities to form, access, and hone phonological representations of words are implicated in the development of oral and written language. This study addressed three important gaps in the literature concerning measurement of individual differences in phonological representation. First, we empirically examined the…

Purpose: The contemporary practices of delivering speech, language, and hearing services in schools reflect palpable gains in professional sensitivity to linguistic and cultural diversity. Method: This article reviews the dominant research themes on the oral language of African American preschoolers who contribute to such diversity in the United…