NOTE: Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education, Georgia State University Purpose: The content and language structure of stories created by young children have been for many years an interest to researchers who have attempted to investigate children's thinking as reflected in their stories. These stories, believed to consist of children's actual thoughts during the story creation process, may reflect thinking and can be examined and analyzed according to identified criteria. The five characteristics of plot structures investigated for this study were story length, T-units, words per T-unit, characters, and incidents. Piaget's decreasingly egocentric speech features were causality, logical justification, and sequence. The purposes of this study were first, to examine nonconserving and conserving first grade children's oral expression as reflected in their stories, and second, to determine if a relationship existed between characteristics of plot structures and egocentric speech features. Procedures: The subjects for this study were 181 first grade children enrolled in four elementary schools located in largely suburban residential areas of DeKalb County of metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. The study consisted of two phases. Phase one involved a study of conservation tasks to identify the children as nonconservers or conservers. A standardized test of conservation was administered individually. There were 134 nonconservers and 47 conservers. Phase two consisted of the collection and analysis of two language experience stories for each subject for a total of 362 stories and of establishing the reliability of the judges. The language samples were studied to determine any significant differences in the frequency of the plot structures and the presence or absence of the decreasingly egocentric speech features. To establish interrater reliability four judges rated a random sampling of ten subject's stories and a two-way analysis of variance was employed. Results: The results of the interrater reliability revealed that the judges were highly consistent in their ratings with the exception of the variable incidents. The median reliabilities for story one and story two were each .99, respectively (p Conclusions and Implications: Nonconserving and conserving children can retell a story previously heard much better than they can create their personal stories. Conserving children's language is more linguistically complex than nonconserving children's language. Nonconserving and conserving children's cognitive functioning and understanding of story structure can be inferred to some degree from their stories. Examining children's oral language production merits further research to investigate additional features of story structure and cognitive development. Story retelling is a better measure of children's linguistic complexity than creation of stories. Classroom teachers and reading specialists can use children's stories as sources of diagnostic information to study children's levels of cognitive functioning and understanding of story structure.

Teaching, Why should we do it? This study deals with teaching in preschool. Is it really something that the preschool should be doing or do we risk a ‘schoolification’ of preschool? The survey also concerns language and language teaching in preschool. How do educators and principals view language? What does it mean for them and how do they view their language skills and language teaching skills to children. The survey investigates how the preschool works with teaching and how an educator works with the language to support the child in their language development. This survey also addresses how different preschools evaluate their activities and discusses how this affects the work with egalitarianism in preschool framed in the governing document curriculum for preschool 2018.

The purpose of this study is to examine how preschool teachers use the tablet as a digital tool for children's language development. Interviews are the method used in the work. Three preschool teachers and a special pedagogue have been interviewed in the study. The result of the study shows that preschool teachers and the special pedagogue, the respondents, have knowledge of the tablet as a digital tool for children's language development. It differs slightly from the respondents. The result also shows that preschool teachers’ definition of digital literacy is about knowledge in the use of digital tools: tablets, computers and projectors, in terms of both software and hardware. Preschool teachers also feel that digital literacy is a tool for teachers and children in learning. The special pedagogue believes that with digital skills, children can use the digital tools. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur förskollärare använder surfplattan som ett digitalt verktyg för barns språkutveckling. Intervjuer är den metod som använts i arbetet. Tre förskollärare och en specialpedagog har intervjuats i studien. Resultatet av studien visar att förskollärarna och specialpedagogen, respondenterna, har  kunskap om surfplattan som ett digitalt verktyg för barns språkutveckling. Det skiljer sig en aning mellan respondenterna. Resultatet visar också på att förskollärarnas definition av digital kompetens handlar om kunskap i att använda digitala verktyg: surfplattor, datorer och projektorer, både vad gäller mjukvara och hårdvara. Förskollärarna menar också att den digitala kompetensen är ett verktyg för pedagoger och barn i lärandet. Specialpedagogen anser att med digital kompetens menas, att barnen kan använda de digitala verktygen, samt att de vet innebörden av användandet av appar och dess innehåll och inte bara använder sig av dra-och-släppa-strategin[1]. [1] Dra-och-släppa-strategi menas att barnet spelar spelt på surfplattan utan att reflektera över hur appen fungerar, bara för att vinna eller att få så många stjärnor som möjligt (Nilsen, 2014, s. 93-94). Ett exempel på en sådan situationen kan vara att barnen ska lägga alla äpplen i korgen, men barnet börjar med päronen och sedan bananen efter ett får barnet slumpmässigt ner alla äpplena i korgen.

<p>Syftet med denna studie var att studera hur yrkesverksamma lärare i förskolan, och lärare i skolans tidigare år, resonerar kring och uppfattar kreativt arbete kopplat till verbal språkutveckling. För att nå detta syfte gavs enkätintervjuer ut till tio stycken lärare i vardera av dessa två yrkesgrupper. När dessa sammanfattats gjordes en jämförelse med bakgrunden för att se hur lärarnas uppfattningar relaterades till tidigare forskning i ämnet. Resultatet visade att de flesta lärarna arbetar medvetet med kreativitet och verbal språkutveckling kopplat till varandra och att de hade flera idéer om hur man arbetar på detta vis. Slutsatser vi dragit utifrån detta är att lärare är medvetna om hur kreativitet kan användas för att stödja språkutvecklingen och att de försöker arbeta på så vis.</p>

<p>The essay deals with different definitions of bilingualism and why people become bilingual. Both positive and negative aspects of bilingualism are considered. It also deals with the term code-switching and when bilingual people code-switch. The material used in the essay comes from the on-line CHILD corpus of child language. The charts and the graph in the essay have been produced from a study made by the author of this essay. This study includes a bilingual girl of the age one year and three months up until the age two years and seven months. It includes the mean length of her utterances, how much the child uses the different word classes and different semantic groups, as well as how much the child code-switches in different ages. The results show that the mean length of utterances in Spanish most of the time is increasing, while the mean length of utterances in English is increasing until the child is just over two years old and then it fluctuated considerably.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study is to contribute with knowledge about parents’ perceptions of the meaning of early (0-6 years old) language stimulation of their children.</p><p> </p><p>By doing interviews with open questions the parents’ perspective and perceptions became visible, based on the following issues:</p><p>Which perceptions do parents of children in preschool have of early language stimulation?</p><p>How do parents of children in preschool describe their work with language at home?</p><p>How do parents of children in preschool think of the cooperation between preschool and the home in childrens’ language development?</p><p> </p><p>The conclutions to been drawn from the findings of this study are that parents of children in preschool see that it is important to start language stimulation directly at birth, in everyday life and in social situations. The results also shows that parents are connecting language with dialects, conflicts and that parental involvement in the preschool language development is influenced by parents own engagement.</p>

Förståelighet innebär hur väl lyssnaren förstår vad talaren menar (Hartelius &amp; Lohmander, 2008). Barn med språkstörning har ofta en nedsatt förståelighet (Nettelbladt, 2007). Föreliggande studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida det föreligger någon skillnad mellan jämnåriga barns och vuxnas förståelse av ett svårförståeligt barn med språkstörning. Icke-familjära lyssnare genomförde lyssnarbedömningar i form av ordidentifiering. Lyssnarna bestod av tio vuxna (22-67 år) samt elva förskolebarn (4;1-5;6 år). Materialet de bedömde utgjordes av 23 ord, yttrade av en pojke (4;9 år) med diagnosen generell språkförsening (F80.2B). Materialet härrörde från spontantal och benämning av bilder från testet ”OrdRacet” (Eklund, 1996). De vuxna bedöarna fick äenskatta, på en skala från ett till fem, hur säkra de var i sin bedömning. Barnen uppfattade i genomsnitt 2,0±0,9 (8,7 %) ord korrekt och de vuxna 3,7±1,2 (16 %) ord korrekt. Denna skillnad var signifikant, p=.004. Skattning av säkerhet i bedömning för vuxna lyssnare gav ett genomsnittligt värde på 2,5±0,9. Studiens resultat visade att barn med språkstörning kan ha stora svårigheter att göra sig förstådda, särskilt bland jämnåriga barn. Därför är det av yttersta vikt att logopedisk intervention har målsättningen att förbättra barnens förståelighet. / The definition of intelligibility is how well listeners understand what speakers intend to say (Hartelius &amp; Lohmander, 2008). Children with language impairment often have a reduced intelligibility (Nettelbladt, 2007). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether there is any difference between peers and adults in the understanding of an unintelligible child. 21 non-familiar listeners, ten adults (22-67 years) and eleven preschool children (4;1-5;6 years), carried out intelligibility assessments in terms of word recognition. The material consisted of 23 words uttered by a boy (4;9 years) diagnosed with language impairment, with both expressive and receptive difficulties. The material was derived from spontaneous speech and picture naming from the test "OrdRacet" (Eklund, 1996). The adult listeners were asked to rate their degree of confidence in judgement, on a five point scale. The children recognized at average 2.0±0.9 (8.7%) words correct and the adults 3.7±1.2 (16 %) words correct. This difference was statistically significant, p=.004. The adults’ listenerassessment of how sure they were in their word recognition gave a mean value of 2.5±0.9. The results indicated that children with language impairment may have great difficulties making themselves understood especially among peers. It is therefore important that intervention targets the intelligibility of their speech.

Baigiamajame magistro darbe „Kūdikių namų vaikas: ankstyvoji kalba ir jos ugdymas“ pristatoma kūdikių namų vaikų kalbos raida ir jos ugdymo(si) ypatumai, kurie nustatyti tiriant vaikų kalbos tekstyną, aiškinantis kalbos reikšmių ir funkcijų perpratimo galimybes. Tikslas: ištirti kūdikių namų vaikų kalbos ypatumus bei jos ugdymo(si) galimybes. . Uždaviniai: 1. Ištirti kūdikių namų vaikų sakytinės ir rašytinės kalbos ypatumus. 2. Atskleisti kūdikių namų vaikų kalbos supratimo ir vartosenos ypatumus kalbinėje veikloje. 3. Sukurti kalbinio ugdymo projektą. Metodai: sisteminė mokslinės literatūros analizė, ilgalaikis vaikų kalbos stebėjimas, ilgalaikis pedagogų poveikių stebėjimas. Tiriamieji: 157 kūdikių namų auklėtiniai, 25 auklėtojos. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad kūdikių namų vaikų kalbos raida dalinai atliepia normaliom sąlygom augančių vaikų kalbą; orientuotas į kalbinės raidos stimuliavimą kūdikių namų vaikų ugdymas sudaro galimybes kalbinės raiškos kaitai. / The Master’s thesis “A Child of Infants’ Home: Early Language and Its Development” introduces the development of language of children in the infants' home and the peculiarities of (self )education of language, which were ascertained by studying the corpus of children’s speech and clarifying the possibilities of understanding the language meanings and functions. The aim: to study the peculiarities of language of children in the infants' home and the possibilities of (self )education of language. The tasks: 1. To analyse the peculiarities of written and spoken language of children in the infants' home. 2. To disclose the peculiarities of language understanding and use in linguistic activities of the children in the infants' home. 3. To create a project of language education. The methods: systemic analysis of scientific literature, long-term monitoring of the children’s language, long-term monitoring of the effect of educators. The subjects: 157 children and 25 educators in the infants’ home. The research results indicate that the development of language of the children in the infants’ home partially corresponds to the language of children growing under normal conditions; education of the children in the infants’ home oriented towards the stimulation of language development provides the possibilities for the change of linguistic expression.

Children everywhere learn to tell stories. One important aspect of story telling is the way characters are introduced and then moved through the story. Telling a story to a naïve listener places varied demands on a speaker. As the story plot develops, the speaker must set and re-set these parameters for referring to characters, as well as the temporal and spatial parameters of the story. To these cognitive and linguistic tasks is the added social and pragmatic task of monitoring the knowledge and attention states of their listener. The speaker must ensure that the listener can identify the characters, and so must anticipate their listener’s knowledge and on-going mental image of the story. How speakers do this depends on cultural conventions and on the resources of the language(s) they speak. For the child speaker the development narrative competence involves an integration, on-line, of a number of skills, some of which are not fully established until the later childhood years. / The study in this thesis investigates the development of reference tracking in a complex and dynamic language setting. It investigates the language and language development of Warumungu children. The Warumungu central are Indigenous Australians, whose traditional country is in northern Central Australia. Most Warumungu live today in the township of Tennant Creek. Younger people no longer develop full active proficiency in their heritage language, Warumungu, but speak a contact language, Wumpurrarni English as a first language. This contact variety is characterised by substantial variability. In addition to Warumungu and Wumpurrarni English, children learn Standard Australian English, as this is the sole language of instruction in school. / The study describes properties of Wumpurrarni English, in particular nominal expressions, used for tracking reference. These are contrasted with descriptions of the most documented and neighbouring creole variety, Roper River Kriol, and with Standard Australian English. It is demonstrated that in Wumpurrarni English, the marking of new versus given referents on the noun phrase is not obligatory. However a number of structures, such as left dislocation and emphatic subject chaining are used to mark discourse prominence. Repetition of topics, clauses and elements of clauses are stylistic features of a ‘good story’ in Wumpurrarni English. / The study investigates the ways that Warumungu children of different ages introduce, maintain and switch reference, and how, across stretches of their narrations, strategies for managing reference are used. These investigations reveal developmental differences across the age groups in the study, which resonate with studies of children’s narrative competence in other languages, illustrating general cognitive and linguistic development. In addition, some children chose to narrate in a speech style more English-like than they normally use. This set of narrations reveals interesting findings about differences between Wumpurrarni English and Standard English, children’s perceptions of these differences, and insights into the additional cognitive load that speaking in ‘English’ represents.

Children everywhere learn to tell stories. One important aspect of story telling is the way characters are introduced and then moved through the story. Telling a story to a naïve listener places varied demands on a speaker. As the story plot develops, the speaker must set and re-set these parameters for referring to characters, as well as the temporal and spatial parameters of the story. To these cognitive and linguistic tasks is the added social and pragmatic task of monitoring the knowledge and attention states of their listener. The speaker must ensure that the listener can identify the characters, and so must anticipate their listener’s knowledge and on-going mental image of the story. How speakers do this depends on cultural conventions and on the resources of the language(s) they speak. For the child speaker the development narrative competence involves an integration, on-line, of a number of skills, some of which are not fully established until the later childhood years. / The study in this thesis investigates the development of reference tracking in a complex and dynamic language setting. It investigates the language and language development of Warumungu children. The Warumungu central are Indigenous Australians, whose traditional country is in northern Central Australia. Most Warumungu live today in the township of Tennant Creek. Younger people no longer develop full active proficiency in their heritage language, Warumungu, but speak a contact language, Wumpurrarni English as a first language. This contact variety is characterised by substantial variability. In addition to Warumungu and Wumpurrarni English, children learn Standard Australian English, as this is the sole language of instruction in school. / The study describes properties of Wumpurrarni English, in particular nominal expressions, used for tracking reference. These are contrasted with descriptions of the most documented and neighbouring creole variety, Roper River Kriol, and with Standard Australian English. It is demonstrated that in Wumpurrarni English, the marking of new versus given referents on the noun phrase is not obligatory. However a number of structures, such as left dislocation and emphatic subject chaining are used to mark discourse prominence. Repetition of topics, clauses and elements of clauses are stylistic features of a ‘good story’ in Wumpurrarni English. / The study investigates the ways that Warumungu children of different ages introduce, maintain and switch reference, and how, across stretches of their narrations, strategies for managing reference are used. These investigations reveal developmental differences across the age groups in the study, which resonate with studies of children’s narrative competence in other languages, illustrating general cognitive and linguistic development. In addition, some children chose to narrate in a speech style more English-like than they normally use. This set of narrations reveals interesting findings about differences between Wumpurrarni English and Standard English, children’s perceptions of these differences, and insights into the additional cognitive load that speaking in ‘English’ represents.