The present study examined the influence of maternal age on infant home language environment, focusing on the environments of children born to young mothers using a naturalistic, comprehensive data collection technique. Our sample consisted of 30 mother-child pairs, between the ages of 15 and 21 years old. The current study used the LENA (LENA Research Foundation, 2011) digital processor and software to record and analyze recordings from each parent. Child language development and maternal knowledge of infant development were analyzed. We found that our sample of young mothers knows less about general infant knowledge compared to a normative general sample. We also found that our young mother sample performed similarly to a low SES sample of mothers on general infant development knowledge. Our results may provide support for the connection between knowledge of infant development in mothers leading to positive results in the form of language skills in their child. / October 2016

The MIT-Scheme program development environment includes a general-purpose text editor, Edwin, that has an extension language, Edwin Scheme. Edwin is very similar to another general-purpose text editor, GNU Emacs, which also has an extension language, Emacs Lisp. The popularity of GNU Emacs has lead to a large library of tools written in Emacs Lisp. The goal of this thesis is to implement a useful subset of Emacs Lisp in Edwin Scheme. This subset was chosen to be sufficient for simple operation of the GNUS news reading program.

Title: Preschool – a social language environment and an arena for emergent literacy processes. Author: Martina Norling By focusing on preschool, as an arena for emergent literacy and language learning processes, this thesis put the lens on preschool staff´s approaches and strategies in the social language environment in Swedish preschools. Taking its point of departure in real preschool settings, the overall purpose of this thesis is to develop a greater understanding of this social language environment, with particular emphasis on the quality dimensions of strategies, such as the preschool staff´s sensitivity and approaches in the preschool environment. Two didactic issues are of special importance to the thesis: preschool staff´s descriptions of what kind of strategies and approaches they use in the social language environment as well as how preschool staff support children’s language learning processes in literacy-related activities. The thesis consists of four articles aimed at capturing, variations of dimensions of preschool staff strategies as well as approaches that contribute to highlighting essential strategies for supporting children in the social language environment. The theoretical framework in this thesis consists of social constructivism (Vygotsky, 1997) and bioecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 2005). The four empirical studies in this thesis have made possible a mixed method design. The data production consists of questionnaires with questions regarding background information of the participants, observation instruments (scoring the quality of the social language environment), focus group interviews, video observations as well as a systematic literature review. In this thesis, three dimensions of preschool staff strategies in social language environment emerged: play strategies, emotional strategies and communicative strategies. The social language environment in Swedish preschool can be described in terms of those three strategy dimensions and continuous interplay processes among children, peers and preschool staff, over time. The quality dimensions of strategies focus, on preschool staff efforts and children’s prerequisites of learning processes, rather than focusing on children’s individual performance. Keywords: Preschool, social constructivism, bioecological theory, preschool staff, emergent literacy, social language environment, language learning processes

Syftet med min studie är att belysa hur pedagoger i förskolan ser på sin roll att stimulera och utveckla barns språk. Undersökningen bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med fem verksamma förskollärare. Resultat av studien visar på att det utförs ett medvetet arbete för att utveckla och stimulera barns språk på förskolan. Detta görs främst genom att pedagogerna tar tillvara på de tillfällen och stunder som ges i vardagen. Därigenom stimuleras barnen till att själva använda sig av språket, och att de i förskolan omges av ett rikt och nyanserat språk både i tal och skrift. Genom att barnen möter vuxna som aktivt lyssnar och tar sig tid för barnet så ökar barnets lust att uttrycka sig. Resultatet visar också på att högläsning, rim, ramsor, sång och andra språk- och sånglekar används dagligen, för att på olika sätt utveckla barnets språk. För att barnet ska träna sig i att använda språket på ett mer nyanserat sätt, övar pedagogerna tillsammans med barnen på att berätta och återberätta utifrån böcker och upplevelser. Det handlar också om att utveckla ordförrådet och begreppsförståelsen hos barnet genom att hjälpa barnet att sätta ord på det som de upplever och gör. Språket utvecklas genom kommunikationen som uppstår i gruppen med barn och vuxna. Det sociala samspelet mellan individerna i gruppen är mycket betydelsefullt för språkutvecklingen. Därigenom stimuleras barnet till kommunikation som för dem är både meningsfull och viktig. Pedagogerna menar att det är barnens intresse och erfarenheter som ska vara utgångspunkten för utvecklandet av både tal- och skriftspråk.    Det kommer också till uttryck i min studie att det är viktigt att skapa en miljö som bidrar till att locka och möjliggöra samspel mellan barnen på förskolan. Pedagogerna ska dessutom erbjuda material som både intresserar och stimulerar barnets språk. Materialet bidrar också till att det finns saker att samtala om. Det viktiga är att barnen upplever det lustfyllt att använda sig av språket på olika sätt och att de med hjälp av språket kan förmedla sig med sin omgivning. / The purpose with this study is to point out how pre-school pedagogues look at their part to stimulate and enrich children language. The survey is based on qualitative interviews with five active pre-school pedagogues. The result of the study shows that an active and deliberate work is done to stimulate and enrich children’s language in pre-school. The pedagogue’s cherishes this work in everyday life at pre-school, thereby stimulating the children to use the language themselves. Secondly the children are indirectly stimulated in the overall pre-school environment by a rich and varied language in both spoken and written language. Children at pre-school communicate with engaged pre-school pedagogues that listen actively and thereby increase the children’s desire to express themselves. The results also show that loud reading, rime, jingles, sing and other language- and song games are used daily in different ways to enrich the children’s language. In order to train the child to use the language in a more varied way, pedagogues and children works together to tell and re-tell books and experiences. In many ways it’s about to enrich the children’s vocabulary by helping them to put words on things they do and experience. The language is evolving when children and pedagogues together communicate within the group. The social interaction between the individuals in the group is very important to evolve and enrich the language and thereby stimulating the child to communicate in a meaningful way. The pedagogues mean that the children’s interests and experiences are the foundation to enrich and evolve a rich spoken- and written language. The study also shows that it is of high importance to create an environment that encourages collaboration between children in pre-school. The pedagogues should also provide material that stimulates and increases children’s interest to learn the language. The material also contributes to subjects to talk about. It’s absolutely vital that children experience language as a fun and great resource to use when communicating and interacting with their surroundings.

It has been shown that the amount of words known by a child may vary greatly, even as early as in their preschool years. This may have later consequences on their abilities in reading and writing. Language development of a child is, to a large extent, based on its interaction with its environment. By speaking with a child, in addition to speaking to it, one may support its language development considerably. There are tools to map a child’s early listening environment and colloquial language environment, in this case, Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA). In relation to the parents’ levels of education, potential connections between the amount of adult words, conversational turns and child vocalization were investigated. Additionally, the child’s expressive vocabulary was also investigated (measured with the parent report SE-CDI). A smaller validation regarding adult words and child vocalizations were done on LENA. 10 children between the ages of 12 to 18 months with normal hearing ability, swedish as their only language and no known disabilities participated in the study. A daylong recording was done with a recording device, which was worn by the child in a vest. After a completed recording the data were analyzed by LENA. No significant correlations could be reported between adult words and child vocalizations as well as between conversational turns and child vocalizations. The level of education of the participating mothers correlated with conversational turns (r = .66, p = .05), electronic sounds (r = .66, p = .05) and a higher score on the parent report Developmental Snapshot (DS) (r = .87, p = < .001). The result of the validation between the test leaders’ average results and LENA’s calculation had a congruence of 76% for adult words and 69% for child vocalizations. In conclusion, the LENA method could be used to get an overall picture of a child’s language environment. However, further validation of LENA in swedish is required.  Det har visat sig finnas stora skillnader i antal ord barn kan redan i förskoleålder, vilket kan ge konsekvenser i senare skolår, gällande till exempel läsförståelse. Barns språkutveckling bygger till stor del på interaktion med omgivningen. Genom att prata med barnet, och inte bara till barnet, kan omgivningen stötta barnets språkliga utveckling i större utsträckning. För att kartlägga den viktiga tidiga lyssnings- och talspråksmiljön hos barn finns nu analysverktyget Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA), som användes i föreliggande studie. Eventuella samband mellan antal vuxenord, turtagningar och barnyttranden samt barnens tidiga expressiva ordförråd undersöktes (mätt med föräldraskattningsformuläret SE-CDI), i relation till föräldrarnas utbildningsnivå. En mindre validering avseende antal vuxenord och barnyttranden utfördes även på analysverktyget LENA. I studien deltog 10 svensktalande normalhörande barn i åldrarna 12 till 18 månader, utan kända funktionsnedsättningar. En dagslång ljudinspelning genomfördes med hjälp av en inspelningsdosa, vilken bars av barnet i en väst. Efter färdig ljudinspelning analyserades datamaterialet av LENA. Inga signifikanta samband kunde rapporteras gällande antal vuxenord och barnyttranden eller mellan antal turtagningar och barnyttranden. Utbildningsnivån hos de deltagande mammorna korrelerade med turtagningar (r = 0,66, p = 0,05), skärmtid (r = -0,63, p = 0,1) och högre poäng på föräldraskattningsformuläret Developmental Snapshot (DS) (r = 0,87, p = <0,001). Resultatet från valideringen mellan testledarnas genomsnittliga resultat och LENAs beräkning hade en överenstämmelse på 76 % för vuxenord och 69 % för barnyttranden.  Slutsatsen är att LENA-metoden kan användas för att ge en övergripande bild av barns språkliga miljö men att mer validering av LENA behövs på svenska. / Ord gör skillnad, Karolinska Institutet

The language ability starts to develop before birth and the language and speech environment of toddlers has been found to be of significant importance for the further development of language acquisition. Earlier studies have shown that female caregivers talk more with toddlers compared with male caregivers. This study is a part of the ongoing research project “Words make a difference”, Karolinska Institutet. The purpose was to investigate caregiver gender differences amongst Swedish caregivers regarding the number of adult words in the environment around toddlers. Another purpose was to contribute in validating the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) in Swedish. The software LENA V3.1.0 analyzes the language environment and provides information about the number of adult words, child utterances and conversational turns. Estimated adult words can separate female adult words from male adult words. The authors also wanted to see if the LENA-result correlated with the child’s expressive vocabulary which was measured with the parent formulary CDI. Thirteen toddlers in the age of 12 - 30 months conducted an all-day recording with LENA. Random samples of the participants were chosen in order to validate the LENA-method. A total of 60 minutes of recordings was transcribed by the authors. The hypothesis that women talk more with toddlers was confirmed in this study, although the gender differences were less than in previous research. Male adult words showed a correlation with conversational turns. The result showed no significant correlation between expressive vocabulary and conversational turns. The human transcriptions were expected to conform with the LENA software especially regarding the number of adult words. The result showed that the conformity was high regarding the child utterances but somewhat lower regarding the adult words. In summary the study confirms the earlier research that female caregivers talk more to their toddlers compared with male caregivers, but the difference was not as large as shown in earlier research. Additional research about gender differences regarding adult talk and child directed speech is necessary to confirm this result. The result of the validation of LENA showed high conformity in a good audio environment. The LENA-method can be used as a useful tool to measure the listening and language environment in Sweden both in clinical and research contexts. Bakgrund och syfte: Barns språkförmåga börjar utvecklas redan innan födseln och tal- och språkmiljön som omger barnet har visat sig vara viktig för hur hens språk kommer utvecklas. Från tidigare studier har det framkommit att kvinnor talar mer med små barn gällande antal ord jämfört med manliga vårdnadshavare. Denna studie var en del av det pågående projektet “Ord gör skillnad”, Karolinska Institutet. Syftet var att undersöka skillnaderna mellan manliga och kvinnliga vårdnadshavare gällande antal ord i närheten av yngre barn. Hypotesen byggd på tidigare studier var att kvinnor skulle tala betydligt mer med sina barn än vad män skulle göra. Ett annat syfte vara att undersöka om LENA-resultatet korrelerade med barnets expressiva ordförråd. Hypotesen var att barn som hade ett större expressivt ordförråd hade fler turtagningsmöjligheter i verbal kommunikation med sina vårdnadshavare. Studien var också ett steg i processen att validera LENA-metoden (Language ENvironment Analysis) på svenska, med fokus på vuxenord och barnyttranden. Metod: 13 deltagande familjer med barn i åldrarna 12-30 månader genomförde en heldagsinspelning med LENA-metoden. Mjukvaran LENA V3.1.0 analyserar barns tal- och språkmiljö och kan ge information om antal vuxenord, barnyttranden och turtagningar. Estimerat antal talade vuxenord kan även separeras i ord från kvinnlig respektive manlig röst. Barnets expressiva ordförråd mättes med föräldraformuläret SE-CDI. För att validera LENA-metoden valdes stickprov ut från inspelningarna. Totalt 60 minuters inspelning från fyra deltagare (15 minuter per deltagare) transkriberades av testledarna för att sedan jämföras med LENA-beräkningen. Resultat: Kvinnliga vårdnadshavare använde fler antal ord än manliga vårdnadshavare. Dock var könsskillnaderna mindre än vad som tidigare påvisats. Det fanns ett samband mellan större andel ord från män och fler turtagningar. Resultatet visade dock ingen statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan expressivt ordförråd och antal turtagningar. Gällande validering förväntades bedömarnas transkriptioner stämma överens med LENA-resultatet, särskilt beträffande estimerat antal vuxenord. Interbedömarreliabiliteten mellan de tre  bedömarna bedömdes hög. Överensstämmelsen mellan testledarna och LENA:s estimeringar blev hög gällande barnyttranden och något lägre för vuxenord. Sammanfattningsvis stärker studiens resultat tidigare forskning att kvinnor talar mer i närheten av små barn jämfört med män, även om könsskillnaderna inte blev lika stora i aktuell studie. Mer forskning beträffande könsskillnader och barnriktat tal behövs för att belägga om resultatet har en extern validitet. Gällande validering hade LENA en hög överensstämmelse med mänskliga transkriptioner vid de inspelningar där ljudmiljön var god, vilket innebär att LENA kan vara ett bra verktyg för att kartlägga svenska barns tal- och språkmiljö både kliniskt och i forskningssammanhang. / Ord gör skillnad, Karolinska Institutet

The diploma thesis describes the importance of music in the personal development of a younger toddler. The theoretical part deals with an insight into the personality development of the child from the prenatal period to the period of a younger toddler. It also deals with the characteristics of the imprinting and sensitive period in the child's life, the influence of music on the development of the toddler's personality, musical development and the development of musical abilities in this period. It also discusses the importance of a musically stimulating environment for the development of the child's personality and presents artistic themes for early children in an integrated approach. The practical part of the diploma thesis is based on monitoring and evaluating the musical expressions of my son and seven children examined throughout the period of the younger toddler. The aim of this diploma thesis is to monitor the musical development of the younger toddler and the physical, mental and sociological influences that affect the personal development of the toddler through music. As part of the qualitative research, interviews were also conducted with mothers of seven younger toddlers, which serve to supplement the results of monitoring the development of children's music in this period. Furthermore,...

The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of conversational interactions between parents and their children during early literacy instructional activities. Parents engaged their children in interactions within hands-on activities designed to teach specific literacy skills as part of a kindergarten project entitled Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL). Data for this study were extracted from audio and video recordings of parent-child interactions during three targeted literacy activities. Specialized software (LENA Pro) was used to analyze the interactions regarding adult and child use of targeted words (word count) and turn taking. To gain additional information about the exchanges, one exchange from each dyad was transcribed and analyzed using discourse analysis procedures. Findings from this study will be used to determine if children can be exposed to frequent and salient examples of targeted word patterns while engaging in playful and reciprocal interactive exchanges with their parents.

<p>  </p> <p>Early math skills, including numeracy and mathematical language (e.g., “less” and “a few”), are essential for later academic achievement. Children’s mathematical language knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of numeracy skills before kindergarten, suggesting that early exposure to math language is necessary. However, little work is focused on understanding how children are exposed to mathematical language within their early learning environments (e.g., while interacting with parents). The objective of this study was to investigate different constructs of parents’ talk (i.e., general talk, number talk, mathematical language) during math-related activity engagement with young children and examine how parents’ talk relates to children’s general vocabulary, numeracy skills, and mathematical language knowledge. Findings indicate that parents’ talk was best represented by a general talk, number talk, and mathematical language factor. Parents’ talk factors were not significantly related to their respective child outcomes (i.e., general vocabulary, numeracy skills, and mathematical language knowledge). However, parents used more general language when their children had higher numeracy skills but used more mathematical language when they had lower numeracy skills. This study provides initial evidence that parents’ number talk and mathematical language use are distinct constructs of parents’ talk that may expose children to different aspects of mathematical understanding.</p>

<p>Early detection and characterization of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be improved by incorporating ecologically valid methods into ASD screening and assessment, capitalizing on prospective monitoring of high-risk populations, and targeting highly informative ASD features that emerge early in development. The present study aims to address these barriers by characterizing early vocal and pre-linguistic communication features present during naturalistic behavior samples of young children with neurogenetic syndromes (NGS). Participants were 39 children aged 5-30 months diagnosed with an NGS and 39 children aged 4-26 months at low risk for developmental delays. Participants completed a daylong audio recording of child vocalizations from which measures of early vocal features (child vocalization rate, canonical babbling ratio, and pitch variability) were obtained. Participants and their mothers also completed an unstructured play-based task during which pre-linguistic communicative features (communication complexity and function) were coded. We first used Bayesian analyses to compare the early vocal and pre-linguistic communication features of children with NGS to those of children at low risk for developmental delays. Children with NGS used less canonical babble, lower communication complexity overall and for behaviors for the purposes of joint attention. Next, we conducted a cluster analysis of early vocal and pre-linguistic communication features using the full sample of NGS and low-risk participants. The selected model identified 6 clusters that were primarily differentiated by canonical babbling and communicative function. These clusters differentiated participants beyond risk status, chronological age and adaptive age. Furthermore, certain clusters reflected differences in adaptive communication and socialization skills that may be relevant to early ASD profiles. These findings suggest that canonical babble and communicative function provide meaningful information about early developmental risk and may be useful to incorporate into the ASD screening and diagnostic processes.</p>