The thesis focuses on a concept of communicative competences in the curricula at the stage of pre-school education and introduces the possibilities of development of these competences in kindergarten. The theoretical part outlines issues of curriculum, key competences and communicative competences in the context of pre-primary education. The research is a presentation of qualitative-quantitative research, which aimed to analyze the concept of communicative competences in the curricula of kindergartens and based on direct observation to find out, how kindergarten teachers meet the communicative competences at this stage of education, how to diagnose them and what opportunities provides kindergarten environment to develop pre-school children communication competences. Based on the analysis of curriculum documents of selected kindergartens we found that schools include communicative competences in their conceptual materials and attach great importance to them, even if these documents have different content and formal level. From our observations and interviews with respondents, we concluded that kindergartens and their teachers usually provide good conditions for children to develop their communicative competences (positive communication climate, proper teacher speech pattern, primary prevention,...

The aim of this thesis is to verify sentence imitation as a clinical marker of specific language impairment while controlling memory and morphological richness account as an explanation of problems with acquisition of grammatical markers in preschool children with SLI (basis of these assumptions is explained in the theoretical part of this work). The practical part of this thesis is based on the existing research in Hungarian (Leonard et al., 2009). In contrast to results in Hungarian research the support of morphological richness account is only limited in Czech. Children with SLI were as accurate as younger typically developing children in completions of target forms of verbs and nouns, while completions of target verbs were more successful than completions of target nouns. Near miss errors were prevalent, but not without exception, and relationship between substitutions and frequency in non near-miss errors was not proved. The sentence imitation turned out as a good clinical marker of SLI.

In this qualitative investigation, the ways in which four ethnically diverse mothers' perceptions of early childhood education combined with the school experiences of their children were examined. Research tools included audiotaped interviews with Mexican-American, Korean-American, African-American, and Anglo mothers; videotaped school experiences; and a video message with a viewing guide requesting written reaction.

Please read the abstract in the section dissertation. Copyright / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Syfte: Studien syftade till att undersöka om det fanns en relation mellan barns prosodiska och expressiva grammatiska förmågor samt hur förmågan att använda betoning hos barn med typisk språkutveckling kan beskrivas. Metod: Tolv barn i åldrarna 3;7–6;11 med typisk språkutveckling rekryterades till studien. Två material utarbetades för att dels undersöka expressiv grammatisk förmåga och betoningsförmåga, dels expressiv betoningsförmåga och fonologi vid repetition av ord och nonord. Barnens grammatiska förståelse testades med Nya SIT. I ord- och nonordsuppgiften analyserades förmågan att producera korrekt andel stavelser samt förmågan att producera korrekta konsonanter, vokaler samt korrekt betoning. I det expressiva grammatiskt-prosodiska materialet analyserades förmågan att uttrycka korrekt andel stavelser samt expressiv grammatisk förmåga och betoning i respektive grammatisk konstruktion. Resultat: Det fanns en svag, icke-signifikant korrelation mellan förmågan att producera korrekt andel stavelser i det grammatiskt-prosodiska materialet och förmågan att producera stavelser i ord- och nonordsuppgiften. Det fanns en stark, signifikant korrelation mellan förmågan att producera korrekt andel stavelser och expressiv grammatisk förmåga. Det fanns även en stark, signifikant korrelation mellan expressiv grammatisk förmåga och förmågan att repetera vokaler och konsonanter i ord- och nonord. Slutsats: Barnen uttryckte både betoning och grammatik väl och hade mycket hög förmåga till att realisera vokaler och konsonanter enligt målyttrandena. Det fanns inte någon skillnad i prestation som gick att hänföra till skillnader i betoningsmönster. Om ett barn i den här gruppen var bra på att uttrycka korrekt betoning var barnet även bra på expressiv grammatik, men förmågorna är inte testade oberoende av varandra. På grund av gruppens storlek går inte resultaten att generalisera till en större population. / Aim: The study aimed to investigate whether there was a relationship between children's prosodic and expressive grammatical abilities and how the ability to use stress patterns in children with typical language development can be described. Method: Twelve children aged 3;7–6;11 with typical language development were recruited to this study. Two materials for assessment were developed, one for examining expressive grammatical and prosodic ability and stress patterns, and one for examining phonology and stress patterns by word and nonword repetition. The children’s grammatical understanding was assessed with “Nya SIT”. In the word and nonword repetition task the use of syllables and the ability to produce consonants and vowels as well as the use of stress patterns were analyzed. In the expressive grammatical-prosodic material, the ability to express the correct proportion of syllables and expressive grammatical ability as well as prosodic stress in respective grammatical constructions were analyzed. Results: There was a weak, non-significant correlation between the ability to produce the correct proportion of syllables in the grammatical-prosodic material and the ability to produce syllables in the word and nonword task. There was a strong, significant correlation between the ability to produce the correct proportion of syllables and expressive grammatical ability. There was also a strong, significant correlation between expressive grammatical ability and the ability to repeat vowels and consonants in words and nonwords. Conclusions: The children expressed both prosodic stress patterns and grammar well and had a very high ability to realize vowels and consonants according to the target utterances. There was no difference in performance that could be attributed to differences in prosodic stress patterns. If a child in this group was good at expressing correct prosodic stress, he/she was also good at expressive grammar, but these abilities were not tested independently. Because of the group’s size, the results cannot be generalized to a larger population.

The diploma thesis deals with the influence of Elkonin's method on phonological abilities in preschool age. In the term of content, the thesis is divided into two main parts - teoretical and empirical. The first main part creates a theoretical framework of the selected topic and is further divided into four chapters. First, the basic terminology - speech and language - are defined and the ontogenesis of human speech is conceptualized in more detail. The next chapter describes the phonological skills. There is also a distinction between phonological and phonemic awareness and a possible diagnosis of the field of phonological processing. Above all, the Battery of Tests of Phonological Abilities (by the authors Seidlová Málková and Caravolas) is described, because it was used for the needs of the research. The third chapter characterizes the methodology of D. B. Elkonin. The last chapter approaches school maturity and its diagnosis. The empirical part has a qualitative character and its main purpose of the researche is to analyze the influence of Elkonin's method on the phonological abilities of preschool children. From the research methods the analysis of the results of the activity, the analysis of the documents, the observation and the elaboration of the case study were used. Four preschool...

Digitala verktyg utgör en allt större del i förskolebarns vardag och inte minst syns detta i förskolan där de digitala verktygen används allt mer i den pedagogiska undervisningen. Inom ramen för denna studie har barn på en förskola i en medelstor stad i Sverige iakttagits genom kvalitativ observationsmetod. Samtliga barn som ingår i studien har flerspråkiga föräldrar och bor i ett mångkulturellt område. Observationerna har riktats främst mot den lek som förekommer vid användning av surfplattor och den lek som formas av samspelet mellan det digitala och barnen, samt mellan barnen i den digitala leken. Det kommunikationsteoretiska synsättet är studiens vetenskapliga utgångspunkt. Kommunikationsteorin, där leksignaler och lekram är viktiga beståndsdelar, används även i arbetet med att analysera resultatet och få svar på studien frågeställningar. Studien belyser hur de digitala verktygen påverkar barns lek och samspel med varandra. Den visar även på hur barn samspelar med de digitala verktygen. Ytterligare en dimension som denna studie belyser, är att den användarvänliga surfplattan gör att barn som talar olika språk får ett verktyg som överbryggar olikheter och att den osäkerhet som kan bli följd av sociala svårigheter eller språkförbristning utjämnas. I resultatet ses att digitala verktyg i förskolemiljö är ypperliga redskap för att öka barns samspel och lek, under förutsättning att det finns pedagoger som stödjer barnen och är närvarande lekkamrater. / Digital tools form an increasingly large part of preschool children's everyday life, and this is not least visible in preschool, where digital tools are used more and more in pedagogical teaching. Within the framework of this study, children at a preschool in a medium-sized city in Sweden have been observed through a qualitative observation method. All the children included in the study have multilingual parents and live in a multicultural area. The observations have been directed primarily at the play that occurs when using tablets and the play that is shaped by the interaction between the digital and the children, as well as between the children in the digital play. The communication theoretical approach is the study's scientific point of departure. The communication theory, where play signals and play framework are important components, is also used in the work of analysing the results and getting answers to the study's questions. The study highlights how digital tools affect children's play and interaction with each other. It also shows how children interact with the digital tools. Another dimension that this study highlights is that the user-friendly tablet means that children who speak different languages get a tool that bridges differences and that the uncertainty that can result from social difficulties or language deficiency is smoothed out. The results show that digital tools in a preschool environment are a excellent tools for increasing children's interaction and play, provided that there are educators who support the children and are present playmates.

A quantitative, explorative, descriptive contextual study was conducted to determine to what extent the malaria control measures proposed by the Tanzanian government had been implemented by parents of children between the ages 0-5 years who lived in Bukumbi village. Structured interviews were conducted with 40 parents of children who had been admitted for malaria treatment during 2007, and the data analysed by computer. Although respondents had a basic knowledge of preventive measures they did not implement actions preventing the anopheles mosquitoes’ breeding in this tropical area. The vicious cycle of poverty, malaria episodes and lack of proper malaria health education hampered the implementation of control measures such as the spraying of houses with insecticides. Although the government of Tanzania subsidises insecticide treated bed nets the respondents did not maintain these nets and did not renew the insecticide treatment of these nets. The incidence of malaria is unlikely to decline in the Bukumbi village unless all identified factors are addressed. / Health Studies / M.A.

Les enfants d’âge préscolaire (≤ 5 ans) sont plus à risque de subir un traumatisme crânio-cérébral (TCC) que les enfants plus agés, et 90% de ces TCC sont de sévérité légère (TCCL). De nombreuses études publiées dans les deux dernières décennies démontrent que le TCCL pédiatrique peut engendrer des difficultés cognitives, comportementales et psychiatriques en phase aigüe qui, chez certains enfants, peuvent perdurer à long terme. Il existe une littérature florissante concernant l'impact du TCCL sur le fonctionnement social et sur la cognition sociale (les processus cognitifs qui sous-tendent la socialisation) chez les enfants d'âge scolaire et les adolescents. Or, seulement deux études ont examiné l'impact d'un TCCL à l'âge préscolaire sur le développement social et aucune étude ne s'est penchée sur les répercussions socio-cognitives d'un TCCL précoce (à l’âge préscolaire). L'objectif de la présente thèse était donc d'étudier les conséquences du TCCL en bas âge sur la cognition sociale. Pour ce faire, nous avons examiné un aspect de la cognition sociale qui est en plein essor à cet âge, soit la théorie de l'esprit (TE), qui réfère à la capacité de se mettre à la place d'autrui et de comprendre sa perspective. Le premier article avait pour but d'étudier deux sous-composantes de la TE, soit la compréhension des fausses croyances et le raisonnement des désirs et des émotions d'autrui, six mois post-TCCL. Les résultats indiquent que les enfants d'âge préscolaire (18 à 60 mois) qui subissent un TCCL ont une TE significativement moins bonne 6 mois post-TCCL comparativement à un groupe contrôle d'enfants n'ayant subi aucune blessure. Le deuxième article visait à éclaircir l'origine de la diminution de la TE suite à un TCCL précoce. Cet objectif découle du débat qui existe actuellement dans la littérature. En effet, plusieurs scientifiques sont d'avis que l'on peut conclure à un effet découlant de la blessure au cerveau seulement lorsque les enfants ayant subi un TCCL sont comparés à des enfants ayant subi une blessure n'impliquant pas la tête (p.ex., une blessure orthopédique). Cet argument est fondé sur des études qui démontrent qu'en général, les enfants qui sont plus susceptibles de subir une blessure, peu importe la nature de celle-ci, ont des caractéristiques cognitives pré-existantes (p.ex. impulsivité, difficultés attentionnelles). Il s'avère donc possible que les difficultés que nous croyons attribuables à la blessure cérébrale étaient présentes avant même que l'enfant ne subisse un TCCL. Dans cette deuxième étude, nous avons donc comparé les performances aux tâches de TE d'enfants ayant subi un TCCL à ceux d'enfants appartenant à deux groupes contrôles, soit des enfants n'ayant subi aucune blessure et à des pairs ayant subi une blessure orthopédique. De façon générale, les enfants ayant subi un TCCL ont obtenu des performances significativement plus faibles à la tâche évaluant le raisonnement des désirs et des émotions d'autrui, 6 mois post-blessure, comparativement aux deux groupes contrôles. Cette étude visait également à examiner l'évolution de la TE suite à un TCCL, soit de 6 mois à 18 mois post-blessure. Les résultats démontrent que les moindres performances sont maintenues 18 mois post-TCCL. Enfin, le troisième but de cette étude était d’investiguer s’il existe un lien en la performance aux tâches de TE et les habiletés sociales, telles qu’évaluées à l’aide d’un questionnaire rempli par le parent. De façon intéressante, la TE est associée aux habiletés sociales seulement chez les enfants ayant subi un TCCL. Dans l'ensemble, ces deux études mettent en évidence des répercussions spécifiques du TCCL précoce sur la TE qui persistent à long terme, et une TE amoindrie seraient associée à de moins bonnes habiletés sociales. Cette thèse démontre qu'un TCCL en bas âge peut faire obstacle au développement sociocognitif, par le biais de répercussions sur la TE. Ces résultats appuient la théorie selon laquelle le jeune cerveau immature présente une vulnérabilité accrue aux blessures cérébrales. Enfin, ces études mettent en lumière la nécessité d'étudier ce groupe d'âge, plutôt que d'extrapoler à partir de résultats obtenus avec des enfants plus âgés, puisque les enjeux développementaux s'avèrent différents, et que ceux-ci ont potentiellement une influence majeure sur les répercussions d'une blessure cérébrale sur le fonctionnement sociocognitif. / Preschool children (≤ 5 years old) are at particular risk of sustaining traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 90% of these injuries are mild in nature (mTBI). A substantial amount of research has provided evidence of acute and, in more isolated cases, long-term cognitive, behavioral, and psychiatric consequences following mTBI. In the last two decades, there has been an increase in scientific attention dedicated to the social and socio-cognitive (the cognitive functions that underpin socialisation) sequelae of pediatric mTBI; however, research has almost exclusively been conducted with school-aged children and adolescents. Thus, the literature concerning the social repercussions of mTBI remains comparatively sparse in preschool children, with only two studies that have examined social competence following mTBI. No study has investigated the consequences of early (preschool) mTBI on social cognition. Therefore, the overall objective of this thesis was to expand our understanding of the impact of preschool mTBI on social cognition. More specifically, we addressed an aspect of social cognition that typically emerges during the preschool years, that of theory of mind (ToM), known as the capacity to put oneself in others’ shoes and understand their perspective. The first article examined two subcomponents of ToM, that of false belief understanding and desires and emotions reasoning, 6 months post-mTBI. The findings indicate that preschool children (18 to 60 months) who sustain mTBI have significantly poorer ToM skills compared to typically developing peers 6 months post-injury. The second article focused on the debate in the mTBI literature concerning the most appropriate control group for isolating outcomes that are specific to brain injury. Indeed, it is argued that the choice of the control group (community controls vs. injured counterparts) is of paramount importance because it dictates the conclusions that can be drawn in TBI research. It is argued that brain-injury-specific effects constitute a valid conclusion only when compared to injured peers because in general, children who sustain accidental injuries (whether orthopedic or to the head) share certain pre-existing cognitive characteristics (e.g., impulsivity, attentional difficulties) that not only make them more accident-prone but may also be the origin of post-mTBI difficulties. Thus, the aim of the second paper was to determine whether the poorer ToM skills detected in preschool children with mTBI are the result of a general-injury effect or a brain-injury-specific effect. A second goal of this article was to examine the evolution of ToM skills following mTBI, from 6 months to 18 months post-injury. To do so, we compared children with mTBI to both a community control group and an orthopedic injury (OI) control group. The findings indicate that children who sustain mTBI performed worse on the desires and emotions reasoning task 6 months post-injury compared to both injured and uninjured counterparts, and this discrepancy in performance was maintained 18 months post-mTBI. Lastly, the third goal of this study was to investigate the link between performances on ToM tasks and social abilities, as measures by parental questionnaires. Overall, these two studies demonstrate a persistent brain-injury-specific effect on ToM skills following early mTBI, and poorer ToM skills are associated with reduced social functioning. This thesis provides evidence that early mTBI can interfere with socio-cognitive development, notably in terms of its repercussions on ToM. These findings support the theory according to which the young, immature brain is more vulnerable to brain insult. Importantly, our studies demonstrate that extrapolation from conclusions drawn with older pediatric age groups may be erroneous because the developmental issues faced by preschool children are fundamentally different. Indeed, neurodevelopmental immaturity may be a driving force that dictates the impact of mTBI on socio-cognitive functioning.

Master's thesis deals with newly emerging forms of public preschool education. The research objective was to describe and evaluate the Center for preschool children, to characterize and compare it with the system of education in nursery schools. Evaluate their contribution to society and educational effects. Monitor vision and expectations of parents. To identify the necessary information, I used methods of observation of the educational conditions, observation of the work educator, interview with a educator, interview with the head of the Center and questionnaire for parents.