The research described here was inspired by a national review which concluded that too many children come into our primary schools with unmet speech and language needs (Bercow, 2008). Teachers are in a position to identify language difficulties but many have expressed uncertainty regarding their role in this process. I believed that the LAMP (Linguistic Assessment for Mapped Provision) screen for language and communication which I had developed would help teachers to identify language concerns and would also increase their professional confidence in this complex area. I had developed the LAMP screening instrument and piloted it over a 2 year period prior to this study. It is employed here as a universal screen that is used in a whole school approach in order to enable teachers to identify language need. The use of the LAMP as a universal screen applied to all the children in a school lessened the likelihood of preconceived notions impacting upon teacher’s perceptions of need in the classroom. The LAMP data allowed schools to track the progress of individual children within a class and whole school context. Teachers need to be aware of any pre-conceptions they may have in relation to the performance of children from different socio economic circumstances. The hypothesis that poverty continues to provide the weightiest detrimental effects upon children’s language development was examined and within the parameters of this study was found to be contestable. Study design: A systematic survey was conducted over 4 Primary schools using the LAMP. Rich picture data was accessed from teacher questionnaires and focus groups involving participants from the schools in the study. The repeated measures design provided information on what teachers had learned in the period of reflection between the screenings. The use of a mixed methods repeated measures design helped me to understand what was difficult for teachers and what the teachers felt would help them. The 4 schools in the study were chosen to reflect varied social contexts in order to explore any impacts of SES on the results. Analysis of data: In a repeated measures design, a LAMP screen was completed for every child across the 4 schools by their teachers in February and then June in one school year. Results of screening were analysed and compared on a range of variables using SPSS. Questionnaires were used to collect teacher perceptions before and after using the LAMP screen. Focus groups were held in the schools at the end of the study to add more information on how helpful teachers felt the process had been in raising their awareness, confidence, and skills in the identification of SLCN. Findings: The main trend observed was a decrease in levels of teacher concern related to children’s speech and language needs from the first to second screening survey. Differences were found at a statistically significant level on a range of variables. The expected differences between high and low socio-economic status (SES) schools were not found. Teachers reported increases in their awareness, confidence, and skill in identifying children’s speech language and communication concerns by the end of the study. Some changes to classroom practice were reported. Conclusions: I propose that use of the LAMP screen increased teacher awareness of the nature of language difficulty and that this heightened awareness was a key variable in the observed changes to language concern scores. The LAMP screening process was seen by schools’ staff to have had a positive effect on teacher’s skills and to be relatively easily assimilated into the school system. However some participants identified a number of challenges relating to time constraints and maintaining the use of LAMP as high profile in the context of competing time demands in their schools. It is suggested that EP services would be in a position to support schools to implement and embed the LAMP screening model as part of their Service provision. It is also proposed that economic deprivation or disadvantage did not appear to be the only important factor to consider when making funding decisions intended to support children’s linguistic competency in schools.

Den här språksociologiska undersökningen tar reda på hur individer anpassar sitt språkliga uttryck i samband med toalettbesök i privat, offentligt och högtidligt sammanhang, samt deras grad av medvetenhet och normanpassning i känsliga sammanhang. Detta har gjorts genom en enkätstudie där totalt 362 respondenter svarat på både öppna och slutna frågor, vilket har gett både kvantitativa och kvalitativa data. Det empiriska materialet har efter bearbetning jämförts med tidigare forskning och teoretiska perspektiv, vilket utmynnat i resultaten att de allra flesta ackommoderar efter sammanhang och är medvetna om hur de ackommoderar i formella sammanhang. Ytterligare en tendens resultatet visar är att det postmoderna samhället påverkat samhällsutvecklingen mot en mer öppen kommunikationsstil där relationer skapas och samarbete eftersträvas. / This sociolinguistic research examines how individuals adapt their linguistic expression in relation to toilet visits in private, public and formal contexts, as well as their degree of awareness and accommodation in sensitive contexts. A total of 362 respondents, have answered a questionnaire with both open and closed questions, which has given both quantitative and qualitative data. After processing, the empirical material has been compared with former research and theoretical perspectives, concluding that a majority of the respondents accommodate according to context and are aware of how they accommodate in formal contexts. The result also tends to that the postmodern society has influenced the social progress towards a more open style of communication in which relationships are created and cooperation is sought.