Examining Sophisticated Vocabulary Use by Preschool Teachers in Mealtime Conversations

• In Event: Vocabulary Instruction in Early Education Settings: Investigating Curriculum Support, Pedagogical Techniques, and Child Language Outcomes

Abstract

Oral language skill in preschool predicts later reading comprehension (NICHD ECCRN, 2005; Storch & Whitehurst, 2002). Studies of early vocabulary development suggest that the quantity and quality of vocabulary input (Hart & Risley, 1995; Weizman & Snow, 2001) make important contributions to children’s vocabulary knowledge and reading trajectories. For children at risk for later reading difficulty, it is especially critical to identify factors in early education that could contribute to vocabulary development.
Conversations about words build vocabulary (Beals, 1997). Studies of vocabulary input demonstrate that exposure to sophisticated words predicts vocabulary growth (Huttenlocher et al., 1991; Weizman & Snow, 2001) and later language and reading skills (Dickinson & Porsche, 2011). The present study examines the extent to which preschool teachers engage in conversations about sophisticated words at mealtime, a context which holds enormous potential for language development (Cote, 2001).
The purpose of this study was to describe the vocabulary input of Head Start teachers during mealtime conversations with preschoolers. Of interest were the frequency of sophisticated words used by teachers, the level of supportiveness of talk about the word, and the relationships between the teachers’ use of sophisticated words and children’s use of sophisticated words.
Participants were 200 children and 10 teachers from Head Start classrooms in a large urban city in the Midwest. All children met income qualifications for Head Start participation and 90% were monolingual speakers of English. Classrooms were part of a longitudinal professional development project designed to enhance language and literacy development in preschoolers. Teachers participated in university-based courses on language and literacy development and received weekly classroom coaching on instructional practice.
Videotaped data were collected approximately six times per year over two years. One representative mealtime conversation per teacher in the spring of year 2 was transcribed according to CHAT (MacWhinney, 2001) conventions and analyzed using CLAN. Sophisticated words were defined as words unknown to most fourth graders (Dale & Chall, 1994). Explanatory talk about the words was coded for informativeness (I) (e.g., directly informative, indirectly informative, and noninformative) and supportiveness of talk about meaning (S) (e.g., instructive, helpful, or neutral) according to coding used by Weizman and Snow (2001). After sophisticated vocabulary were identified, two independent coders assigned codes for the informativeness and supportiveness (I/S) of the teacher’s talk surrounding the word (κ = .76).

Children were exposed to 5,201 word types, 207 of which were sophisticated. Thus, 3.9% of the word types teachers used fell outside the 3,000 most common words in the English language. Preliminary analyses of I/S show that approximately 20% of the words occurred with informative or supportive talk while most occurred with no additional talk about words. Variations among teachers were found. Correlations between teachers’ and children’s use of sophisticated vocabulary were significant (r=.69, p=.03). Findings suggest a relationship between teachers’ and children’s use of sophisticated vocabulary despite low frequency of occurrence within overall talk and infrequent associated talk about word meanings. Future directions will explore relationships to children’s PPVT scores and teacher change over two years.

Author

• Molly F. Collins, Vanderbilt University