Poster #58 - The Experimental Impacts of a School-Based Language Intervention in Village Kindergartens in Rural China

• In Event: 18.060 - MTCC Poster Session Two
  In Poster Session: 18.060-7 - Early Childhood Poster Session 1

Abstract

This study evaluated the efficacy of a randomized controlled language intervention held in 31 village kindergartens in Guizhou China. The school-based language intervention (hereafter, the KCB) included a particular focus on the curriculum of Chinese and English vocabulary instruction and teacher training. We randomly assigned 18 kindergartens (304 children) to the experimental group and the other 13 kindergartens (292 children) to the control group. We used multilevel modeling framework employing generalized linear mixed models and found that the six-month intervention led to significant development of Chinese vocabulary (effect size = 0.25) and English letter recognition. This study shows that an add-on language learning program can benefit children from an extremely low socio-economic status background in rural China.

Author

• Si Chen, Harvard University