The Contribution of Teacher and Peer Input to Preschool Children's Language Production in Inclusive Classrooms

• In Event: Academic and Behavioral Outcomes Among Children with Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Developmental disabilities and delays, including hearing loss (HL), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and developmental delay (DD) pose challenges for children’s language development. One avenue for mitigating early language difficulties is high-quality language experiences in preschool. However, individual differences between children, such as the presence of a disability, may lead to differences in children’s vocal interactions with peers and teachers which may lead to differential outcomes. We used objective measures of phoneme production and location to identify dyadic vocal interactions between children and their teachers and peers to examine how children’s language exposure from social partners shapes their own language production with respect to individual differences (e.g., disability status) and classroom-level factors (e.g., type of inclusion classroom).

Participants included 131 preschoolers (57 girls; Mage=44.85 months, SD=8.37) and 20 teachers from 13 inclusive classrooms for children with HL who wore cochlear implants or hearing aids (N=31), ASD (N=24), or DD (N=22), and typically developing (TD; N=54) children. Ninety-eight children were Hispanic (89 White, 1 Black, 3 multiracial, 5 not reported) and 33 children were non-Hispanic (20 White, 9 Black, 3 Asian, 1 multiracial). Children and teachers’ vocalizations were recorded using child-worn Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) audio recorders and their locations were recorded using Ubisense RFID tags. Synchronized LENA and Ubisense measurements indicated when children and teachers were vocalizing while in proximity and oriented toward one another. Sphinx software quantified the number of phonemes present within vocalizations. Rates of phoneme production were calculated by summing the number of phonemes produced while interacting with a specific partner and dividing by the length of time both dyad partners were in the classroom.

Linear mixed-effects models where observations were nested in children and children nested in classrooms were employed to predict children’s rate of phoneme production from the rate of phonemes they were exposed to from social partners in the previous observation. Children produced a higher rate of phonemes while interacting with peers than with teachers (p<.001). Higher rates of phonemes produced by specific teachers and peers were associated with higher rates of children’s own phoneme production to those specific partners in the subsequent observation (p<.001), an effect that was stronger for peer input (p=.003, Figure 1). Language input from peers had a weaker effect on children’s language production in ASD compared to HL inclusion classrooms (p<.001). Despite a weakened association between teacher input and children’s language production in ASD inclusion classrooms (p<.001), the rate of teacher phonemes was more strongly associated with children’s subsequent rate of phoneme production for children with ASD than TD children (p<.001).

Taken together, results point to peers as potentially unique resources for children’s language learning. Findings highlight the influential role of both individual differences and classroom characteristics in shaping children’s language experiences in preschool. Children with ASD were especially susceptible to the influence of teacher speech on their own language production. Different types of inclusion classrooms were associated with measurable differences in children’s language experiences underscoring the important role of classroom-level factors in shaping language development.

Authors

• Samantha Mitsven, University of Miami
  Presenting Author

• Lynn K Perry, University of Miami

• Daniel Messinger, University of Miami