The Role of Activity Contexts in Influencing Language Experiences in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms

• In Event: Language development and executive functioning

Abstract

Young children’s early language experiences unfold during the everyday activities that structure their worlds. Children’s language output and input from caregivers varies across different activity contexts (Custode & Tamis-LeMonda, 2020; Soderstrom & Wittebolle, 2013; Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2019). Preschool teachers use activities to organize the day and give children opportunities to engage with tasks and socialize (Mashburn et al., 2008). Preschool/early-intervention classrooms are important contexts for children with typical development (TD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or developmental delay (DD). Individual differences, such as disability group membership and time spent in different activity contexts, may be an important source of variability relating to children’s classroom language experiences. However, it remains unclear how children’s language experiences vary across classroom activities and what consequences individual variation has for the developing language abilities of children with TD, ASD, and DD. We use objective measures of children’s classroom language experiences to describe children’s vocalizations and teacher input across structured and unstructured activities and diagnostic groups.

Participants included 74 preschoolers (Mage=48.57 months, SD=7.02) enrolled in 8 inclusive classrooms for children with ASD (N=24), DD (N=22), and TD (N=15) and their teachers (N=10). Sixty-five children were Hispanic (61 White, 1 Black, and 1 multiracial) and 9 children were non-Hispanic (8 White and 1 Black). During each data collection day, children and teachers’ vocalizations were recorded using Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) audio recorders and trained research assistants observed and coded the beginning and end of classroom activities, classified as either structured (story-time, circle-time, organized play) or unstructured (meal/snack-time, free-play, outside-play; Perry et al., 2018; Soderstrom & Wittebolle, 2013). Linear mixed-effects models, where observations were nested in children and classrooms, were employed to predict rates of children’s vocalizations, teacher input, and teacher-child turn count (TC) from activity (structured, unstructured), group (ASD, DD, TD), and an interaction between activity and group.

Overall, children vocalized at higher rates during unstructured activities compared to structured, p=.013. Additionally, there was no main effect of diagnostic group, but a significant interaction between activity and group. Children with TD and DD showed higher rates of vocalizations during unstructured compared to structured, p<.0001 and p=.004, but children with ASD did not, p=.071 (Figure 1a). Children received higher rates of teacher input and teacher-child TC during structured activities, ps<.0001. Additionally, a significant interaction between activity and group, revealed children with ASD showed a larger difference in teacher input and TC across activities compared to children with DD, p=.024 (Figure 1b) and p=.003 (Figure 1c).

Results show that children’s classroom language experiences differ across structured and unstructured activities. Notably, individual and group differences can be seen for children even in the same classroom. Findings indicate that activity contexts are an important source of variation for early language experiences of children with ASD, DD, and TD, which may help inform education practices that support teachers’ use of language in the classroom.

Authors

• Stephanie Custode, University of Miami
  Presenting Author

• Daniel Messinger, University of Miami

• Lynn K Perry, University of Miami