From Screens to Speech: Helping Kids Find Their Voice Again

Kindergarten teachers across the U.S. are increasingly reporting that children are entering school with weaker oral language skills than in the past.  They attest that students are having a hard time carrying on conversations with their teacher or peers and are producing much simpler language, such as speaking in phrases or short sentences with less rich words, than before. 

What could be the cause of this change in readiness?  Given the changes in the world, there are a couple possibilities that come to mind.  First, perhaps it is due to the lasting impacts of isolation experienced during COVID-19.  Many young children had significantly less exposure to social situations in which they would have been exposed to and potentially had more opportunities to engage in dialogue.  Or perhaps it is the increasing amount of time young children these days are engaging in screen time.  In fact, on average children under six are spending 3.5 hours a day on screens.  Contrastingly, the American Academy of Pediatricians recommends no more than one hour a day on weekdays and three hours on weekends.  It can be assumed that increases in screen time equates to less interaction with others and likely less practice producing language as the passivity of engaging with screens does not build language in the same way nor at the same level as when young children engage in producing language. 

Why does it matter?

So, kindergarteners are coming in with less oral language, what impact might that have on their success in school?  A pretty significant one, actually.  Research shows that children entering kindergarten with limited oral language skills may face significant challenges.  In fact, over 30 years’ worth of research shows a strong relationship between children who enter school with strong oral language skills as being better equipped with a foundation for future literacy skills and later academic outcomes like reading comprehension and overall academic success (Lonigan & Shanahan, 2009).  You can imagine that for young children who are not encountering more opportunities to engage in conversations leads to their vocabularies and grammatical understanding of the language being underdeveloped.  This in turn can lead to finding the process of learning to read more difficult and laborious as they have less of a command of the language needed for learning.

Ways to Develop Oral Language

So, as educators and parents, what can we do about it?  A lot actually.  There are several evidence-based strategies we can use to advance oral language to promote reading development.  Here are just a few:

1.     Read texts aloud.  Reading to children using picture books is a great strategy.  Picture books have significantly richer language than everyday conversation which extends exposure to advanced language.  Reading stories aloud and talking about what is being read is a surefire way to foster oral language skills. Even wordless picture books can be used to engage students in their own storytelling in a fun and unpredictable way!

2.     Use sophisticated language.  When speaking to our students or children, we can foster oral language by modeling using richer language and complete sentences that follow the rules of English grammar.  Given the age of the students, it may seem necessary to use simpler language, but in fact if we want to grow the oral language faculties of our students we are better off using more advanced language.  Think of it this way, if five year olds can learn dinosaur names they can certainly understand higher level language. Additionally, encourage students to use full sentences and more robust language.  This can be done by providing sentence frames or sentence starters (see Colorin Colorado for more information) or by helping them to learn other ways to express words such as like (enjoy, love, appreciate) or ate (devoured, consumed).

3.     Engage in turn-taking conversations.  Another way to help students develop oral language engaging them in extended conversations where they talk about topics or a story they heard with peers (Shanahan & Lonigan (2012).  You may provide an open-ended question, one that has multiple possible answers, for them to consider and discuss with a partner.  You may give them some question words to use to ask their partner to tell them even more. 

For example, let’s say you just finished reading aloud Gregory the Terrible Eater.  You can ask them to discuss what foods they eat that would be considered nutritious and to share that with their partner.  To expand their language, you can give them a sentence frame that helps them to include a list of foods like “Foods I eat that are nutritious are ______, _____, and _______.”  Their partner can then ask follow up questions to engage in turn taking, such as “Which one is your favorite?” or “Where do you get ______ from? 

4.     Teach students how to partner.  Engaging students in conversation requires explicitly teaching them how to do so successfully.  You will want to model and role play partner behaviors so that students know what it looks like. Specifically, you will want to coach them on making eye contact to show they’re listening (but not staring at their partner), to use body language such as leaning in towards their partner to help with non-verbal cues of a good listener, how to take turns and avoid interrupting the speaker, and how to ask questions to clarify or get more information.   There are tools like Dr. Kinsella’s 4Ls or Eisenhart’s Listening Ladder (page 2) that you can use as anchors for teaching students how to partner.

Now is the time to confront this developing challenge of limited oral language skills, including how to engage in dialogue with their peers, and empower students for future literacy learning.  We have the power to influence growth in our youngest learners for lasting impact!  Let’s start with just adding one more conversation opportunity a day and see where we can go.

References

Lonigan, C. J., & Shanahan, T. (2009). Developing early literacy: Report of the National   Early Literacy Panel. Executive summary. A Scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention. National Institute for Literacy.

Shanahan, T., & Lonigan, C. (2012). The role of early oral language in literacy development. Language Magazine, 12(2), 24.