Teach-Early-Years-14.1

general population) and 26% of those with a dyslexic family member had reading difficulties. But, perhaps most surprisingly, 66% of children with poor language skills at three and a half had poor reading skills aged eight. This striking finding highlights just how important focusing on oral language development is in the early years. ASSESSING ORAL LANGUAGE SKILLS Language skills develop very rapidly between the ages of three to six years, so it may not be immediately obvious which children have language delays. Implementing a universal, standardised screening programme provides a baseline against which educators can measure children’s language development over the year and ensures those with language delays are not being overlooked. growing), LanguageScreen enables nurseries and primary schools to assess each child in less than 10 minutes, providing automated scoring and clear reporting to support decision-making. LanguageScreen quickly and accurately identifies children with language delays and makes educators aware of the range of language abilities present among the children they are teaching. Many cases of language delays are “hidden”; children may be quiet but understand very little of what is being said to them. ORAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT To foster oral language development, early years settings should create a language-rich environment. Modelling effective communication by narrating actions, incorporating storytelling and singing, and providing opportunities for role-play provides diverse contexts for pupils to experience and practise language. Encourage children to speak, and provide them with supportive feedback when they do, sometimes expanding what a child says to you. Consider also adding copies of books you are using in work with children to your reading corner or labelling key vocabulary on activity stations to encourage children to make connections between spoken and written language. Effective, evidence-based interventions, such as the NELI Intervention and NELI Preschool, should also be a key part of the early years toolkit. Interventions like these provide an intensive focus on building oral language skills, without which, those with the weakest skills are unlikely to be able to catch up with their peers. The NELI Intervention, for children in Reception, has been shown through randomised controlled trials and rigorous independent evaluations to help children make up to seven months’ additional progress in their oral language skills. More importantly, this progress is shown to last – with children still showing improvements two years after the intervention has taken place (tinyurl.com/TEYneli ). Such durable results from an intervention are very unusual. Recognising the importance of a holistic approach to oral language, NELI Whole Class complements the NELI intervention, Encourage children to speak, and provide themwith supportive feedback when they do following the same six topics, and its intensive focus on active listening, vocabulary and narrative skills. It supports schools, through a flexible bank of activities, to help all children build strong oral language skills while further boosting the skills of those receiving the intervention. NELI Preschool is a new language enrichment programme designed specifically for preschool settings, built around shared book reading and guided play. A randomised controlled trial led by the University of Oxford showed that NELI Preschool significantly boosts the language skills of children, with those who participate making the equivalent of three months’ additional progress (tinyurl.com/ TEYneli2). This results in a stronger language foundation and children being better prepared for school entry. WHY ORAL LANGUAGE MATTERS Signs of oral language delay in children: Short listening span Limited vocabulary Poor sentence formation Poor behaviour Difficulty following instructions Disengaged from learning Unable to express themselves What happens if we don’t intervene? A widening gap in language skills A high risk of reading difficulties Writing difficulties Socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties Low educational attainment Higher incidences of mental health issues When looking for an assessment, settings should look for those that are objective, standardised and research-backed. An objective test means anyone can administer it effectively, for example, through the assessment providing clear yes/no, correct/incorrect rules. A standardised assessment requires a large dataset; the bigger the dataset, the more accurate and reliable an assessment is, so you can be confident in its accuracy. And again, if the assessment backed by research, its outcomes will be more credible. LanguageScreen, developed by OxEd & Assessment, emerged from decades of research at the University of Oxford to meet the need for a quick, reliable, and school- based oral language assessment. It evaluates four key areas: expressive vocabulary, listening comprehension, receptive vocabulary, and sentence repetition. Built upon a dataset of over 600,000 assessments (and Teachearlyyears.com 35