Supporting children's oral language through play and teacher questioning

© 2014 Kim O'GradyThrough practitioner research, this small-scale study sought to examine the inclusion of play-based experiences and subsequent teacher-led reflective discussions within an early years language and literacy program to support children’s oral language development. Comparisons were made between children’s ‘language in action’ during play and ‘language as reflection’ during the teacher-facilitated discussions. The study also examined the use of teacher questions in terms of their capacity to scaffold children’s language during small-group discussions. Based upon principles of qualitative research, six children in their first year of school were selected to participate in the study, with the intent of being able to provide a rich qualitative data set and deliver findings specific to the research site. The participants’ talk interactions during the play episodes and reflective discussions, form the data collected for this study. The data collection process was cyclical, with three cycles taking place during the second semester of the school year. Due to the nature of the research design, data was collected, interpreted and reported on by the teacher-researcher. Three key themes emerged from the data analysis. Firstly, the role of imaginative play and the affordances this makes for children’s language learning, secondly, the challenges of ‘context reduced’ language for the school-aged language learner, and finally the importance of teacher questioning in scaffolding children’s language. The findings from the study urge teachers to consider the role of play in facilitating children’s ‘language in action’ and the importance of effective teacher questioning during children’s use of ‘language as reflection’ to augment children’s oral language development during the first year of school