Teaching Verbal Communication Skills In The Kindergarten

The purpose of this study was to create a kindergarten environment that would provide time and experiences which would help children to increase their language competency. Development of language competency in kindergarten children can be noted over a six-week period through their dictations when the teacher acts as a model for appropriate vocabulary and syntax in concept formation situations and assists in mediating meaningful experiences throughout the school day. The subjects were twenty-six five-year-old boys and girls enrolled in a three-hour morning kindergarten class. To provide children with concrete and firsthand experiences, interest learning centers were set up where children worked in groups of not more than five children. Throughout the day the teacher concentrated on modeling and mediating language. Data was collected in the form of dictations, given voluntarily by the subjects and recorded and dated by the teacher. Data was analyzed in terms of (1) Length of dictations, (2) Use of descriptive words, (3) Perfunctory terms and (4) Syntax. The findings clearly indicate an increase in language competency