Too much emphasis on reading and writing for the under-fives is hampering the development of their speaking skills.
New research suggests children’s speaking ability got worse after two years of early education, despite improvements in their cognitive abilities. The speech development of the 240 three-year-olds from deprived areas already lagged behind that of their peers when they joined the four nurseries in the study.
The findings, presented at the British Psychological Society’s educational and child psychology conference yesterday, come a week after the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority launched a study into ways of improving spoken English (TES, January 4).
Around a third of the English national curriculum is made up of speaking and listening tasks, but the national literacy strategy and national tests focus heavily on reading and writing skills.
Researchers Ann Locke and Jane Ginsborg, of Sheffield University, attribute their findings to the children’s limited exposure to spoken language - initially at home but also in early-years education.
The three-year-olds were tested for language skills and cognitive abilities in their first term, and re-tested two years later.
While the proportion identified as having language difficulties of some kind declined slightly over the two years, from 55 to 49 per cent, the number of children with severe language problems almost trebled, from 9 to 26 per cent.
The children with the best language scores at three were doing worse at five, while the least able boys and most of the “middling” children showed no improvement after two years of early-years education.
While speech-delayed children might grasp early reading and writing, research in the United States suggests that underdeveloped oral skills will hamper understanding and comprehension of text later, says Dr Ginsborg.
“There is evidence that reading skills are dependent on spoken language skills.
“If that’s the case, we need to be putting more emphasis on more, rich language environments in nursery and reception and even in Year 1, with activities such as telling nursery rhymes and stories,” she said.
The pair introduced an established programme to improve the children’s oral skills, but the focus on reading and writing meant only one of the four nurseries implemented it fully.
“If you don’t know that spoken language is what underlies reading and writing, you are going to follow Government advice to copy words with them rather than tell stories,” added Dr Ginsborg.
