Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grants

Project Title: Patterns in teacher-child conversations: Implications for children's language development

Chief Investigator: Dr Janet Scull

Funded by: 2009 Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme

Project Summary: Language and literacy teaching in preschools is subject to theoretical and pedagogical debate. Nevertheless, the facilitative role of children’s language and a familiarity with discourse structures that mirror the complexity of written texts is recognised as foundational to literacy acquisition. However, serious study of language teaching in Australian preschools is lacking, particularly in relation to the role of talk interactions around texts and the subsequent scaffolding of children’s literate discourse.  Through an examination of storybook reading in three preschools during the four-year-old preschool year, this study aims to investigates the pedagogical practices of teachers as they read and discuss texts with children and the impact of this practice on children’s language for literacy development.  Results of the study should offer new insights to explicit teaching in preschools and the role of teachers in supporting language learning.