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Early childhood teachers are well-positioned to maximise preschoolers' development in oral language and emergent literacy; both of which are vital predictors of academic success at school. Research investigating their pre-service training in language and emergent literacy remains limited. This issue is addressed in the present study, with the first nation-wide review of the oral language and emergent literacy course content across all 84 Australian early childhood teacher pre-service courses. Qualitative Content Analysis was employed to gain an overview of language and emergent literacy teaching content reported in publicly available course documents. Study findings demonstrated large variation in the oral language and emergent literacy course content reported. The results showed that course content on the structure of language and code-related skills including phonological awareness and concepts of print, do not feature prominently across pre-service course documents. Further, course content on evidence-based strategies to foster children's oral language and emergent literacy development, such as dialogic book reading, and intentional adult-child interactions were also limited. Findings are discussed with respect to their implications for preparing early childhood teachers to support the oral language and emergent literacy growth of preschoolers.

The use of shared book reading is regarded as valuable to support young children to build their oral language and emergent literacy skills in preschool classrooms. Quantitative and qualitative features of early childhood teachers' (ECTs') shared book reading practices are important contributors to quality shared book reading experiences. The aim of this study was to gain in-depth insights about the range and frequency of extratextual oral language and emergent literacy utterances (utterances beyond the story text) used by ECTs during shared book reading with preschoolers as well as their use of paralinguistic and nonverbal features. Video-recordings were made of 32 ECTs engaging in shared book reading with their four-year-old preschool class. ECTs' extratextual utterances and their paralinguistic and nonverbal features were classified using a validated observational checklist: The "Emergent Literacy and Language Early Childhood Checklist for Teachers" (ELLECCT). Results showed ECTs frequently used responsive statements such as commenting on the story or acknowledging or imitating children's utterances in book-related talk. ECTs most commonly asked closed questions during shared book reading and regularly used paralinguistic and nonverbal features such as prosody and volume in order to engage children. In contrast, ECTs used only a limited range of dialogic reading prompts and explicit vocabulary strategies and only infrequently expanded children's utterances. Notably, ECTs rarely used strategies to target children's print knowledge or phonological awareness. Although extratextual dialogue was used regularly by ECTs during shared book reading, targeted techniques that are known to build oral language and emergent literacy were not consistently demonstrated. These results suggest missed opportunities for preschool children to benefit from shared book reading.

Background: Early childhood teachers (ECTs) play a significant role in equipping children with oral language and emergent literacy skills ahead of school entry. They are well positioned to play a vital role in ensuring preschool children receive a high-quality preschool curriculum to prepare them for later literacy learning. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore early career ECTs' views and confidence regarding their role in providing preschoolers with oral language and emergent literacy support and to examine their perceptions of their preservice preparation. Methods & Procedures: Nine Australian early career ECTs were recruited via purposive sampling for an in-depth, semi-structured interview. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Outcomes & Results: Participants attached strong significance to their role in facilitating children's oral language growth and emergent literacy skills and reported a range of practices to support children's learning. However, they rarely referred to using established language facilitation strategies or using dialogic book reading prompts. Further, emergent literacy concepts such as phonological awareness and print awareness were not routinely described as features of participants' classroom activities. Participants did not consistently make a clear conceptual distinction between the constructs of oral language and emergent literacy and often used these terms interchangeably. Notably, participants indicated that they did not feel confident in their ability to identify preschool children who were not meeting developmental language milestones and reported that they felt poorly equipped to do so by their preservice training. Conclusions & Implications: ECTs' strong willingness to support preschool children's oral language and emergent literacy skills may be hindered by gaps in their knowledge; these may contribute to important and missed opportunities for identifying and supporting preschoolers' oral language and emergent literacy growth.

Shared book reading in preschool settings plays an influential role in supporting children's oral language and emergent literacy skills. Early childhood teachers can provide high-quality shared book reading experiences using extratextual utterances (reading beyond the story text) to maximise these learning outcomes. We report on the development and psychometric properties of the 'Emergent Literacy and Language Early Childhood Checklist for Teachers' (ELLECCT) tool, a comprehensive observational checklist designed to document early childhood teachers' extratextual oral language and emergent literacy strategies during shared book reading. The ELLECCT measures teachers' dialogic reading prompts, vocabulary promotion strategies, responsive statements, print knowledge and phonological awareness. The ELLECCT also contains a rating scale examining paralinguistic and nonverbal strategies used by early childhood teachers to support engagement during shared book reading interactions. The psychometric properties of the ELLECCT were measured in a four-phase process. Content validity was tested using the Content Validity Index and a three-round Delphi process was used to measure face validity. Both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were evaluated from a sample of 32 shared book reading observations. The study findings provide preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of the ELLECCT, such that it is judged as suitable for evaluation of early childhood teachers' use of extratextual and paralinguistic strategies while engaged in shared book reading. We describe the ELLECCT's potential application in both classroom coaching and training, and as a research tool, to support early childhood teachers' skill-development during shared book reading.

The co-occurrence of social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties (SEBD), maltreatment, and language disorders (LD) is recognized in school-age children; however, the nature of the interaction between them remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to explore associations between LD and SEBD in children with and without suspected histories of maltreatment. Forty-one primary school students enrolled at a specialist unit for children with SEBD are described with respect to language skills, maltreatment history, and comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders. Two thirds of students who met criteria for SEBD also met criteria for LD. Children with higher levels of internalizing problems were found to have stronger expressive language scores, but otherwise the severity of LD did not correlate with severity of SEBD. SEBD was similar in students with and without a history of maltreatment, and this did not increase the likelihood or severity of LD, except for pragmatic language skills. There is considerable overlap between SEBD, LD, and suspected maltreatment in this group. Students with SEBD and/or a suspected history of maltreatment need additional support to ensure that the interaction of their behavior and communication difficulties are understood so they make steady progress in social and academic skills and remain engaged in school.

Reading ability is profoundly important, for individuals and for the societies of which they are a part. Research indicates that we should be successfully teaching 95% of children to read, yet, in reality, high rates of reading failure are common in western, industrialized nations. In large part, this reflects a failure to translate into practice knowledge derived from the scientific study of reading and reading instruction and, indeed, to the rejection in some circles of the notion that there is a science of reading, in the same way that there is a science of memory, learning, and cognition. In this article, I suggest the Science of Language and Reading (SOLAR) framework as a way of positioning oral language as a central driver of reading acquisition. The SOLAR framework is illustrated via the Language House schema, which considers the social-emotional contexts for language acquisition and reading instruction, alongside the ongoing development of prosocial interpersonal skills and mastery of sufficient language and reading skills by early adulthood to be able to function as part of the social and economic mainstream. I argue that speech-language therapy has much to offer to the promotion of evidence-based early reading and writing instruction and support, given the linguistic nature of reading and the high comorbidity between language and reading difficulties and social-emotional disturbances in childhood and adolescence.

Internationally, professional bodies are increasingly recognizing a role for speech-language therapists (SLTs) in identifying and supporting students who struggle with literacy. Although some guidelines have been developed to support this work, little is understood about the overlapping, but distinctive knowledge bases claimed by SLTs and teachers with respect to reading instruction and provision of additional support to struggling readers. In this article, we report on a qualitative exploration of the experiences and perspectives of 25 professionals in Australia who are dually qualified as teachers and SLTs. The aim of this study was to understand the views from both professional perspectives about pre-service training and barriers and facilitators pertaining to literacy instruction and intervention. Paradigm differences in conceptualizing reading instruction and support, bi-directional knowledge of scope of practice, and employment barriers and enablers emerged as themes and are discussed with reference to implications for pre-service training and interprofessional practice in school settings.

Purpose: The adolescent developmental task of establishing autonomy from parents is supported through various aspects of executive functioning, including critical thinking. Our aim was to investigate younger and older adolescent language performance in form, content, and use in response to a moral dilemma task. Method: Forty-four typically developing adolescents completed a language sampling task, responding to stories that contained a moral dilemma for one of the characters. Two age groups participated: younger adolescents (n = 24, 12;2-13;11 [years; months]) and older adolescents (n = 20, 16;1-17;11).Participants produced a monologue in response to an open-ended question prompt. Responses were transcribed and analyzed for discourse production on measures of form (verbal productivity and syntactic complexity) and content (semantic diversity and word percentages in three semantic domains: affective, social, and cognitive). Language use was evaluated using a coding system based on Bloom's revised taxonomy of thinking. Results: There were no significant group differences in performance on measures of syntactic complexity and semantic diversity. Significant differences were found in adolescents' language using Bloom's revised taxonomy. The younger adolescents demonstrated a significantly higher proportion of utterances at Level 1 (remembering and understanding) compared to older adolescents, while the older age group produced a higher proportion at Level 3 (evaluating and creating). Conclusions: The moral dilemma task was effective in demonstrating the growth of adolescent language skills in use of language for critical thinking. The results highlight the clinical utility of the moral dilemma task in engaging adolescents in discourse involving critical thinking, whereas the associated coding scheme, based on Bloom's revised taxonomy of thinking, may differentiate levels of critical thinking and provide direction for intervention.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the views of teachers in early year levels about the role and scope for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to work on literacy support in schools. Method: Sixty-one teachers from mainstream government schools across Victoria, Australia, completed an anonymous, online survey. Result: Although many respondents reported knowing that SLPs support the literacy learning of some students in their school, they had limited awareness of the scope of speech-language pathology practice in literacy instruction and intervention. Conclusion: Limited awareness of SLPs' expertise and scope of practice may be leading to missed opportunities for collaborative practices. In order to capitalise on SLPs' skill set for the benefit of students, the speech-language pathology profession should better promote and raise awareness of the various ways in which SLPs can collaborate within interprofessional literacy teams in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this longitudinal study, the word-level reading trajectories of 118 children were tracked alongside teachers' reported concerns and types of support provided through Grades 1, 2 and 3. Results show a significant decline in composite scores relative to age norms over time, with children achieving significantly lower in phonemic decoding than word recognition at the subtest level. Five group trajectories were identified: children who achieved average or above average scores across all 3 years (n = 64), children who consistently bordered on average (n = 11), children who achieved below average in Grade 1 but who then achieved average or above in Grade 2 or Grade 3 (n = 7), children who achieved average or above in Grade 1 but then declined to below average in Grade 2 or Grade 3 (n = 10), and children who achieved below average across all 3 years (n = 26). Appropriately, teachers' concerns were highest for students in the groups that improved, declined or remained persistently below average. However, analysis of the focus of teachers' concerns and the supports they said were provided to the children in these three groups suggests that teachers are not always accurate in their interpretation of children's presenting characteristics, resulting in the misalignment of support provision.

Teachers in the early years of primary school play an important role in supporting students' oral language skills; however, there is evidence to suggest many Australian teachers are not adequately prepared to provide systematic, evidence-based instruction in oral language and early literacy. The aim of this study was to describe the observed and self-perceived changes in knowledge, practice and beliefs of teachers who participated in a sustained oral language professional learning program. A second aim was to determine whether this development was adequately accounted for by current models of professionalism and professional development. Three case studies are presented, using data taken from a survey of teacher knowledge and the analysis of samples of classroom talk at three time points, and semi-structured interviews. These case studies illustrate that despite participating in the same sustained professional learning program, there was inconsistency in the teachers' outcomes. Growth in knowledge was variable; and change in self-rated ability to provide instruction was influenced by observed student outcomes (which teachers attributed to change in their practice). In one case, professional growth was restricted by factors within the school environment.

Background: Adolescents in contact with youth justice are a vulnerable and marginalized group at high risk of developmental language disorder (DLD) and other communication difficulties. Though preliminary studies have demonstrated the benefits of speech and language therapy (SLT) services in youth justice, limited research has empirically tested the efficacy of intervention in these settings. Aims: To evaluate the extent to which intensive, one-to-one language intervention improved the communication skills of incarcerated adolescents with below-average (> 1 SD below the mean) language and/or literacy skills. Methods & Procedures: A series of four empirical single case studies was conducted, using multiple baseline intervention design. Individualized intervention programmes were administered, and progress on outcome measures (probes) was evaluated throughout the baseline, intervention and maintenance phases using Tau-U , a non-parametric distribution-free statistic. Additional measures were used as secondary outcomes of the intervention, including standardized language subtests, subjective rating tools by participants and their teachers collected pre- and post-intervention, and a brief structured participant interview, independently administered by youth justice staff. Outcomes & Results: Medium-to-large effect sizes, the majority of which were statistically significant, were detected on the primary outcome measure across the four cases, indicating improvements in the targeted communication skills. Positive results were also evident in comparisons of pre- and post-measures on standardized language subtests, subjective self- and teacher ratings of communication, and the participants' impressions of the interventions. For those participants who could be followed up, gains in language skills were generally maintained at 1 month post-intervention. Conclusions & Implications: This study provides further evidence of the efficacy of one-to-one SLT intervention for adolescents in youth justice in order to address language and literacy difficulties. These findings inform future SLT service provision for adolescents in these settings, with clear policy and practice implications. Future research should investigate the wider benefits to individuals' engagement in youth justice intervention and recidivism, as well as assessing maintenance of gains over a longer period.

Purpose: This article is concerned with the growing body of international evidence indicating that adolescents in contact with the youth justice system are likely to have severely compromised oral language skills, receptively and expressively. A smaller, but persuasive, literature also points to poor literacy skills in this population. Language and literacy skills underpin academic, social, and vocational success (C. Snow, 1983; P. C. Snow, 2016; Snowling & Hulme, 2012) and are central to the professional expertise of speech-language pathology as a profession (P. C. Snow, 2016). Method: In this article, I review the epidemiology of youth offending together with research evidence concerning the language and literacy skills of this population. I outline the major practice and research implications of these findings for speech-language pathology as a profession, considering the "school-to-prison pipeline" via key domains of early years' reading instruction, young people's passage through the justice system, restorative justice processes, and design and delivery of language and literacy interventions for young people on youth justice orders. Results: Implications for speech-language pathology scope of practice and future research are outlined. Conclusions: Speech-language pathology as a profession has a significant role to play in advocating for vulnerable young people at each point in the school-to-prison pipeline. This includes strengthening the evidence base concerning speech-language pathology language and literacy interventions and lobbying governments to fund speech-language pathology services to address the complex communication needs of this population, both on community-based and custodial orders.

In this systematic narrative review, we synthesised the small existing body of research on children who are gifted and dyslexic (G‐D) in order to investigate the claim that G‐D students have a unique profile, characterised by well‐masked word‐level reading and spelling difficulties. Our focus was on both the cognitive and academic profiles of this subgroup of twice‐exceptional (2e) children and the assessment protocols used to identify them. Findings suggest that despite having processing deficits associated with dyslexia, G‐D students' gifted strengths, especially those relating to oral language, may enable them to compensate for their reading difficulties, at least to an extent that they fail to meet standard diagnostic criteria. However, G‐D students also perform poorly on word‐level reading, reading fluency and spelling tasks when compared with both control groups and their gifted, non‐dyslexic peers, providing clear evidence of impaired achievement. Findings from this review highlight the need for (a) a more nuanced approach to the assessment of students presenting with highly discrepant profiles and (b) future research into both the cognitive and academic profiles and the instructional needs of this highly able yet poorly understood group of students, whose potential may be masked and thus underestimated in the school setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of classroom instructional time continues to be debated among educators, policy makers, academics and health professionals such as speech-language therapists. In this commentary, we emphasise the importance of reserving precious instructional time for developing children's biologically secondary skills such as reading, writing and spelling. We argue that maintaining a focus on these core curriculum areas is critical. We advise against committing Tier 1 classroom time to conversational skills at the current time, due to the paucity of research evidence to support this. We propose an alternative model for including conversational skills in classroom practice, through the application of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, and in particular, Response to Intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Return to competitive employment presents a major challenge to adults who survive traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study was undertaken to better understand factors that shape employment outcome by comparing the communication profiles and self-awareness of communication deficits of adults who return to and maintain employment with those who do not. Method: Forty-six dyads (46 adults with TBI, 46 relatives) were recruited into 2 groups based on the current employment status (employed or unemployed) of participants with TBI. Groups did not differ in regard to sex, age, education, preinjury employment, injury severity, or time postinjury. The La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (Douglas, O'Flaherty, & Snow, 2000) was used to measure communication. Group comparisons on La Trobe Communication Questionnaire scores were analyzed by using mixed 2 × 2 analysis of variance (between factor: employment status; within factor: source of perception). Results: Analysis yielded a significant group main effect (p = 0.002) and a significant interaction (p = 0.004). The employed group reported less frequent difficulties (self and relatives). Consistent with the interaction, unemployed participants perceived themselves to have less frequent difficulties than their relatives perceived, whereas employed participants reported more frequent difficulties than their relatives. Conclusion: Communication outcome and awareness of communication deficits play an important role in reintegration to the workplace following TBI.

This study sought to investigate the level of knowledge of language constructs in a cohort of Australian teachers and to examine their self-rated ability and confidence in that knowledge. Seventy-eight teachers from schools across the Australian state of Victoria completed a questionnaire which included items from existing measures, as well as newly developed items. Consistent with a number of earlier Australian and international studies, teachers' explicit and implicit knowledge of basic linguistic constructs was limited and highly variable. A statistically significant correlation was found between (1) total self-rated ability and (2) years since qualification and experience teaching the early years of primary school; however, no relationship was found between self-rated ability and overall performance on knowledge items. Self-rated ability to teach phonemic awareness and phonics had no relationship with demonstrated knowledge in these areas. Teachers were most likely to rate their ability to teach skills including spelling, phonics, comprehension or vocabulary as either moderate or very good. This was despite most respondents demonstrating limited knowledge and stating that they did not feel confident answering questions about their knowledge in these areas. The findings from this study confirm that in the field of language and literacy instruction, there is a gap between the knowledge that is theoretically requisite, and therefore expected, and the actual knowledge of many teachers. This finding challenges current pre-service teacher education and in-service professional learning.

Background: Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) are strongly overrepresented in young offender populations, and there is growing commitment internationally to ensuring access to speech-language therapy services for such young people. However there is currently no framework in which such interventions might be conceptualized, delivered and evaluated. This is significant given the role of language competence in the development of prosocial skills and also in the transition to literacy. Aims: To present Response to Intervention (RTI) as a framework in which SLCN of young offenders might be systematically addressed and evaluated within youth justice settings, led by speech-language therapists, in conjunction with other education and welfare team members. Methods & Procedures: Literature regarding prevalence rates of SLCN in young offenders is reviewed, together with the limited extant evidence on interventions for this group. The importance of applying evidence-based interventions is argued, and a framework for adapting RTI for SLCN in custodial settings is outlined. Main Contribution: A framework for adapting RTI to design, deliver and evaluate speech-language therapy interventions in youth custodial settings is presented. Conclusions: Speech-language therapy interventions for young offenders will be better addressed at policy, practice and research levels if a framework such as an RTI adaptation is employed. It is expected, however, that this model will evolve over time, as intervention evidence pertaining to the youth offender population emerges.

Behavioural problems in childhood are common, with significant and wide-ranging implications for individuals, families and the community. There is some evidence that sensory processing difficulties are associated with behavioural problems in children with disabilities such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there has been minimal research into the association between sensory processing difficulties and behavioural problems in the absence of these disorders. The aim of this investigation was to determine the prevalence of sensory processing difficulties in children aged 5 to 9 who have been identified as at risk of developing conduct disorder, and to examine the relationship between sensory processing difficulties and behavioural problems. Participants were children aged 5 to 9 selected to participate in an early intervention program for children at risk of developing conduct disorder. Behaviour problems were assessed using the Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory (ECBI; Eyberg and Robinson 1983) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman 1997). Sensory processing was assessed using the parent-reported Short Sensory Profile (SSP; McIntosh et al. 1999). Sensory processing difficulties were identified in 55.2%, which is higher than the estimated prevalence in the community (5.3-13.7%). Significant correlations were found between sensory processing difficulties and severity of behavioural problems. Using multiple regression analysis, sensory processing difficulties made a significant unique contribution to behavioural problems, and contributed more to the model than did other variables--language difficulties and socio-economic status. Notwithstanding the need for further research, these findings suggest that sensory processing should be considered in the assessment and management of children with behaviour problems.

Background: Historically speech and language therapy services for children have been framed within a rehabilitative framework with explicit assumptions made about providing therapy to individuals. While this is clearly important in many cases, we argue that this model needs revisiting for a number of reasons. First, our understanding of the nature of disability, and therefore communication disabilities, has changed over the past century. Second, there is an increasing understanding of the impact that the social gradient has on early communication difficulties. Finally, understanding how these factors interact with one other and have an impact across the life course remains poorly understood. Aims: To describe the public health paradigm and explore its implications for speech and language therapy with children. Methods & Procedures: We test the application of public health methodologies to speech and language therapy services by looking at four dimensions of service delivery: (1) the uptake of services and whether those children who need services receive them; (2) the development of universal prevention services in relation to social disadvantage; (3) the risk of over-interpreting co-morbidity from clinical samples; and (4) the overlap between communicative competence and mental health. Outcomes & Conclusions: It is concluded that there is a strong case for speech and language therapy services to be reconceptualized to respond to the needs of the whole population and according to socially determined needs, focusing on primary prevention. This is not to disregard individual need, but to highlight the needs of the population as a whole. Although the socio-political context is different between countries, we maintain that this is relevant wherever speech and language therapists have a responsibility for covering whole populations. Finally, we recommend that speech and language therapy services be conceptualized within the framework laid down in The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.

Purpose: Return to competitive employment presents a major challenge to adults who survive traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study was undertaken to better understand factors that shape employment outcome by comparing the communication profiles and self-awareness of communication deficits of adults who return to and maintain employment with those who do not. Method: Forty-six dyads (46 adults with TBI, 46 relatives) were recruited into 2 groups based on the current employment status (employed or unemployed) of participants with TBI. Groups did not differ in regard to sex, age, education, preinjury employment, injury severity, or time postinjury. The LaTrobe Communication Questionnaire (Douglas, O'Flaherty, & Snow, 2000) was used to measure communication. Group comparisons on La Trobe Communication Questionnaire scores were analyzed by using mixed 2x2 analysis of variance (between factor: employment status; within factor: source of perception). Results: Analysis yielded a significant group main effect (p = .002) and a significant interaction (p = .004). The employed group reported less frequent difficulties (self and relatives). Consistent with the interaction, unemployed participants perceived themselves to have less frequent difficulties than their relatives perceived, whereas employed participants reported more frequent difficulties than their relatives. Conclusion: Communication outcome and awareness of communication deficits play an important role in reintegration to the workplace following TBI., Successful outcome following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is typically defined with respect to an individual's ability to live independently and participate in social, leisure, and work activities (Sander, Clark, & [...]

Purpose: This paper highlights the forensic implications of language impairment in 2 key (and overlapping) groups of young people: identified victims of maltreatment (abuse and/or neglect) and young offenders. Method: Two lines of research pertaining to oral language competence and young people's interface with the law are considered: 1 regarding investigative interviewing with children as victims or witnesses in the context of serious allegations of sexual abuse, and the other pertaining to adolescent offenders as suspects, witnesses, or victims. The linguistic demands that forensic interviewing places on these young people are also considered. Literature concerning the impact of early maltreatment on early language acquisition is briefly reviewed, as is the role of theory of mind in relation to the requirements of investigative interviewing of children and adolescents. Implications: High-risk young people (i.e., those who are subject to child protection orders because of suspected or confirmed maltreatment, and those who are engaged with the youth justice system) face an elevated risk for suboptimal language development but may need to draw on their language skills in high-stakes forensic interviews. Implications for early intervention policy and practice are identified, and the need for greater speech-language pathology advocacy and engagement in forensic interviewing research is emphasized.

Objective: This study compared the effects of open-ended versus specific questions, and various types of open-ended questions, in eliciting story-grammar detail in child abuse interviews. Methods: The sample included 34 police interviews with child witnesses aged 5-15 years ("M" age = 9 years, 9 months). The interviewers' questions and their relative sub-types were classified according to definitions reported in the child interview training literature. The children's responses were classified according to the proportion of story grammar and the prevalence of individual story grammar elements as defined by Stein and Glenn (1979). Results: Open-ended questions were more effective at eliciting story grammar than specific questions. This finding was revealed across three age groups, two interview phases and irrespective of how question effectiveness was measured. However, not all types of open-ended questions were equally effective. Open-ended questions that encouraged a broad response, or asked the child to elaborate on a part of their account, elicited more story-grammar detail compared to open-ended questions that requested clarification of concepts or descriptions of the next (or another) activity or detail within a sequence. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that children's ability to provide story-grammar detail is maximised when there is minimal prompting from the interviewer. Practical implications: Given the association between story grammar production and victim credibility, greater guidance is warranted in interviewer training programs in relation to the effects and administration of different types of open-ended questions. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Background: This study examined the ability of 78 children (aged 9-12 years) with an intellectual disability (ID) to provide a narrative account of a staged event they had participated in four days earlier. Method: The children were interviewed using open-ended questions. The quality of their responses (using a story grammar framework) was compared with that of two control groups: mainstream children matched for mental and chronological age. Results: While the children with an ID and those matched for mental age provided narratives of similar length and used similar proportions of each story grammar element, the ID group was less likely than both control groups to provide a narrative account at all. Among those children with an ID who did provide a narrative account, their accounts included proportionately fewer story grammar elements than those of both control groups. Conclusion: Children with an ID are disadvantaged as witnesses with respect to their ability to provide a detailed and coherent narrative account of events under optimal investigative interviewing conditions. (Contains 3 tables.)

A cross-sectional study examining the oral language abilities and social skills of male juvenile offenders is described. Fifty juvenile offenders and 50 non-offending controls completed measures of language processing and production, and measures of social skill and IQ. Information about type of offending, substance use histories and learning/literacy problems was also gathered. Young offenders performed significantly worse on all language and social skill measures, but these differences could not be accounted for on the basis of IQ. Just over half of the young offenders were identified as language impaired. This subgroup was compared with non-language impaired offending peers on a range of variables. The findings have particular implications in the areas of early intervention for high-risk boys and investigative interviewing of juvenile offenders.

Purpose: This study examined the specific language features that youth offenders express during autobiographical narratives, and tested whether offenders with high levels of callous and unemotional (CU) traits exhibit those language features known to be associated with psychopathic traits in adult offenders. These include increased instrumental and self‐oriented language, and decreased cohesiveness and fluency. A further aim was to test whether language‐related correlates of CU traits are consistent among offenders and non‐offenders. Methods: Participants were 130 males participants aged 13‐to‐20 years, comprising offender and non‐offender samples. Data collection involved an interview‐based autobiographical narrative task, and self‐reports on the Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits. Using a corpus comparison method, narrative transcripts were coded with linguistic analysis software (Wmatrix) and compared for youth with high versus low levels of CU traits in both samples. Results: Compared to youth offenders with low levels of CU traits, high‐CU offenders used more physiological need language (e.g. references to food, money), and used fewer cohesive conjunctions (e.g. 'because', 'and'), indicating increased instrumental language, and decreased cohesiveness. Low‐CU offenders also used more discourse marker disfluencies than high‐CU offenders. No differences were found for social need language or other disfluencies, and no associations between CU traits and language were found among non‐offenders. Conclusions: Youth offenders with high levels of CU traits exhibit unique language features when expressing autobiographical narratives. Findings point to potential developmental differences in how these features present in adolescence versus adulthood. Furthermore, these features may be somewhat specific to youth whose CU traits co‐occur with delinquency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early childhood teachers (ECTs) play a significant role in equipping children with oral language and emergent literacy skills ahead of school entry. They are well positioned to play a vital role in ensuring preschool children receive a high‐quality preschool curriculum to prepare them for later literacy learning. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore early career ECTs' views and confidence regarding their role in providing preschoolers with oral language and emergent literacy support and to examine their perceptions of their preservice preparation. Methods & Procedures: Nine Australian early career ECTs were recruited via purposive sampling for an in‐depth, semi‐structured interview. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Outcomes & Results: Participants attached strong significance to their role in facilitating children's oral language growth and emergent literacy skills and reported a range of practices to support children's learning. However, they rarely referred to using established language facilitation strategies or using dialogic book reading prompts. Further, emergent literacy concepts such as phonological awareness and print awareness were not routinely described as features of participants' classroom activities. Participants did not consistently make a clear conceptual distinction between the constructs of oral language and emergent literacy and often used these terms interchangeably. Notably, participants indicated that they did not feel confident in their ability to identify preschool children who were not meeting developmental language milestones and reported that they felt poorly equipped to do so by their preservice training. Conclusions & Implications: ECTs' strong willingness to support preschool children's oral language and emergent literacy skills may be hindered by gaps in their knowledge; these may contribute to important and missed opportunities for identifying and supporting preschoolers' oral language and emergent literacy growth. What this paper adds: What is already known on this subject?: High‐quality learning experiences in preschool are important for maximising preschoolers' oral language and emergent literacy growth. Early childhood teachers can play an important role in facilitating this development and preparing children for later literacy learning. What this paper adds to existing knowledge?: The study findings provide insight into ECTs' perceptions of their role and support in developing children's oral language and emergent literacy skills. The results indicated ECTs did not feel confident with their knowledge of children's language milestones or identifying children with language difficulties. Participants reported that their preservice training left them underprepared in the area of oral language. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: ECTs demonstrated a strong willingness to support preschoolers' oral language and emergent literacy skills. However, their self‐reported knowledge gaps and low confidence may have implications for the early detection of children who are not reaching language developmental milestones in a timely way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared book reading in preschool settings plays an influential role in supporting children's oral language and emergent literacy skills. Early childhood teachers can provide high-quality shared book reading experiences using extratextual utterances (reading beyond the story text) to maximise these learning outcomes. We report on the development and psychometric properties of the 'Emergent Literacy and Language Early Childhood Checklist for Teachers' (ELLECCT) tool, a comprehensive observational checklist designed to document early childhood teachers' extratextual oral language and emergent literacy strategies during shared book reading. The ELLECCT measures teachers' dialogic reading prompts, vocabulary promotion strategies, responsive statements, print knowledge and phonological awareness. The ELLECCT also contains a rating scale examining paralinguistic and nonverbal strategies used by early childhood teachers to support engagement during shared book reading interactions. The psychometric properties of the ELLECCT were measured in a four-phase process. Content validity was tested using the Content Validity Index and a three-round Delphi process was used to measure face validity. Both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were evaluated from a sample of 32 shared book reading observations. The study findings provide preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of the ELLECCT, such that it is judged as suitable for evaluation of early childhood teachers' use of extratextual and paralinguistic strategies while engaged in shared book reading. We describe the ELLECCT's potential application in both classroom coaching and training, and as a research tool, to support early childhood teachers' skill-development during shared book reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]