The social restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic affected the learning opportunities of children worldwide. The majority of children aged 0-4 years during that time could not attend preschool settings, including nurseries, childminders and social groups, which are important sources of social interaction necessary for language development. Studies have shown that this negatively affected the early language skills of babies born at the beginning of the pandemic. The longer-term consequences of the pandemic on children's speech and language skills are not yet well understood. In the current study, we explored teachers' experiences of the speech and language skills of children born during the pandemic who are now beginning their school journeys. Purposive sampling recruited nine female teachers with an average of 15 years' experience working with children in Early Years, who would have been infants aged between 1 and 2 years at the start of the pandemic, and in Reception (age 4-5 years) and Year 1 (age 5-6 years) at the time of data collection. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (which took place nearly 3 years after schools reopened after the pandemic) and analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Findings suggest that teachers perceive that the social restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a significant increase in the number of children experiencing speech and language difficulties. Teachers also highlighted the need for short- and longer-term educational adaptations to address pandemic-related disruptions in young children's speech and language development.
In the United Kingdom, education settings are encouraged to implement a graduated approach to support children's early speech, language and communication development. Whilst there is evidence of effectiveness for some universal and targeted interventions, there is little evidence related to the whole graduated model. This study focuses on the impact of implementing a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) supported multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) on the language skills (specifically receptive vocabulary) of 409 children aged 3 to 5 years, in comparison to a business-as-usual (BAU) model over 2 years of Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) education. Longitudinal multi-level modelling was used to examine progress over time and showed that inclusion in this MTSS for three terms resulted in statistically significant improvements in receptive vocabulary compared to BAU (monthly improvement of .82 standard score points, p<0.001). After just one term, children with the lowest receptive vocabulary scores showed significant improvements of 2.10 (p < 0.05) standard score points per month compared to control children (BAU), steadily closing the vocabulary gap. The universal tier of the MTSS facilitates greater receptive vocabulary improvement than the control condition, providing strong evidence of the importance of the universal tier as more than simply ‘business-as-usual’. This highlights the importance of SLTs working in collaboration with EYFS staff to actively support the implementation and normalisation of changed classroom practice at the universal tier and the embedding of appropriate targeted tier interventions.
Communication is a human right for all; including children with speech, language and communication needs and those who speak/sign non-dominant languages. As communication specialists, we enhance the ‘voice’ of children in two ways. We enhance children's capacity to communicate, and we enable children the ‘right to freedom of expression … regardless of frontiers’ (Article 13 United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child). This paper provides examples of listening to children with diverse communication abilities and shows we have creatively engaged in child-friendly methods to provide children space and voice. Children frequently depict their supportive communicative partners with ‘large listening ears’; however, this paper encourages us to mature in our practices to listen to children. As communication specialists, we also have the power to assist others to listen; that is, to provide children audience and influence. As we become accustomed to including children's perspectives in our professional practice, this paper encourages us to reflect on whether we listen to children superficially or use our large listening ears to provide children the opportunity for action based on their insights. How can we mature in our practices to enhance all children's participation within democratic processes in their families, schools, communities and society? We need to have large listening ears; employ a variety of sources (Mosaic approach); involve children's participation throughout the research process, and facilitate their capacity to influence the world. This paper was based on the Child Language Teaching and Therapy (CLTT) 2024 Summer Lecture and has been updated by integrating papers from the CLTT special issue titled ‘Listening to children with diverse communication abilities' (2026, volume 42).
Shared book reading (SBR) is an evidence-based approach that promotes language and emergent literacy development. Though widely studied globally, research from India remains limited and has largely concentrated on typically developing children. This study aimed to develop a structured SBR intervention module for Malayalam-speaking children (3–5 years) with language disorders using a three-round Delphi survey with 20 experienced speech-language pathologists. Experts provided input on training mode, frequency, book selection, emergent literacy domains, and fidelity measures. Consensus supported in-person training with 12 sessions delivered twice weekly, and the combined use of logbooks and video recordings to ensure the fidelity of implementation. Culturally relevant storybooks with rich illustrations and minimal text were preferred. Target areas included print conventions, word and letter discrimination, rhyme, and word awareness. The finalized SBR module integrates dialogic reading, print referencing, and phonological awareness strategies, offering a culturally adapted early intervention model for children with language disorders in India.
Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and reading disorder (RD) often demonstrate weaknesses in language, literacy, and auditory processing skills. This study examined whether supplementing intensive language and literacy intervention with acoustic-auditory home assignments targeting dichotic listening and pitch pattern recognition would result in greater language and reading gains than traditional language-focused home assignments. Thirty-nine children ages 5-15 years with DLD and RD participated in a four-week intensive telepractice language and literacy program and were randomly assigned to either a language-assignment (LA) group or an acoustic-auditory assignment (AA) group. Both groups received identical intervention targeting phonological processing, morphology, syntax, semantics, narrative skills, decoding, and reading comprehension. The LA group completed language-based home assignments, whereas the AA group completed computerized auditory training tasks. Pre- and post-intervention measures included subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson IV and narrative language assessments. Results indicated significant overall pre- to post-intervention improvement across participants, supporting the effectiveness of the intensive intervention program. However, the LA group demonstrated significantly greater gains than the AA group in reading skills, reading comprehension, word comprehension, and paragraph comprehension. The AA group did not demonstrate significant improvements on standardized reading measures. Findings suggest that direct language-focused home practice may provide stronger short-term literacy benefits than auditory-perceptual training alone for children with DLD and RD. Future research should examine longer intervention durations and hybrid intervention approaches integrating auditory training with explicit language instruction.
