Nursery World - Learning & Development: Communication: Part 1

A new series on communication skills and good early years practice is launched by Helen Moylett.

The Early Years Foundation Stage principle that 'every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured' reminds us that human beings are primed from birth to be successful learners. One of the major ways in which this can be seen is in our overwhelming urge to communicate. The first cry, the first look into our mother's eyes, the first turn of the head to our father's voice all say 'I am here, I want to connect with you.'

For most babies these first communicative attempts are welcomed as parents cuddle, gaze at and talk to their baby. As the weeks and months pass, they come to know each other and to feel comfortable and connected. Despite the inevitable parental exhaustion and worry, love flows unconditionally to this tiny communicator who is so vulnerable but also so powerful in getting her needs met.

As the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2005, reminds us, 'Babies and infants ... are active social agents, who seek protection, nurturance and understanding from parents or other caregivers, which they require for their survival, growth and well-being.'

In most cases, the baby who gets this nurture and understanding learns to smile and babble, to take turns in conversation and eventually to use words. Her secure attachment with at least one of her parents helps her to feel confident to explore new situations, get to know other people and make friends. Her parents and other caregivers talk to her, praise her and help her to do things. She enjoys learning new skills - she is the resilient, capable, confident and selfassured child of the EYFS principle.

NATIONAL YEAR OF COMMUNICATION

So, if this is the case for so many children, why do we need a National Year of Communication? The short answer is that we know that many children do not get the understanding and nurturing they require to develop as confident communicators and learners. The social and academic consequences of the numbers of children at risk of language delay have been widely reported and have been a concern to Government, early years researchers and practitioners for some years.

The National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) reported in 2007 that 'a social class gradient in language skills is already emerging by the time a child is two years old and the gap widens substantially by the time children reach statutory school age'. This reflects US research (Hart and Risley, 1995) which found that in high-talking (mainly wealthier) families, children heard more words and many more encouraging statements than children in low-talking (mainly poorer) families.

Clearly, this means settings in more disadvantaged areas have a big responsibility to redress the balance and close the gap. Nonetheless, in 2008 NESS reported that, although the comparison between children and families living in Sure Start Local Programme (SSLP) areas and those in similar areas not having a SSLP revealed benefits in half the outcomes assessed, there was no evidence of improved language development. This confirmed one of the reasons why the 2006 I CAN report found that in some poor areas, up to 50 per cent of children were entering school with language delay - not all practitioners and parents were understanding their crucial role in supporting early communication and language.

The Bercow Review of 2008 reported on the social context for this, saying, 'There is grossly inadequate recognition across society of the importance of communication development, let alone of the active steps needed to facilitate it. It is a skill which has to be taught, honed and nurtured. Yet ... children's ability to communicate, to speak and to understand (is) taken for granted.'

EVERY CHILD A TALKER

Every Child A Talker (ECAT), started in 2008, is a nationally funded programme supporting an early language consultant in each local authority, setting-based lead practitioners and systematic monitoring. It has been successful in reaching vulnerable groups of children and enabling practitioners to identify those most at risk of delay and take steps to support their language development.

ECAT child level monitoring between autumn 2009 and summer 2010 showed that there was an average 12 per cent reduction in the numbers of twoto four-year-old children at risk of language delay and an average 9 per cent increase in the children ahead of expectations. 2010 Early Years Foundation Stage Profile results showed that the majority of Wave 1 ECAT LAs had more children reaching a good level of development, increasing by 5 per cent, compared to 4 per cent in other LAs.

There are many reasons for this success. ECAT is not a rigid programme but a flexible approach which allows LAs and settings to use tried and tested resources from partners - for example, training from I CAN, ELKLAN and Communication Friendly Spaces. It also involves health partners; many speech and language therapists have been working as ECAT consultants.

As the ECAT funding comes to an end in March 2011, there is still much more work to be done to make the lessons learned universal, and the National Year stresses the continuing need to make communication a priority.

COMMUNICATION, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE

This series of articles will draw on some excellent practice from around the country to illustrate effective approaches that practitioners and parents can take to support children's communication, language and speech. But first, what do these terms mean?

Communication describes the different systems we can use to pass on messages to other people and receive messages from them. Communication may use words (spoken or written) or sounds. We also communicate non-verbally by means such as body language and gestures. And we may use pictures or symbols or a signing system.

Speech refers to the sound system of a language. All languages have different sound systems, and babies 'tune in' to those they hear around them. Speech also refers to how sounds are made in the mouth to form spoken words. Some children will have well developed communication and language skills but find difficulty using the correct speech sounds.

Language is the structure in which words are used. The language system is made up of several components:

Vocabulary and semantics - vocabulary is the set of words that are used, and as their language develops children begin to understand that words do not function just as labels and can be used in many different ways, which is semantics.

Grammar - how words can be combined to make sentences, and how words change to indicate things like past tense - for example, 'I'm playing' changing to 'I played'.

Pragmatics - the use of language in different situations - for example, beginning to understand what a question is and that it requires an answer.

Having no speech does not stop one communicating. However, for the majority of children, mastering speech and the vocabulary and structure of language are crucial life skills.

LIFE SKILL

Language helps us:

- make friends - communicating about a shared experience helps us find out more about others and understand them
- regulate our own behaviour. Being able to name our emotions helps us to manage them
- think - the process of dialogue with others mirrors our internal dialogue
- learn - listening to others means accepting that they may think differently from us and that there are things we do not understand but can find out more by asking questions
- become literate - the rhythms and patterns of spoken language help us to link sounds and letters.

SUPPORT

Parents and practitioners support children to become good communicators by:

- talking and singing to babies - it helps develop their brains
- being unembarrassed to talk to a baby who cannot talk back, but who is watching and listening
- encouraging talk by modelling conversation. For example, when a toddler points and says 'dog gone', responding not just with 'yes' but 'oh yes, I wonder where he's gone?'
- waiting and allowing the child time to start the conversation
- understanding that songs and rhymes help children build up vocabulary and knowledge about the rhythms of language
- knowing it's never too early to share books and get children involved in story talk
- being on the same level - it's easier to talk if you are face to face.

Helen Moylett is president of the British Association for Early Childhood Education (www.early-education.org.uk)

Part 2 The Communication-friendly Setting will be published 10 February.

See also Analysis in this issue, p10-11

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