Nursery World - Learning & Development: Language

How can practitioners sustain children's attention and involvement when they don't share a language? Michael Jones shows one way.

We know that children learn language quickly if they are involved in meaningful activities, particularly with adults and other children. By 'involvement' we mean really focusing, listening, and talking about what they are doing, and about their ideas. But sometimes it can be a real challenge to create opportunities for this 'sustained shared thinking' in lively settings. So what can practitioners do to keep children interested, focused and engaged?

Let's take as an example a session that I led on language development at the Children's Centre at The Mall, in Luton. The Mall is an unusual setting, as it is based in the local shopping centre. There are a regular group of children enrolled at the nursery, but a drop-in facility is also available for parents who want to leave their children there while they go shopping.

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