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The influence of activity context on the quality of support for children’s oral language development in English nurseries
Oral language competence is fundamental to children’s academic achievement and emotional well-being, yet many children enter school with delayed language development. Early Years Practitioners can play a pivotal role in supporting language growth through high-quality interactions integrating linguistic, interactive and conceptual elements. In-service professional development can support practitioners to enhance provision, especially when its design is informed by an understanding of existing provision and the contextual factors that shape it.
This talk will present findings from a study which employed fine-grained analysis to examine the quality of language support in small-group practitioner–child interactions in English nurseries. Interactive and conceptual features of practitioner input – including prompt use, extensions and expansions of child language, conversational exchanges and the use of decontextualized language – were examined across three content-rich activity contexts: text-and-picture book sharing, wordless book sharing, and toy play. Comparisons across these contexts highlight their relative affordances for language learning and identify priorities for professional development and practice. The presentation will also discuss the methodological challenges of capturing language support through a bespoke coding approach and consider pathways for future refinements.
Teams link: teams.microsoft.com/meet/3825967966058?p=oaa4boDA3tu5ZnqMja
Date:
17 February 2026, 12:30
Venue:
15 Norham Gardens, 15 Norham Gardens OX2 6PY
Venue Details:
Seminar Room K/L (Bruner Building)
Speaker:
Keeley Dobinson (Department of Education, University of Oxford)
Organising department:
Department of Education
Organiser:
Professor Sonali Nag (University of Oxford)
Part of:
Child Development and Learning Research Group Seminars
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editors:
Hannah Freeman,
Kristina Khoo,
Shaena Sinclair
