Rural Northern Canadian Teachers’ Discoveries about Young Children’s Oral Language

Abstract

Kindergarten and Grade 1 teachers collaborated with university researchers in an action research project aiming to find ways to support young children’s oral language. Analysing video data of children’s interactions during play, we worked together to create an observation tool that allows teachers to focus on ways in which children use language to carry out social purposes. In this paper, we report on teachers’ discoveries about the wide range of social purposes which children carry out using language, and their use of an observation framework that captures the pragmatic aspects of children’s language while engaged in play. Our research has implications for all teachers who wish to learn more about observing and supporting children’s oral language use.