Vocabulary development receives special attention. The number and diversity of the words young
children know is related to later school success (Sénéchal, Ouelette, and Rodney 2006).Transitional
kindergarten teachers are aware of the crucial role they
play in expanding children’s vocabulary. They ensure that
they are rich models, provide stimulating curricula that
introduce children to new concepts (with accompanying
words), read aloud from books that use more sophisticated
language than that used by the children, and provide child-
friendly definitions of unknown words. Words are taught in
meaningful contexts, and children have many opportunities
to use them as they engage in discussions and learning
activities.
Meaningful uses of English include engaging in
collaborative oral discussions with a peer or a small group of
peers about texts or content topics, reciting poems or singing
songs, or making grade-appropriate oral presentations (e.g.,
sharing a favorite book during circle time). Not all students
come to school knowing how to engage in these interactive
processes with other students. However, research in classrooms with ELs has demonstrated that
teachers can successfully apprentice their students into engaging in more school-based or academic
ways of interacting with one another, using specific content language, acquiring the language of
academic discourse, and developing content knowledge (Gibbons 2009; Walquí and van Lier 2010).
Language development is fostered when teachers establish routines and expectations for equitable
and accountable conversations; carefully construct questions that promote extended discussions
about academic content (e.g., questions that require
students to describe or explain something for which they
have sufficient background knowledge); ignite children’s
curiosity and spark their imaginations; and, as appropriate,
provide linguistic support (e.g., a sentence frame, such
as “At school, I’m determined to _ because __.”).
With strategic scaffolding, EL children can learn to adopt
particular ways of using English that approach the more
literate ways of communicating that are highly valued in
school (Dutro and Kinsella 2010; Gibbons 2009; Merino
and Scarcella 2005; Schleppegrell 2010).
Kaiser, Roberts, and McLeod (2011, 167) recommend
several practices for supporting the language development
of young children who appear to have language delays.
They are also useful with typically developing children.
They include the following:
- Modifications in teacher interactional style (e.g., more responsive to child communication)
- Use of specific instructional strategies in a group context (e.g., language modeling, prompting
child responses, using expansions and other contingent feedback strategies) - Arrangement of the environment to support child engagement and learning from the curriculum
Some children with disabilities may need additional encouragement or cues to participate.
They [teachers] ensure that
they are rich models, provide
stimulating curricula that
introduce children to new
concepts (with accompanying
words), read aloud from books
that use more sophisticated
language than that used by
the children, and provide child-
friendly definitions of unknown
words.... research in classrooms
with ELs has demonstrated
that teachers can successfully
apprentice their students into
engaging in more school-based
or academic ways of interacting
with one another, using specific
content language, acquiring the
language of academic discourse,
and developing content
knowledge.
174 | Chapter 3 Transitional Kindergarten