Asking open-ended questions and weaving conversations into everyday activities helps toddlers' communication skills, new research shows.
Recently-published University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka studies analysed the outcomes of the Enhancing Rich Interactions (ENRICH) programme, which provides early childhood educators with tools and techniques to help improve toddlers' language, literacy, and social skills.
Using parent and teacher ratings and video analysis, researchers found the programme had a positive impact on toddlers' oral language.
ENRICH leader Professor Elaine Reese, of the Department of Psychology, says toddlerhood is a time of rapid language learning that relies on effective interactions with adults.
"Toddlers are spending more time than ever in early childhood education (ECE), so it is essential to make sure it is a high-quality language-learning environment," Professor Reese says.
ENRICH is part of Kia Tīmata Pai (KTP), an Otago-led randomised controlled trial in which 136 ECE centres were randomly assigned to receive either ENRICH professional development training or to be in the active control group.
The programme encourages sensitive, back-and-forth interactions with children throughout the day.
Educators are encouraged to use "serve-and-return" techniques, where they follow children's cues and respond with open-ended questions, and confirm the children's responses.
The large trial with more than 1400 children shows broad benefits for toddlers' oral language, self-regulation, early literacy and social skills by age three.
Published in the journal Developmental Science, parents and teachers rated the toddlers' skills before the programme started and every nine months until they were three years old.
"These benefits occurred earlier for toddlers' oral language skills if they were from families with lower socio-economic circumstances or whose mothers had lower educational qualifications," Professor Reese says.
Serve-and-return interactions throughout the day with kaiako may be especially important for toddlers whose home lives are more stressful, she says.
"Although our theory predicted that ENRICH would also have benefits for children's self-regulation as they got older, not just for oral language, we were pleasantly surprised to find that it already helped in such a broad way by age three for children's self-regulation, early literacy, and social skills.
"We believe that the serve-and-return interactions help children's early attention skills as well as their oral language, which explains the broad effects.
"We will continue to explore this possibility in the preschool phase of KTP, which we are analysing now."
The benefits of the programme are also evident in a video project study, published in the journal Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
Educator-toddler interactions were recorded during five activities at 24 centres between June 2021 and July 2022: book-reading, group, nappy changes/toileting, play and mealtimes.
For privacy reasons only the educator was filmed during nappy changes and only audio was recorded while toileting.
Educators were encouraged to engage in more extended serve-and-return exchanges during different activities and to tailor their interactions for specific routines, such as one-on-one conversations during nappy changes/toileting.
Lead author Dr Isabelle Swearingen, also of Otago's Department of Psychology, says this resulted in "high-quality interactions" with children, particularly during book reading and nappy changes/toileting.
"Shared book reading and nappy change/toileting are both ideal times to weave in conversations about the child's day or about the story they're reading and how that connects to the child's life," Dr Swearingen says.
"When educators are encouraged to invite children into conversation and follow their cues/interests rather than simply directing their behaviour, children talk more, and those back-and-forth exchanges are important for children's early development.
"For families and early childhood educators, this is an encouraging reminder that the small, everyday moments add up and each one is an opportunity for learning!"
Further research by Dr Yuxin Zhang, also of Otago's Department of Psychology, shows educators at ENRICH centres increased serve-and-return interactions with children over time, especially during book reading.
"Our specially provided ENRICH books contain conversation starters on each page to help educators invite children to talk more and to have extended interactions," Dr Zhang says.
Professor Reese says the studies' findings will help fine-tune the programme for the Ministry of Education rollout to more than 500 extra learning services over the next four years – reaching all 10 Ministry regions in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The implementation is led by the Methodist Mission Southern.
"Our goal is to make ENRICH as easy and fun for educators as possible, because we know from these findings that if they use ENRICH, they will be supporting children's development," she says.
