Oral language intervention in the late primary school years is effective: evidence from a randomised control trial

IF 6.5 1区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Pub Date : 2024-12-02 DOI:10.1111/jcpp.14084

Rosanne Esposito, Arne Lervag, Charles Hulme

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

BackgroundOral language skills provide the foundation for formal education, and children may require language support over an extended period of time to maximise their education potential. Most work on language intervention, however, has focussed on the preschool or early school years. Here, we describe the development and evaluation of the Oral Language for Literacy Intervention (OLLI) programme which is designed to support children with weak language skills in the later primary school years.MethodsWe conducted a randomised control trial in 33 schools (50 classrooms). The language skills of all 8–9 year‐old children in each participating classroom (n = 1,423) were assessed using an automated app (LanguageScreen). The six children with the weakest LanguageScreen scores within each classroom (n = 296) were randomly allocated to the intervention (n = 148) or control group (n = 148). The children in the intervention group received the OLLI programme delivered in individual and small group sessions over 20 weeks. Children in the control group received their typical teaching.ResultsChildren receiving the OLLI programme made significantly larger gains than children in the control group on a preregistered latent variable reflecting standardised measures of oral language ability (d = 0.38) and on a measure of their written expression (d = 0.42).ConclusionsThese findings have important implications for improving educational attainment in children in the late primary school years. The OLLI programme is designed to be deliverable at scale and is of relatively low cost.

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来源期刊

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

13.80

自引率

5.30%

发文量

169

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JCPP) is a highly regarded international publication that focuses on the fields of child and adolescent psychology and psychiatry. It is recognized for publishing top-tier, clinically relevant research across various disciplines related to these areas. JCPP has a broad global readership and covers a diverse range of topics, including: Epidemiology: Studies on the prevalence and distribution of mental health issues in children and adolescents. Diagnosis: Research on the identification and classification of childhood disorders. Treatments: Psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological interventions for child and adolescent mental health. Behavior and Cognition: Studies on the behavioral and cognitive aspects of childhood disorders. Neuroscience and Neurobiology: Research on the neural and biological underpinnings of child mental health. Genetics: Genetic factors contributing to the development of childhood disorders. JCPP serves as a platform for integrating empirical research, clinical studies, and high-quality reviews from diverse perspectives, theoretical viewpoints, and disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach is a key feature of the journal, as it fosters a comprehensive understanding of child and adolescent mental health. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry is published 12 times a year and is affiliated with the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH), which supports the journal's mission to advance knowledge and practice in the field of child and adolescent mental health.