LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT AND LANGUAGE SCREENING OF 3-YEAR-OLDS

LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT AND LANGUAGE SCREENING OF 3-YEAR-OLDS The Municipality of Aarhus Department for Children and Young People

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3 Dear parents Good language and reading skills are crucial for children s and young people s well-being, learning and development. In many ways language is the most important factor in communication and the learning of new skills. Children s language development during the early years is extremely important for the further development of language and reading skills. It is, therefore, important that pedagogues and parents become aware if it is necessary for a particular child to be given extra language development support. In order to strengthen children s language development, an offer of language assessment of all 3-year-olds was introduced on May 1st 2008. For children with Danish as their second language, there will be a slight change in the procedure for the assessment of children s statutory language stimulation at preschool age. This change in procedure means that all children with Danish as their second language will in future be language screened when they are 3 years old. In this way, all children with Danish as their second language will receive the language support to which they are entitled. Language assessment and language screening have several aims. These tools are partly an aid to the organisation of the pedagogical efforts and in the collaboration between personnel and parents regarding the children s language development. They will also contribute to identifying the children that are in need of extra support in order to achieve a level of Danish that corresponds to their age. With this brochure we offer information on how the language assessment and language screening will be carried out. Yours sincerely Louise Gade Alderman for the Department of Children and Young People The Municipality of Aarhus

5 LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT OF 3-YEAR-OLDS DAY-CARE LEGISLATION (DAGTILBUDS- LOVEN) 11 The City Council shall offer language assessment to all 3-year-olds in the municipality and provide language support activities and other support where necessary... As stated in the Day-Care Legislation, the municipality is to offer all 3-year-olds a language assessment. In the Municipality of Aarhus parents of all 3-year-olds will be offered a language assessment of their child. This offer commenced on May 1st 2008. WHAT DOES LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT ENTAIL? The Municipality of Aarhus uses the language assessment material already developed for the Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs. This language assessment material is developed by a language consortium consisting of the Centre for Higher Education, Copenhagen, the University of Southern Denmark, the Mikro Workshop and the National Knowledge Centre for Reading. The language assessment material consists of a questionnaire that parents fill out and another questionnaire that the pedagogues fill out. This questionnaire is adapted for boys and girls respectively because there are differences in their language development at the age of three. There is also instructive material that can aid parents with completing the questionnaire as well as helping the pedagogue in making the assessment and implementing its results in the child s daily life. WHEN DOES THE LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT TAKE PLACE? The language assessment takes place during the period

6 when the child is between 3 years and 3 years and 4 months old. The language assessment takes place in collaboration between the parents and a pedagogue that the child is comfortable with. The language assessment is conducted as a game with the child, where the pedagogue registers the child s language development. WHAT HAPPENS AFTERWARDS? The language assessment provides a starting point for a dialogue between the parents and the pedagogue. In this forum, ways in which the day-care institution and the parents can support the child s continued language development are discussed. Language assessments show that most children speak Danish at a level that corresponds to their age. These children need what is called a general pedagogical effort. The general pedagogical effort is part of the daily pedagogical work, with its point of departure in the day-care pedagogical learning plan and the Department for Children and Young People s Plan of Action for language and reading. A smallish group of about 10% of the children will need a so-called focused effort, which means that the day-care institution will organise special language stimulating activities. A small group of approximately 5% of the children will have need of an intensified effort, for example by a speech therapist. In all cases the language assessment is a solid basis for a dialogue about how the child s further language development can be supported in the day-care institution and at home.

8 LANGUAGE SCREENING OF 3-YEAR-OLDS WITH DANISH AS THEIR SECOND LANGUAGE THE PRIMARY EDUCATION ACT 4A Bilingual children that do not yet attend school are to be offered support in furthering their language development with a view to learning Danish, if this is deemed necessary after a professional assessment. Section 4.... The offer is given on the child s 3rd birthday at the latest unless the day-care institution is only for children under the age of 3. Section 5.... If, after an expert evaluation, the children need language stimulation, parents are under an obligation to allow their child to participate in the offered language stimulation. All children with Danish as a second language are, according to law, to be offered language support if they need it. In order to find out if a child needs language support children need to be language screened when they reach THE PRIMARY EDUCATION ACT 4A the age of 3. Section 2. Bilingual children are understood to be those with another mother tongue than Danish and who first begin learning Danish when they come into contact with the surrounding society, and possibly even not before they are taught it at school. Children who have Danish as their second language are children that do not speak Danish as their mother tongue. This means that they learn Danish after they have started learning their mother tongue. For example, they only begin to learn Danish when they start attending the kindergarten or day-dare centre. Whether the child has Danish as a second language or not is totally dependent on which language the child has experienced from birth, and has no connection to the child s origin or parentage.

9 Children with Danish as a second language have been eligible for 4A language support since August 1999. Before this, pedagogues in the child s day-care institution assessed whether the child needed language support or not. After the autumn of 2008 this procedure has been altered. This means that all children with Danish as a second language and living in the Municipality of Aarhus are to be language screened when they reach the age of 3. Children are language screened to ensure that they receive the correct necessary support for their Danish language development. WHAT DOES LANGUAGE SCREENING ENTAIL? Language screening is conducted as a game with the child, a game where the pedagogue keeps the focus on the child s Danish language. During the game the pedagogue registers the child s Danish language skills. In the Municipality of Aarhus we use selected parts of the Language assessment material provided by the Ministry of Family and Consumer Affairs. The language assessment material is developed by the Centre for Higher Education, Copenhagen, the University of Southern Denmark, the Mikro Workshop and the National Knowledge Centre for Reading. Furthermore, the language screening also contains a section that assesses the child s mother tongue. All children in the Municipality of Aarhus have the right to participate in the full Language Assessment (see page 5). Parents of a child with Danish as his/her second language can, therefore, also request to participate in all sections of the language assessment material. If the parents wish to do this they should contact the child s day-care institution. The language assessment material consists of a questionnaire that the pedagogue fills out during the language screening. Parents answer some questions regarding the child s mother tongue either before or after the language screening takes place. The questionnaires are adapted for boys and girls respectively because there are differences in how far their language has developed at the age of 3.

10 WHEN DOES THE LANGUAGE SCREENING TAKE PLACE? The language screening takes place during the period between the child s third birthday and the age of 3 years and 4 months. The language screening takes place in collaboration between a language advisor and a pedagogue that the child knows and is comfortable with. WHAT HAPPENS AFTERWARDS? Many children with Danish as their second language need support in order to develop their Danish language skills. The language screening forms the basis for a dialogue between parents and pedagogue. How the day-care institution and the parents can best support the child s further language development is discussed in this forum. Language consultants from the Knowledge Centre for Integration and the day-care institution s language adviser will continually upgrade the qualifications of the pedagogues that maintain the daily language stimulation of children with Danish as their second language. The language screening uncovers the fact that a child needs language support. The day-care institution will receive extra resources to carry out language support in the cases where this is deemed necessary. The pedagogues will, therefore, have more time to work with the child s Danish language development in a goal-orientated manner. After the language screening, the day-care institution receives advice as to how they can continue working with the individual child s language development.

PUBLISHED BY: The Municipality of Aarhus Department for Children and Young People Pedagogical Department PUBLISHED: April 2008 1st edition - 1st impression COPYRIGHT: The Municipality of Aarhus Department for Children and Young People Pedagogical Department LAYOUT: The Municipality of Aarhus Department for Children and Young People PHOTO: Hartmann Schmidt Fotografi PRINTED BY: Chronografisk A/S