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Annotated Bibliography
Influences of Language Production in Early Childhood
Jennifer Salazar
Sonoma State University

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My questions on language:
1. What language is being produced during play time and how do the physical objects
available influence the language being produced?
2. How does a socio- cultural view affect children's language production during play?*
3. How does the environment affect children's language production?
Abstract:
Each article I chose connects to my question in some form. Being able to explore all
sides of language encourages a better understanding of language acquisition and
development in early childhood years. The articles support my question because it looks
at various aspects and tools to child language production. Environments, educators, tools,
grammar rules, history and more contribute to language acquisition.
The environment influences the area in which children learn language. If the environment
is set up properly, it enables children to learn in a positive and safe way. In creating
language-rich classroom environments, the physical environment must provide ample
supports for facilitating childrens exposure to diverse aspects of language content, form,
and use (Justice, 2004, p.38). Teachers who are invested in the process of language is
beneficial to the outcome of the students language learning. Educators, impact childrens
opportunities to learn language, they set up the environment and curriculum for children
to learn and explore. The resources used are tools for children to aid themselves during
implementation. Having the basics like grammar rules, such as phonology and
vocabulary provide stepping stones for children to reach the next level in language
production. Reviewing historical perspectives in language help one recognize and better

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understand past research and studies, and how to connect them to future studies in
children and language.
I am able to use these articles to connect to my question while learning in depth multiple
angles researchers and studies have taken on language. As a current and future educator, I
hope to come out with increased knowledge on the subject and build skills for my own
research and studies.

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Bond, M., & Wasik, B. (2009). Conversation Stations: Promoting Language
Development in Young Children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(6),
467-473. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0310-7
Communication and conversations are a tool used in classrooms for language
development. Not all preschools are financially able to have rich learning
environments because of certain levels of poverty. Conversation stations were set up
to encourage high quality and constant conversation among educators and peers. The
environment which students converse in supports students language based off of
comfort and resources being available to the children. It aids the classroom learning
by producing opportunity in the daily routine to have a chance to gain rich
conversations.
Bouchard, C., Bigras, N., Cantin, G., Coutu, S., Blain-Brire, B., Eryasa, J., & ...
Brunson, L. (2010). Early Childhood Educators Use of Language-Support
Practices with 4-Year-Old Children in Child Care Centers. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 37(5), 371-379. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0355-7

Educators are an important element of child language development. They are key to
production, implementation, and assessment of language progress over the course of
school. The study above assess the language support given by educators. The training
that they receive is important for implementation and the process they go through
with students and their language production. Tracking and studying the relationship
between education and educators implementation is crucial for improvement and
advancement in teaching.

Conner, J., Kelly-Vance, L., Ryalls, B., & Friehe, M. (2014). A Play and Language
Intervention for Two-Year-Old Children: Implications for Improving Play Skills
and Language. Journal Of Research In Childhood Education, 28(2), 221-237.
doi:10.1080/02568543.2014.883452

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The basis of this study was to create an intervention to enhance language and play
skills for two year olds. It covers over a four week period, and includes reading,
modeling and positive reinforcement of language and play. Two groups were
assessed, one being the control group and the other who had the intervention. The
ending result showed the group with the intervention had increased pretend play with
more communication and comprehension. Connecting to my question on language, it
plays a role as one type of study and experiment in language and play.

Hawkins, M. R. (2005). Becoming a Student: Identity Work and Academic Literacies

in Early Schooling. TESOL Quarterly, 39(1), 59-82.
A sociocultural and academic stance on literacy are the main points of this article. It
covers some history, viewpoints and the everyday school life of two kindergarteners.
Although my question specifically focuses on preschool, it connects to later years in
language and is the very beginning of language development. Taking a closer look to
what makes a student successful in English starts with the basics. Using the past and
the present to help understand language in the future for children is important and
crucial for future studies. Gaining a better picture from alternative perspectives help
create a diverse outlook and attitude on language development in the early years.
Justice, L. M. (2004). Creating Language-Rich Preschool Classroom Environments.
Teaching Exceptional Children, 37(2), 36-44.
The article talks about literacy skills in children, and what they are being built upon.
Funding, teamwork, and other ideas are brought up to connect with preschool
children learning in language rich environments. Some elements of the article are:
Identifying Team work, developing a philosophy, designing the physical space, and
daily language plans. It relates to my question on preschool children and language
production during play because there are very basics that happen during education
that build knowledge for language in other areas and environments.
Kalmar, K. (2008). Let's Give Children Something to TALK About! Oral Language and
Preschool Literacy. YC: Young Children, 63(1), 88-92.

Gestures, tone of voice, and facial expressions are all factors of communication. It
can determine how someone interprets what message the other person is sending. The

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message being delivered is imperative on how one might react and the meaning
behind it. The study emphasizes the importance of refining and encouraging children
to read and write. Communication as mentioned before is one expression of language
development.

Kasman, N., Kaseng, S., Hanafie, S. H., & Daeng, K. (2014). The Effectiveness of
Stimulus to the Language Acquisition of Early Age Child. Journal Of Language
Teaching & Research, 5(6), 1315-1321. doi:10.4304/jltr.5.6.1315-1321
The article describes that specific areas in language education deserve ones urgent
attention. It evaluates the effects before and after stimulus to language vocabulary.
The research is also based off of B.F. Skinner and his theory on behaviorism. It
gathers specific information on development and generates indications on how
language affects students and their process of learning. This is another great attribute
to my studies on language production during play time. It backs up the significance of
language development in early childhood, and continues to explain the different tools,
relationships, resources and more that connect with language.
Massey, S. (2013). From the Reading Rug to the Play Center: Enhancing Vocabulary
and Comprehensive Language Skills by Connecting Storybook Reading and
Guided Play. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(2), 125-131.
doi:10.1007/s10643-012-0524-y
Reading is a huge part of language acquisition. Exploring the preschool teachers
comments and questions to the students help guide one to see if it is affective in the
outcome or if improvement is needed to give the children a richer discussion after
story time. Reading helps the creative mind connect real life to fantasy, build
vocabulary, and dialog between one another. There are many different ways to
support childrens growth and enabling them to do so in a creative environment gives
them another tool to learn in a positive way.
Mills, P. E., Beecher, C. C., Dale, P. S., Cole, K. N., & Jenkins, J. R. (2014).
Language of Children With Disabilities to Peers at Play: Impact of Ecology.
Journal Of Early Intervention, 36(2), 111-130. doi:10.1177/1053815114561518

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The length of free play, and the type of language instructional approach are
significant in language production. When play time was structured in the study, there
were implications that children increased talking with peers and vocabulary diversity
was displayed. The more information collected on structured implementations, the
better chance educators have to try different ideas for implementation during class
time.
Neuman, S. B., & Wright, T. S. (2010). PROMOTING LANGUAGE AND
LITERACY DEVELOPMENT FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS.
Elementary School Journal, 111(1), 63-86.

Educators education before teaching is the beginning of being able to implement and
encourage child development. The study, like many others is contributing to
professional development. Being coached helped promote the study findings that
there was significant increase and improvements on building structural curriculum.
This supports my question because it breaks down each variable in the teaching world
and shows what helps educators grow and what doesnt to encourage growth in
children.
Piker, R., & Rex, L. (2008). Influences of TeacherChild Social Interactions on
English Language Development in a Head Start Classroom. Early Childhood
Education Journal, 36(2), 187-193. doi:10.1007/s10643-008-0267-y
Second language learners, specifically Spanish natives in this study, need extra
support in early childhood years to accomplish a second language. The study is taken
place in a Head Start School in the Mid-West of California. It closely looks at the
interactions of two teachers with different backgrounds and languages and the
students. Not all of the findings were supportive of the study, but it gave room for
improvement and other questions to develop from the study. Looking at all types of
learners and their cultural background is conducive to a richer learning environment
for language development.
Tholin, K. (2012). Something to talk about: does the language use of pre-school
teachers invite children to participate in democratic conversation?. European
Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 20(1), 35-46.
doi:10.1080/1350293X.2012.650010

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This study focuses on encouraging childrens participation in the democratic
community. This article is based on planned conversations to encourage democratic
practices in the classroom. The theme of the projects can determine the attitude and
participation level of the student. It is one view of how to positively contribute to
childrens behavior and willingness to participate in class implementations.
Van Kleeck, A., & Schuele, C. M. (2010). Historical Perspectives on Literacy in
Early Childhood. American Journal Of Speech-Language Pathology, 19(4), 341355.
Being aware of current trends in pre literacy is one way to become updated on events
and situations within the educational world and pedagogy. Controversies always
appear in any circumstance, and having background knowledge of such issues help
the individual prepare for the life of an educator. Historical background also helps
ones practices in preparing children to read. Age appropriate curriculum is necessary
for educators to have success in implementation. It well rounds educators and gives
them resources to pull from.
Yopp, H. K., & Yopp, R. H. (2009). Phonological Awareness Is Child's Play!. YC:
Young Children, 64(1), 12-21.
Phonology is one mode of language growth and development. It zones in on speech
sound during the production of speech. Being able to detect syllables and break those
down go right along with phonology awareness. These are basic rules to language and
the very beginning to development. These tools encourage growth in language
acquisition. If children have the basic language rules down, they are able to take the
next step and use them for conversation during play time.