Rethinking the role of transitions between activities in early childhood settings: An examination of their linguistic characteristics in two preschool classrooms

This study points to ways in which the amount and complexity of teacher talk in two preschool classrooms during transitions between activities differed from instructional activity settings throughout the day. What emerged were language characteristics that suggest not all transitions are created equ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of early childhood literacy Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 538 - 567
Main Authors Ryan, Ève, Bailey, Alison L, Grace, Yiching H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.12.2021
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
Adult-child interactions
At Risk Students
Classroom communication
Classrooms
Developmental Continuity
Early childhood education
Educational activities
Interaction
Interpersonal Communication
Language Usage
Learning Activities
Preschool Children
Preschool Education
Preschool Teachers
Speech Communication
Teacher Student Relationship
Teachers
Time
Transitions
California
early childhood literacy
preschool children
Adult/child talk
early childhood education
transition
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Summary:This study points to ways in which the amount and complexity of teacher talk in two preschool classrooms during transitions between activities differed from instructional activity settings throughout the day. What emerged were language characteristics that suggest not all transitions are created equal. In fact, as shown by qualitative excerpts of teacher–student interactions, some transitions are quite substantive and provide opportunities for rich extended conversations. The findings of this study suggest that, despite the popular perception of transitions as lost instructional time, the informal setting of transitions can be used to reinforce concepts taught in more formal instructional settings such as circle time, as well as opportunities to introduce new concepts and vocabulary following children’s lead. Interviews with the teachers of these two classrooms, while revealing their acknowledgment of some challenges (e.g. children’s engagement), mostly emphasized the intentional and potentially instructional nature of transitions.
ISSN:1468-7984
1741-2919
DOI:10.1177/1468798419870596