Martine van der Pluijm

157 General discussion were: 1) What are effective activities and strategies that can be used by lower-educated parents to promote their children’s oral language development, and 2) What are effective modes of delivery of these activities and strategies? Our analyses revealed that talk and play activities that include oral language and responsive communication strategies, are the most effective for lower-educated parents, especially when these activities do not require specific skills (i.e., literacy skills, knowledge of the majority language). Activities that include the use of books and emphasize print and code awareness strategies are less effective for lower-educated parents. The delivery of activities and strategies seems more effective when they are adapted to routines that occur in the families’ daily lives, and when parents and children are involved in coaching sessions. Relatively few studies focus on the effects on lower-educated parents, with more studies reporting results for heterogeneous groups of parents (lower and higher educated). We conclude that more research is needed to investigate the specific effects of activities and strategies performed by lower-educated families. Future research should refine the definitions that describe parental education levels (i.e., primary education and lower secondary education as their highest attained level). This would contribute to our knowledge of the effects of interventions on children’s language development when parents have different levels of education. Finally, future research should include other relevant characteristics of parents (e.g., literacy skills) to get a more precise indication of their needs in supporting their children’s language development. FIGURE 6.1: AHL prototype based on five design principles Design Principle/Step Intended teacher behavior Tool 1. Assess the Home Language Environment (HLE) of children Teachers gather information about parental backgrounds and their interactions with their child. Class inventory list 2. Establish a school policy that includes SFP procedures in support of child language development Teachers systemize their SFP procedures (informal contact, introductory conferences, etc.). SFP procedures guidelines 3. Establish reciprocal relationships with parents Teachers show inviting behavior to involve parents during informal and formal procedures (e.g., introductory conferences with parents). Reciprocal communication guidelines 4. Arrange regular interactive parent-child activities Teachers conduct weekly parent-child activities that stimulate interaction adapted to the parents’ needs. Parent-child activity checklist 5. Stimulate language strategies to support the parent-child interaction Teachers explain and model how parents can stimulate and expand the child’s use of oral language. Oral language strategy guidelines