How can adults foster preschoolers' language development?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

As in toddlerhood, conversational give-and-take with adults, either at home or in preschool, is consistently related to language progress. Sensitive, caring adults use techniques that promote early language skills. When children use words incorrectly or communicate unclearly, they give helpful, explicit feedback. But they do not overcorrect, especially when children make grammatical mistakes. Criticism discourages children from freely using language in ways that lead to new skills.
Instead, adults often provide indirect feedback about grammar by using two strategies, often in combination: recasts—restructuring inaccurate speech into correct form, and expansions—elaborating on children's speech, increasing its complexity. For example, if a child says, "I gotted new red shoes," the parent might respond, "Yes, you got a pair of new red shoes." After such corrective input, 2- to 4-year-olds often shift to correct forms—improvements still evident several months later. However, the impact of such feedback has been challenged. The techniques are not used in all cultures and, in a few investigations, did not affect children's grammar. Rather than eliminating errors, perhaps expansions and recasts model grammatical alternatives and encourage children to experiment with them.