Lets keep talking: Oral language development in the early years

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Language is the foundation for children’s learning and success. Children use oral language to become good thinkers and communicators, and to develop the literacy skills they need to achieve well in school and beyond. This report draws together a range of evidence to look at how well children are developing the oral language skills they need when they start school. We also look at how early childhood education (ECE) can help children to develop these important skills.

ERO found that while most children’s oral language is developing well, there is a significant group of children who struggle, and Covid-19 has made this worse. Quality ECE makes a difference, and the evidence shows there are key teaching practices that matter. We recommend five key areas of action to support children’s oral language development.

What is oral language?

Oral language is how we use spoken words to express ideas, knowledge, and feelings. Developing oral language involves developing the skills and knowledge that go into listening and speaking. These skills are important foundations for learning how to read and write. ERO looked at eight areas of language development:

Gestures	Using and adding gestures as part of communication
Words	Learning, understanding, and using a range of words
Sounds	Adding, using, and understanding sounds
Social communication	Changing their language, using words to express needs
Syntax	Combining words to form sentences
Stories	Enjoy listening to, being read to, and telling stories
Grammar	Constructing nearly correct sentences and asking questions
Rhyming	Making rhymes

What are the early years?

ERO looked at oral language development of children aged 0 to 7 years old in ECE and new entrant classes.

What did ERO look at?

ERO drew together a wide range of established international and Aotearoa New Zealand evidence. We also surveyed and spoke to parents and whānau, ECE and new entrant teachers, ECE service leaders, and a range of sector experts to understand how well children across Aotearoa New Zealand are developing oral language skills and how well supported they are. ERO visited a selection of ECE services and new entrant classrooms across Aotearoa New Zealand to better understand children’s progress and the teaching practices that support them.

What is oral language?

Gestures	Using and adding gestures as part of communication
Words	Learning, understanding, and using a range of words
Sounds	Adding, using, and understanding sounds
Social communication	Changing their language, using words to express needs
Syntax	Combining words to form sentences
Stories	Enjoy listening to, being read to, and telling stories
Grammar	Constructing nearly correct sentences and asking questions
Rhyming	Making rhymes

What are the early years?

ERO looked at oral language development of children aged 0 to 7 years old in ECE and new entrant classes.

What did ERO look at?

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Oral language is critical for achieving the Government’s literacy ambitions.

Finding 1: Oral language is critical for later literacy and education outcomes. It also plays a key role in developing key social-emotional skills that support behaviour. Children’s vocabulary at age 2 is strongly linked to their literacy and numeracy achievement at age 12, and delays in oral language in the early years are reflected in poor reading comprehension at school.

Most children’s oral language is developing well, but there is a significant group of children who are behind and Covid-19 has made this worse.

Finding 2: A large Aotearoa New Zealand study found 80 percent of children at age 5 are doing well, but 20 percent are struggling with oral language.1 ECE and new entrant teachers also report that a group of children are struggling and half of parents and whānau report their child has some difficulty with oral language in the early years.

Finding 3: Covid-19 has had a significant impact. Nearly two-thirds of teachers (59 percent of ECE teachers and 65 percent of new entrant teachers) report that Covid-19 has impacted children’s language development. Teachers told us that social communication was particularly impacted by Covid-19, particularly language skills for social communication. International studies confirm the significant impact of Covid-19 on language development.

Figure 1: Percentage of teachers reporting Covid-19 had an impact on children’s oral language development

Figure one is a graph showing percentages of teachers reporting Covid-nineteen has an impact on children’s oral language development. Fifty-nine percent of ECE teachers report Covid-nineteen had an impact on children’s oral language development, and sixty-five percent of new entrant teachers report Covid-nineteen had an impact on children’s oral language development. — Figure 1: Percentage of teachers reporting Covid-19 had an impact on children’s oral language development

"A lot of children are not able to communicate their needs. They are difficult to understand when they speak. They are not used to having conversations." (Teacher)

Children from low socio-economic communities and boys are struggling the most.

Finding 4: Evidence both in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally is clear that children from lower socio-economic communities are more likely to struggle with oral language skills. We found that new entrant teachers we surveyed in schools in low socio-economic communities were nine times more likely to report children being below expected levels of oral language. Parents and whānau with lower qualifications were also more likely to report that their child has difficulty with oral language.

Figure 2: New entrant teachers report that most children they work with are below the expected level of oral language, by equity index

Figure two is a graph showing percentages of new entrant teachers reporting that most children they work with are below the expected level of oral language, by socio-economic community. Twenty-seven percent of new entrant teachers from lower socio-economic communities (schools with a higher equity index) report that most children they work with are below the expected level of oral language, and three percent of new entrant teachers from higher socio-economic communities (schools with a lower equity index) report that most children they work with are below the expected level of oral language. — Figure 2: New entrant teachers reporting that most children they work with are below the expected level of oral language, by equity index

Finding 5: Both in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, boys have more difficulty developing oral language than girls. Parents and whānau we surveyed reported 70 percent of boys are not at the expected development level, compared with 56 percent of girls.

Figure 3: Proportion of parents and whānau that report their child has some difficulty in oral language

Figure three is a graph showing the proportion of parents and whānau that report their child has some difficulty in oral language. Seventy percent of parents and whānau of boys report their child has some difficulty in oral language, and fifty-six percent of parents and whānau of girls report their child has some difficulty in oral language. — Figure 3: Proportion of parents and whānau that report their child has some difficulty in oral language

Difficulties with oral language emerge as children develop and oral language becomes more complex.

Finding 6: Teachers and parents and whānau report more concerns about children being behind as they become older and start school. For example, 56 percent of parents and whānau report their child has difficulty as a toddler (aged 18 months to 3 years old), compared to over two-thirds of parents and whānau (70 percent) reporting that their child has difficulty as a preschooler (aged 3 to 5)

Figure 4: Proportion of parents and whānau who report their toddler or preschooler has difficulty with oral language

Figure four is a graph showing percentages of parents and whānau reporting whether their child has difficulty with oral language. Fifty-six percent of parents and whānau report their toddler (age eighteen months to three years) has difficulty with oral language, and seventy percent of parents and whānau report their preschooler (age three to five years) has difficulty with oral language. — Figure 4: Proportion of parents and whānau who report their toddler or preschooler has difficulty with oral language

Finding 7: Teachers and parents and whānau reported to us that children who are behind most often struggle with constructing sentences, telling stories, and using social communication to talk about their thoughts and feelings. For example, 43 percent of parents and whānau report their child has some difficulty with oral grammar, but only 13 percent report difficulty with gestures.

Quality ECE makes a difference, particularly to children in low socio-economic communities, but they attend ECE less often.

Finding 8: International studies find that quality ECE supports language development and can accelerate literacy by up to a year (particularly for children in low socio-economic communities), and that quality ECE leads to better academic achievement at age 16 for children from low socio-economic communities.

“My daughter has issues specifically with certain sounds, so it's been great getting some support from her daycare on how to manage and support her with that.” (Parent/whānau)

Finding 9: Children from low socio-economic communities attend ECE for fewer hours than children from high socio-economic areas, which can be due to a range of factors.

Figure 5: Intensity of ECE participation of 3- and 4-year-olds in 2023, by socio-economic community

Figure five is a graph showing the proportion of three- and four-year-olds who attended ECE more than ten hours per week in 2023, by socio-economic community. Seventy-four percent of three-year-olds who attended ECE were from high-socioeconomic communities, sixty-nine percent of three-year-olds who attended ECE were from medium socio-economic communities, and sixty percent of three-year-olds who attended ECE were from low socio-economic communities. Eighty-one percent of four-year-olds who attended ECE were from high socio-economic communities, seventy-six percent of four-year-olds who attended ECE were from medium socio-economic communities, and sixty-seven percent of four-year-olds who attended ECE were from low socio-economic communities. — Figure 5: Proportion of 3 - and 4-year-olds who attended ECE more than 10 hours per week, by socio-economic community, 2023

The evidence is clear about the practices that matter for language development, and most teachers report using them frequently.

Finding 10: International and Aotearoa New Zealand evidence is clear that the practices that best support the development of oral language skills are:

Practice area 1	Teaching new words and how to use them
Practice area 2	Modelling how words make sentences
Practice area 3	Reading interactively with children
Practice area 4	Using conversation to extend language
Practice area 5	Developing positive social communication

Finding 11: ECE and new entrant teachers we surveyed reported they use these evidence-based practices often. ECE teachers reported that they most often teach new words and how to use them (96 percent), use conversation to extend language (95 percent), and read interactively with children (95 percent). New entrant teachers we surveyed reported they most frequently read interactively with children (99 percent), teach new words and how to use them (96 percent), and model how words make sentences (95 percent).

Figure 6: ECE teachers’ reported frequency of using teaching practices

Figure six is a graph showing percentages of ECE teachers’ reported frequency of using different teaching practices. Ninety-six percent of ECE teachers often teach new words and how to use them, ninety-five percent of ECE teachers often use conversation to extend language, ninety-five percent of ECE teachers often read interactively with children, ninety-two percent of ECE teachers often develop positive social communication, and eighty-nine percent of ECE teachers often model how words make sentences. Four percent of ECE teachers do not often teach new words and how to use them, five percent of ECE teachers do not often use conversation to extend language. Five percent of ECE teachers do not often read interactively with children. Eight percent of ECE teachers do not often develop positive social communication, and eleven percent of ECE teachers do not often model how words make sentences. — Figure 6: ECE teachers’ reported frequency of using teaching practices

Teachers’ practices to develop social communication are weaker.

Finding 12: ECE and new entrant teachers we surveyed both reported to us they develop social communication skills least frequently.

Professional knowledge is the strongest driver of teachers using evidence-based good practices. Qualified ECE teachers reported being almost twice as confident in their knowledge about oral language.

Finding 13: Qualified ECE teachers we surveyed reported being almost twice as confident in their knowledge about how oral language develops than non-qualified teachers. Most qualified ECE teachers (94 percent) reported being confident, but only two-thirds (64 percent) of non-qualified teachers reported being confident.

Finding 14: Qualified teachers reported more frequently using key practices, for example, using conversation to extend language (96 percent compared with 92 percent of non-qualified teachers).

Finding 15: ECE teachers who reported being extremely confident in their professional knowledge of how children’s language develops were up to seven times more likely to report using effective teaching practices regularly.

Figure 7: ECE teachers’ reported confidence in their professional knowledge of how oral language develops, qualified compared with non-qualified teachers

Figure seven is a graph showing percentages of ECE teachers’ reported confidence in their professional knowledge of how oral language develops, comparing qualified teachers and non-qualified teachers. Ninety-four percent of qualified ECE teachers are confident in their professional knowledge of how oral language develops, and sixty-four percent of non-qualified ECE teachers are confident in their professional knowledge of how oral language develops. — Figure 7: ECE teachers’ reported confidence in their professional knowledge of how oral language develops, qualified compared with non-qualified teachers

“We got the [provider] to come in and talk to us about the science, and the brain, and the neuroscience behind basically play-based learning.” (Teacher)

Finding 16: Not all ECE and new entrant teachers are confident to assess oral language progress. Of the new entrant teachers we surveyed, a quarter reported not being confident to assess and report on progress. The lack of clear development expectations and indicators of progress, and lack of alignment between Te Whāriki and the New Zealand Curriculum, makes this difficult. Half of parents (53 percent) do not get information from their service about their child's oral language progress.

Finding 17: Being able to assess children’s oral language progress and identify potential difficulties is an important part of teaching young children. However, not all ECE and new entrant teachers are confident to identify difficulties in oral language (15 percent of ECE teachers and 24 percent of new entrant teachers surveyed report not being confident).

Figure 8: ECE teachers’ and new entrant teachers’ reported confidence to identify difficulties in children’s oral language development

Figure eight is a graph showing percentages of ECE teachers’ and new entrant teachers’ reported confidence to identify difficulties in children’s oral language development. Eighty-five percent of ECE teachers are confident to identify difficulties in children’s oral language development, and seventy-six percent of new entrant teachers are confident to identify difficulties in children’s oral language development. Fifteen percent of ECE teachers are not confident to identify difficulties in children’s oral language development, and twenty-four percent of new entrant teachers are not confident to identify difficulties in children’s oral language development. — Figure 8: ECE teachers’ and new entrant teachers’ reported confidence to identify difficulties in children’s oral language development

Finding 18: For children who are struggling, support from specialists, such as speech-language therapists, who can help with oral language development is key. But not all teachers are confident to work with these specialists, with 12 percent of ECE teachers and 17 percent of new entrant teachers surveyed reporting not being confident.

“Many are attending ECE, but not being referred early enough once the delay in oral language is noticed. Then when trying to get intervention, the wait times are too long and the support is inconsistent.” (New entrant teacher)