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Research Summary for Learning Language and Loving It™

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The developmental progress of thousands of young children who attend child care or early education programs is determined by the quality and quantity of their interactions with their caregivers and educators. Ensuring children’s optimal development in social skills, language and literacy depends, in large part, on the training of their educators (Allehyani, 2020; Brunsek et al., 2020; Egert et al., 2018). Learning Language and Loving It  – The Hanen Program for Early Childhood Educators/Teachers addresses the urgent need for effective in-service education by focusing on equipping educators to facilitate the social, language and emergent literacy development of all preschool-aged children. This includes those who are at risk for language delays, who have language disorders and who are learning English as a second language (Egert et al., 2020; Weitzman, Girolametto & Greenberg, 2006; Landa et al., 2024; Snyder et al., 2018). 


Relationship between Linguistic Responsiveness and Quality of Early Education

Empirical studies have shown positive short- and long-term outcomes from children’s participation in high quality child care and early education settings in which children experience responsive and cognitively stimulating interactions with adults (for a review, see Egert et al., 2020). In addition, high-quality child care experiences which feature responsive, stimulating environments provide a protective mechanism for children from disadvantaged home environments, resulting in higher scores on tests of language development and cognitive functioning compared with similar children without this kind of child care experience (Larose et al., 2021; Morais et al., 2021).

A considerable body of research has demonstrated that the quality of early education settings is inadequate in a number of countries, including Canada and the United States, in terms of the kinds of interactions known to facilitate children’s language and literacy development (Duval et al., 2020; Hatfield et al., 2016). Studies suggest that educators’ talk to children is often directive and unresponsive and that educators spend little or no time in small group activity centres, which provide opportunities for increased teacher-child interaction (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001; Hindman et al., 2022; Kane et al, 2023; Muhonen et al., 2022; Salminen et al., 2021; Smith, 2001). Furthermore, a recent meta-analytic review showed that, when educators do spend time in small groups, they use less conceptual talk and open-ended questions than they do during large group instruction. Small group interaction provides educators with more opportunities to notice and support children needing help with this higher-level language, suggesting that critical learning opportunities are being missed (Hadley et al., 2022). Finally, a National Center for Early Development and Learning Pre-Kindergarten Study (Bryant, Clifford, Early & Little, 2005) revealed that children spend approximately 30% of their day either unengaged or waiting to complete daily routines. 

Such findings indicate that there is an urgent need for early childhood educators to be equipped with the knowledge and skills that enable them to create responsive, cognitively enriched environments for all the children in their care.


The Learning Language and Loving It Program is:

  • delivered by a group leader with Hanen training (a speech-language pathologist or early childhood consultant) to a group of up to twenty educators
  • intensive, with two major components:
    • 6-8 group training sessions (15-20 hours)
    • 4-6 individual video recording and feedback sessions for each educator (educators’ interactions with children are recorded and reviewed with the group leader)
    • supported by user-friendly resources: guidebook, fillable handouts, and a detailed leader’s guide for the group leader

Learning Language and Loving It is based on social interactionist perspectives of development, which view the child’s acquisition of language, social skills, and emergent literacy within a framework of early caregiver-child interactions (Mihai & Classen, 2023). Program strategies are derived from findings from empirical research on the types of adult-child interaction that foster children’s language and literacy development, summarized as follows:

  1. Children develop language and emergent literacy 
    through naturalistic interactions with the adults and 
    children around them.
    The Learning Language and Loving It Program is based on the premise that educators can positively influence children’s acquisition of language and literacy through frequent, high quality interactions in which educators practice linguistic responsiveness. This premise is supported by Vygotskian theory (Vygotsky, 1978), which views children’s learning “as a process of gradual mastery achieved through mediated practice and social interaction with adults” (Weitzman et al., 2006, p. 129). Within these interactions, adults “scaffold” by adjusting the amount of support they provide in response to children’s existing skill levels, decreasing support in order to challenge children to perform at a higher level, but providing more support when children seem to be having difficulty ( Kaderavek et al., 2019; Zucker et al., 2020).
  2. Responsive language input is essential to children’s 
    language development.
    The responsive language approach taught in the Learning Language and Loving It Program is based on the responsivity hypothesis, which suggests that responsive language input that builds upon the child’s focus or topic is more easily processed, thereby permitting the child to redirect more cognitive resources for language learning (for summaries of the research on responsivity, see Justice et al., 2018 and Preza & Hadley, 2024). In infancy, responding warmly to the child’s actions and eye gaze  develops cognitive precursors to language, such as sending purposeful messages to others and understanding the link between spoken words and their meanings (Masek et al., 2021). As children acquire language, participation in responsive conversations engages their attention, helping them to understand and use new words and sentence types (Perry et al., 2018).
  3. Children benefit from being involved in extended interactions in which they are full and active participants.
    Too often in classrooms, children’s interactions with adults involve a brief question-response-evaluation format, providing few or no opportunities for language learning (Hindman et al., 2019; Whorrall & Cabell, 2016). Participation in extended interactions, however, enables children to practice and refine their communication skills, helps them learn the rules of conversations and provides educators with ongoing opportunities to model progressively more complex language and literacy concepts relevant to the children’s topic (Weitzman et al, 2006).
  4. Children’s exposure to a variety of vocabulary predicts vocabulary growth.
    Dickinson (2001) found that the more opportunities children had to speak with their educators, the more varied vocabulary they were exposed to and the more advanced their vocabulary was on entering kindergarten. Other studies have also reported on the positive relationship between the number and variety of words children hear in their first few years and later achievements in verbal ability, receptive and expressive language, and school achievement (Hart & Risley, 1995; Weigel, Martin & Bennett, 2006).
  5. Exposure to decontextualized language in the context of everyday interactions is critical to children’s language and literacy outcomes.
    Children progress from “learning to talk” to “talking to learn,” the latter being dependent on the ability to use decontextualized language, which is needed for the acquisition of literacy and, specifically, for story comprehension (Cabell & Zucker, 2023; Dickinson & Tabors, 2001; Hadley et al., 2020; van Kleeck, Vander Woude & Hammett, 2006). Children’s use of decontextualized language at 30 months predicts their academic language skills at age 12. Furthermore, the development of this abstract language removed from the here-and-now is largely dependent on adult input. Therefore, support for children’s decontextualized language should begin early, to ensure a strong foundation for its ongoing development as children continue to grow and learn. (Uccelli et al., 2018). Shared story book reading is an ideal context for exposing children to decontextualized language.

In the Learning Language and Loving It Program, educators learn to apply the following three clusters of responsive interaction strategies:

  1. Child-oriented strategies encourage children to initiate and engage in conversational interactions so that educators can then provide responsive language input on the child’s topic of interest – strategies include Observe, Wait and Listen; Be Face to Face; Follow the Child’s Lead (Imitate, Interpret, Comment); Join In and Play.
  2. Interaction-promoting strategies encourage extended, balanced conversations between educators and children in both one-to-one and small group interactions. This involves listening carefully to the children, tailoring responses to their interests and not dominating the conversation – strategies include Cue the Child to Take a Turn; Use a Variety of Questions to Encourage Conversation; Balance Comments and Questions; Scan Small Groups (carefully observe each child to facilitate her/his participation and interaction).
  3. Language-modeling strategies build children’s receptive and expressive language skills, as well as their emergent literacy knowledge by providing models of more advanced oral language and emergent literacy knowledge – strategies include Use a Variety of Labels (use nouns, verbs, adjectives and include unfamiliar words); Expand on What the Child Says; Extend the Topic (by modeling decontextualized language).

Weitzman et al., 2006; Weitzman & Greenberg, 2002

In recent years, administrators have chosen longer-term, sustained professional development opportunities more frequently, although “one shot” presentations are still the norm in many settings (Desimone & Garet, 2015; Schachter et al., 2019). Research indicates that continuous programs of study with individualized coaching and support are more effective for inspiring meaningful change in educator practice, when compared to single seminars or workshops (Brunsek et al., 2020; Desimone & Garet, 2015; Egert et al., 2020). Increasingly, educators are also receiving professional development online or in a hybrid format. Regular, structured support for learners, including the guidance of a program facilitator, opportunities for participant discussion and creation of meaningful action plans have been identified as important ingredients of effective online professional development (Bragg et al., 2021).

Learning Language and Loving It is a group training program that fulfills these requirements for effective in-service education by including the following components: 

  1. Continuous program of study, sustained over time – Learning Language and Loving It involves approximately 20 hours of training over a 14-week period.
  2. Active participation of educators in the learning process – Group sessions include a variety of media and are structured so that learning is facilitated through interactive, experiential activities. These include small group problem-solving, video  analysis and simulated practice activities, followed by discussion on implications for classroom implementation.
  3. Opportunities to apply knowledge in simulated and real-life situations – Educators practice strategies in simulated activities during bothgroup sessions and everyday classroom activities, the latter being guided by specific plans developed during group sessions.
  4. Mentoring and coaching –  Each educator is observed, video recorded and provided with on-site coaching and feedback by the group leader four to six times over the course of the 14-week program. Program facilitators can also opt to view recordings with participants and offer video feedback via one-on-one online meetings, in the case of virtual program delivery.
  5. Immediate feedback on educators’ application of their learning – Each educator meets individually with the group leader to receive feedback on their recorded interactions shortly after being filmed. The feedback involves reviewing the interaction in order to increase educators’ awareness of their own and the children’s interactive behavior and the interplay between the two, as well as to facilitate successful implementation of responsive strategies.
  6. Collective participation of educators from the same setting – Learning Language and Loving It is usually offered to the entire staff at a child care centre or preschool program to promote systemic change in practice over time.


Summary of Empirical Research

Study #1

Efficacy study on the Learning Language and Loving It Program

(Girolametto, Weitzman & Greenberg, 2003)

Read more
Study #2

Investigation of the impact of a modified Learning Language and Loving It Program on educators’ support of children’s peer interactions 

(Girolametto, Weitzman & Greenberg, 2004)

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Study #3

Investigation of the impact of the Learning Language and Loving It Program on educators’ use of strategies which promote early literacy skills 

(Flowers, Girolametto, Weitzman & Greenberg, 2007)

Read more
Study #4

Feasibility study on the effects of in-service education derived from the Learning Language and Loving It Program to promote emergent literacy 

(Girolametto et al., 2007)

Read more
Study #5

Qualitative Study of a Modified Learning Language and Loving It Program

(Birro et al., 2024)

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Study #6

Study of a Learning Language and Loving It Program in the Kulila Indigenous Kindergarten 

(Stark, 2023)

Read more

Conclusion

Learning Language and Loving It is a research-validated, effective in-service education program that addresses the critical role of the early childhood educator in facilitating children’s social, language and literacy skills during everyday interactions. Drawing from the most current research in the field of early childhood education, language development and adult learning, Learning Language and Loving It promotes responsive, developmentally appropriate interactions that are associated with positive language and literacy outcomes for young children.

About the Program Developers

Dr. Luigi Girolametto is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto. His research focused on language development and intervention for young children, including  the efficacy of language intervention, prevention of language disorders, and promotion of language and literacy skills in child care centers and preschools.

Elaine Weitzman, M.Ed is a speech-language pathologist and executive director of The Hanen Centre. She is also Adjunct Professor in the University of Toronto’s Speech-Language Pathology Department. Ms. Weitzman has been involved in the development of all the Hanen Programs, which are disseminated worldwide through workshops for speech-language pathologists and other practitioners. She is the creator of the Learning Language and Loving It Program and the co-author of the Learning Language and Loving It (Weitzman & Greenberg, 2002) and It Takes Two to Talk (Weitzman, 2017) guidebooks. She has collaborated extensively with Dr. Luigi Girolametto on research projects, which examined the promotion of language and literacy skills in early education settings and the efficacy of Hanen Programs. This extensive body of research has informed speech-language pathologists’ practice in relation to working with parents and educators and has been widely published.

Janice Greenberg, B.Sc., D.S.P., is a speech-language pathologist and former Program Director for Early Childhood Education Services at The Hanen Centre. A co-author of the guidebook, Learning Language and Loving It (Weitzman & Greenberg, 2002), she was a co-investigator in several studies on the impact of Learning Language and Loving It and ABC and Beyond Programs.


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