To investigate whether your setting or placement setting provides a stimulating, welcoming, language-rich environment

Aim

To investigate whether your setting or placement setting provides a stimulating, welcoming, language-rich environment.

Evidence and reflection

Undertake an audit of all the language opportunities that the setting provides: display, resources, layout, activities, continuous provision, role-play area, for example. Consider the following:

How do you know you these are providing language-rich opportunities?

Now undertake a series of observations on up to four target children:

How often are children accessing the opportunities you provide?

How do they respond to the opportunities you provide?

Do they have the impact you expect them to?

Extension

Is there anything that you would now change to enhance the provision?

More in this chapter

• To analyse a language episode in your setting or placement
• To investigate your use of questioning within your setting
• To consider how children are supported to extend and develop their oral language within your setting
• To consider the extent to which you listen attentively to the children in your setting
• To reflect upon how you can use questioning to extend young children’s thinking
• To investigate whether your setting provides a participatory, active, language-rich environment