Penetrating the classroom social network for children with language impairment via peer-mediated intervention

项目摘要/摘要 本探索性实验被设计用来确定社会化体验和 有语言障碍(LI)的学龄前儿童的社交、行为和语言技能可以得到改善。我们 在30个普惠性学龄前教室实施同伴干预，随机分配治疗 或在等待名单设计实验中进行对照。在每个教室中确定一个焦点儿童(n=30)，代表一个 李氏儿童(3至5岁)，语用语言技能最差，社交水平最高 在教室里被排斥。在为期12周的时间里，焦点儿童将接受同伴调解的干预 来自确定的同龄人，他们在中心时间内使用策略让焦点儿童参与社交活动，并得到 课堂辅导员(教师、助手)令人感兴趣的成果包括最重要的课堂社交网络 及其嵌入的社会化过程(例如，从儿童到儿童互动的频率)、焦点儿童的 与同龄人的互动和接触同龄人的谈话，以及焦点儿童的社交、行为和语言技能。 这项研究使用了最先进的社交网络分析来代表儿童的课堂网络， DYAD和网络级别，并使用高级位置跟踪在学年内动态建模 技术和声控录音机，为焦点儿童捕捉传入和传出的同龄人谈话。我们 预计这项研究的结果将产生重大的理论和科学影响。从理论上讲，我们建议 在学龄前课堂上改善的社会化体验可以破坏社会排斥和同伴 李氏儿童遭受虐待，导致社交、行为和语言方面的加速发展 李氏病儿童的结局。我们可以检验同伴干预和同伴干预之间的中介关系 评估这些直接和间接途径的儿童结果。从科学上讲，我们的多学科团队已做好准备 追求一流的健康相关研究，集成了复杂的技术和动态建模 社交网络，以改进干预设计和概念化，并将为 将这些方法纳入今后关于残疾儿童和其他残疾儿童社会化的研究。

Project Summary/Abstract This exploratory experiment is designed to determine the extent to which the socialization experiences and social, behavioral, and linguistic skills of preschoolers with language impairment (LI) can be improved. We implement a peer-mediated intervention in 30 inclusive preschool classrooms, randomly assigned to treatment or control in a wait-list design experiment. A focal child (n = 30) is identified in each classroom, representing a child with LI (3 to 5 years of age) who exhibits the poorest pragmatic-language skills and highest level of social exclusion in the classroom. Over a 12-week period, the focal children will receive peer-mediated intervention from identified peers, who use strategies to engage the focal child socially during center time, as supported by a classroom facilitator (teacher, aide). Outcomes of interest include the overarching classroom social network and its embedded socialization processes (e.g., frequency to child-to-child interaction), the focal child’s interactions with peers and exposure to peer talk, and the focal child’s social, behavioral, and linguistic skills. The study employs state-of-the-art social network analyses to represent the classroom network at the child, dyad, and network level and is dynamically modeled over the academic year using advanced location-tracking technologies and voice-activated recorders to capture incoming and outgoing peer talk for the focal child. We anticipate the results of this study to yield significant theoretical and scientific impact. Theoretically, we propose that improved socialization experiences in the preschool classroom can disrupt the social exclusion and peer maltreatment experienced by children with LI, leading to accelerated growth in social, behavioral, and linguistic outcomes for children with LI. We can test the mediated relations between peer-mediated intervention and child outcomes to assess these direct and indirect pathways. Scientifically, our multidisciplinary team is poised to pursue best-in-class health-relevant research integrating complex technologies and dynamic modeling of social networks to improve intervention design and conceptualizations, and will provide proof-of-concept for integrating these approaches into future research on the socialization of children and others with disabilities.