ABSTRACT
The past 10 years or so have seen a continuing shift or reconceptualization in terms of how early childhood researchers and educators view learning and language development. This reconceptualization-in other words, different ways of thinking about these issues-can be seen in the kinds of questions researchers ask, the sites at which they investigate, and the methods they use in their investigations. It also can be seen in the kinds of interventions educators recommend for children considered to be at risk or language delayed. In previous decades, research concerning children’s language learning tended to focus on issues of individual’s cognition and to rely on standardized tests to help assess children’s language proficiency. Interventions for children considered to be language delayed tended to reflect a behaviorist and subskills orientation. In contrast, research conducted in the past decade or so suggests that issues of sociocultural context may be much more significant than was previously thought. In other words, current research has begun to focus on how sociocultural issues such as bilingualism, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class affect children’s language acquisition. From a sociocultural perspective, the importance ascribed to language and literacy, the manner in which language and literacy learning is mediated, and the uses and functions of language and literacy vary considerably across social and cultural groups (e.g., Clay, 1993). This research has led to further questions about how best to assess and facilitate children’s language learning.
