Training early years practitioners to facilitate the language development of young children is a widely used intervention. Evidence to support the effectiveness of training in terms of the impact of children’s language development is limited. The Elklan Talking Matters programme is an accredited training programme for early years practitioners. Practitioners train to be Lead Communication Practitioners (LCPs) who cascade training across early years settings or Key Communication Practitioners (KCPs) who are embedded into these settings. The aim of this study was to identify if the Talking Matters Programme is effective in facilitating the language development of pre-school children. One hundred and twenty-six children from 13 early years settings were recruited (mean age 27.81 months; SD 4.90). Thirteen settings participated in the Talking Matters Programme (five LCP+KCP settings, four LCP settings and four control settings). At time 1, prior to practitioners participating in the programme, children completed the Pre-School Language Scales 5th Edition (PLS-5), a standardized assessment of receptive and expressive language. At time 1, 126 children completed the baseline assessment (n = 43 in the LCP+KCP settings, n = 43 in the LCP settings and n = 40 in the control settings). Children then completed the post intervention (time 2) assessment approximately six months later. Children in the intervention groups (LCP+KCP settings and LCP settings) made more progress in their language development from time 1 to time 2 compared to the control. The children in the LCP+KCP settings made more gains than the children in the LCP settings. A significant main effect of groups and time was found but not an interaction of group scores with time, meaning the increases in scores were not statistically significant between the intervention and control groups. The study provides tentative evidence that the Talking Matters programme has a positive impact on pre-school children’s language development.

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评估 Elklan Talking Matters 计划：探索早期专业人士培训计划对学前儿童语言发展的影响

培训早期从业者以促进幼儿的语言发展是一种广泛使用的干预措施。支持培训对儿童语言发展影响的有效性的证据是有限的。Elklan Talking Matters 计划是一项针对早期从业者的认可培训计划。从业者被训练成为在早期环境中进行级联培训的首席沟通从业者 (LCP) 或嵌入到这些环境中的关键沟通从业者 (KCP)。本研究的目的是确定 Talking Matters 计划是否能有效促进学龄前儿童的语言发展。招募了来自 13 个早年环境的 126 名儿童（平均年龄 27.81 个月；SD 4.90）。13个设置参与了Talking Matters Program（五个LCP+KCP设置，四个LCP设置和四个控制设置）。在时间 1，在从业者参与该计划之前，儿童完成了学前语言量表第 5 版 (PLS-5)，这是对接受性和表达性语言的标准化评估。在时间 1，126 名儿童完成了基线评估（在 LCP+KCP 设置中 n = 43，在 LCP 设置中 n = 43，在控制设置中 n = 40）。大约六个月后，儿童完成了干预后（时间 2）评估。与对照组相比，干预组（LCP+KCP 设置和 LCP 设置）中的儿童从时间 1 到时间 2 在语言发展方面取得了更大的进步。LCP+KCP 设置中的孩子比 LCP 设置中的孩子获得更多收益。发现了组和时间的显着主效应，但没有发现组得分与时间的相互作用，这意味着干预组和对照组之间的得分增加没有统计学意义。该研究提供了初步证据，证明 Talking Matters 计划对学前儿童的语言发展有积极影响。