How to promote children's language development using family-based shared book reading (Short title: Promoting language development via shared reading)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Institute of Psychology Health & Society
Abstract
The most cost-effective way to tackle the root causes of many social and educational problems is to intervene early in children's lives, before the problems have had a chance to entrench. Key to this strategy is improving children's language development in the early years. Children who enter school with good language skills have better chances in school, better chances of entering higher education, and better economic success in adulthood.
Reading is very effective at boosting children's language. Children who read regularly with their parents or carers tend to learn language faster, enter school with a larger vocabulary of words and become more successful readers in school. Because of this, local authorities often commission services to promote family-based shared book reading (e.g. the Bookstart programme).
However, recent studies suggest that shared book reading interventions work less effectively for children from disadvantaged backgrounds than originally thought, particularly when their parents have lower levels of education. This means that there is a danger that the benefits of shared reading will be restricted to children from more affluent homes and not get through to those who need them most.
To solve this problem, we need to develop a better understanding of how reading interventions work, and of how parents use them. We need to identify what parents do and say when reading aloud with their children and why this makes reading so effective at boosting children's language. We need to find out whether differences in how parents read mean that parents from disadvantaged backgrounds use these language boosting behaviours less frequently. We need to determine how to design interventions that increase the use of these behaviours in all parents, especially those with lower levels of education. Then, once we have identified how reading interventions work, we need to determine how to help parents use them successfully in their daily lives.
The aim of this project is to determine how shared reading promotes child language development, and use this knowledge to make it an effective language boosting tool for children from all social and economic backgrounds. In Work Package 1, we will identify what language boosting behaviours parents use in shared reading, and will determine how parents from different social/economic backgrounds use these behaviours during shared reading. In Work Package 2, we will create four targeted interventions, each focussed on a particular language boosting behavior, and investigate how they are implemented by parents from different backgrounds, and how they affect children's language development. In Work Package 3, we will explore what influences parents' decisions to read or not to read with their children, in order to work out why parents may be unwilling to read with their children and to identify how to make reading a more enjoyable experience. We will also evaluate the benefits of a new intervention, designed by national charity The Reader Organisation, to promote reading for pleasure.
Across the project, we will study a range of language skills, covering the core language abilities that are essential for learning to read and write in school. We will produce one review article, 9 original research articles, 30 conference presentations, and activities for non-academic audiences at local and national level. We will also submit a Cochrane review on the effectiveness of shared reading interventions for language development. Our results will enable health professionals such as health visitors, early years educators such as nursery school teachers, and policy-makers in local and national government to design targeted, cost-effective interventions to improve the language of children between the ages of 0 and 5 years. The work addresses ESRC's strategic priorities Influencing Behaviour & Informing Interventions and A Vibrant & Fair Society.
Reading is very effective at boosting children's language. Children who read regularly with their parents or carers tend to learn language faster, enter school with a larger vocabulary of words and become more successful readers in school. Because of this, local authorities often commission services to promote family-based shared book reading (e.g. the Bookstart programme).
However, recent studies suggest that shared book reading interventions work less effectively for children from disadvantaged backgrounds than originally thought, particularly when their parents have lower levels of education. This means that there is a danger that the benefits of shared reading will be restricted to children from more affluent homes and not get through to those who need them most.
To solve this problem, we need to develop a better understanding of how reading interventions work, and of how parents use them. We need to identify what parents do and say when reading aloud with their children and why this makes reading so effective at boosting children's language. We need to find out whether differences in how parents read mean that parents from disadvantaged backgrounds use these language boosting behaviours less frequently. We need to determine how to design interventions that increase the use of these behaviours in all parents, especially those with lower levels of education. Then, once we have identified how reading interventions work, we need to determine how to help parents use them successfully in their daily lives.
The aim of this project is to determine how shared reading promotes child language development, and use this knowledge to make it an effective language boosting tool for children from all social and economic backgrounds. In Work Package 1, we will identify what language boosting behaviours parents use in shared reading, and will determine how parents from different social/economic backgrounds use these behaviours during shared reading. In Work Package 2, we will create four targeted interventions, each focussed on a particular language boosting behavior, and investigate how they are implemented by parents from different backgrounds, and how they affect children's language development. In Work Package 3, we will explore what influences parents' decisions to read or not to read with their children, in order to work out why parents may be unwilling to read with their children and to identify how to make reading a more enjoyable experience. We will also evaluate the benefits of a new intervention, designed by national charity The Reader Organisation, to promote reading for pleasure.
Across the project, we will study a range of language skills, covering the core language abilities that are essential for learning to read and write in school. We will produce one review article, 9 original research articles, 30 conference presentations, and activities for non-academic audiences at local and national level. We will also submit a Cochrane review on the effectiveness of shared reading interventions for language development. Our results will enable health professionals such as health visitors, early years educators such as nursery school teachers, and policy-makers in local and national government to design targeted, cost-effective interventions to improve the language of children between the ages of 0 and 5 years. The work addresses ESRC's strategic priorities Influencing Behaviour & Informing Interventions and A Vibrant & Fair Society.
Planned Impact
We will provide:
a. Empirical evidence about which language boosting behaviours parents use in shared reading.
b. Evidence-based advice about how to design shared reading interventions for children of different ages, different socio-economic status, and with and without identified speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
c. Evidence-based information about what barriers prevent some parents from reading with their children.
d. Detailed evaluation of a shared reading intervention designed to promote reading for pleasure.
These will benefit:
1. Children & parents. Parents play a crucial role in their child's development, but are often unaware of the value of reading with their children or report that they do not know how to interact with them (Bercow, 2008). Our results, disseminated directly to parents, will provide easy-to-follow guidance about how to read with children to boost language development.
2. 3rd sector groups that promote language and literacy, with the ultimate aim of improving literacy in the UK. We will provide the evidence-base they need for their work. For example, our data on why shared reading promotes language will inform the work of ICAN and The Communication Trust's Communication Ambassadors; a network of 400 volunteers who work with 8,000 families in the most disadvantaged areas of England, sharing information about how parents can best help their children learn language.
3. The Reader Organisation, which will receive information about how to create an effective Get Into Reading (GIR) programme for families with preschool children.
4. Practitioners in early years education (e.g. Early Years Foundation Stage, Children's Centres). The UK government has extended free childcare places to 2-year-olds, recognising the critical importance of high quality early years education. Yet educators report that providing language-rich environments in busy early years settings is a challenge. We will provide concrete advice about how to create effective shared reading programmes and how to harness parental involvement to maximise the environment for language learning.
5. Practitioners in healthcare (e.g. health visitors, speech & language therapists, family nurse partnerships). Shared reading interventions for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have the potential to be effective language boosting tools. However, how best to utilise them for children with low levels of language or with diagnosed language delay is as yet unclear. We will provide concrete advice about the effectiveness of these interventions with a) children at different ages, b) children from different socio-economic backgrounds, and c) children with identified SLCN.
6. Policy-makers and commissioners tasked with improving the life-chances of UK children (e.g. Local Authorities, Public Health England). The preschool years are increasingly recognised as being crucial in determining a child's later life-chances, with early interventions yielding substantial savings to the UK's economy (Grint & Holt, 2011:£40 million invested in early parenting interventions could save £400 million over a 15 year period). However, commissioners and policy-makers need a sound evidence-base that they can use to design and evaluate cost-effective early interventions (e.g. What Works databases). We will provide the evidence needed to a) design and evaluate shared reading interventions to promote language growth, b) design effective interventions to remove the barriers to shared reading that face many parents.
In this way, our work will directly address UKRC's typology of research impacts:
a) increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy (short, medium and long term).
b) enhancing educational achievement, and thus quality of life, of UK children (medium and long term).
c) fostering the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom (long term).
a. Empirical evidence about which language boosting behaviours parents use in shared reading.
b. Evidence-based advice about how to design shared reading interventions for children of different ages, different socio-economic status, and with and without identified speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
c. Evidence-based information about what barriers prevent some parents from reading with their children.
d. Detailed evaluation of a shared reading intervention designed to promote reading for pleasure.
These will benefit:
1. Children & parents. Parents play a crucial role in their child's development, but are often unaware of the value of reading with their children or report that they do not know how to interact with them (Bercow, 2008). Our results, disseminated directly to parents, will provide easy-to-follow guidance about how to read with children to boost language development.
2. 3rd sector groups that promote language and literacy, with the ultimate aim of improving literacy in the UK. We will provide the evidence-base they need for their work. For example, our data on why shared reading promotes language will inform the work of ICAN and The Communication Trust's Communication Ambassadors; a network of 400 volunteers who work with 8,000 families in the most disadvantaged areas of England, sharing information about how parents can best help their children learn language.
3. The Reader Organisation, which will receive information about how to create an effective Get Into Reading (GIR) programme for families with preschool children.
4. Practitioners in early years education (e.g. Early Years Foundation Stage, Children's Centres). The UK government has extended free childcare places to 2-year-olds, recognising the critical importance of high quality early years education. Yet educators report that providing language-rich environments in busy early years settings is a challenge. We will provide concrete advice about how to create effective shared reading programmes and how to harness parental involvement to maximise the environment for language learning.
5. Practitioners in healthcare (e.g. health visitors, speech & language therapists, family nurse partnerships). Shared reading interventions for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) have the potential to be effective language boosting tools. However, how best to utilise them for children with low levels of language or with diagnosed language delay is as yet unclear. We will provide concrete advice about the effectiveness of these interventions with a) children at different ages, b) children from different socio-economic backgrounds, and c) children with identified SLCN.
6. Policy-makers and commissioners tasked with improving the life-chances of UK children (e.g. Local Authorities, Public Health England). The preschool years are increasingly recognised as being crucial in determining a child's later life-chances, with early interventions yielding substantial savings to the UK's economy (Grint & Holt, 2011:£40 million invested in early parenting interventions could save £400 million over a 15 year period). However, commissioners and policy-makers need a sound evidence-base that they can use to design and evaluate cost-effective early interventions (e.g. What Works databases). We will provide the evidence needed to a) design and evaluate shared reading interventions to promote language growth, b) design effective interventions to remove the barriers to shared reading that face many parents.
In this way, our work will directly address UKRC's typology of research impacts:
a) increasing the effectiveness of public services and policy (short, medium and long term).
b) enhancing educational achievement, and thus quality of life, of UK children (medium and long term).
c) fostering the economic competitiveness of the United Kingdom (long term).
Publications
Noble CH
(2018)
Keeping it simple: the grammatical properties of shared book reading.
in Journal of child language
Hall M
(2018)
"No-one would sleep if we didn't have books!": Understanding shared reading as family practice and family display
in Journal of Early Childhood Research
Levy R
(2018)
Examining the Links between Parents' Relationships with Reading and Shared Reading with their Pre-School Children
in International Journal of Educational Psychology
Preece J
(2018)
Understanding the barriers and motivations to shared reading with young children: The role of enjoyment and feedback
in Journal of Early Childhood Literacy
DAVIES C
(2019)
Can inferencing be trained in preschoolers using shared book-reading? A randomised controlled trial of parents' inference-eliciting questions on oral inferencing ability
in Journal of Child Language
Noble C
(2019)
The impact of shared book reading on children's language skills: A meta-analysis
in Educational Research Review
Lingwood J
(2019)
Barriers and solutions to participation in family-based education interventions
in International Journal of Social Research Methodology
Lingwood J
(2020)
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a 'Real-World' Shared Reading Intervention for Preschool Children and Their Families: A Randomised Controlled Trial
in Journal of Research in Reading
| Description | Four achievements: a. Our intervention work showed that book reading interventions aimed at changing parent reading strategies are accessible to parents across the SES spectrum, and effective at changing parental behaviour. However, our interventions (all Randomised Control Trials) did not deliver an improvement in children's language (Davies et al, in submission, Lingwood et al, in submission, Noble et al., in prep, McGillion et al., in prep, Barker et al., in prep). Our meta-analysis (Noble et al, in submission) confirms that the effects of such interventions are small. Future shared reading interventions may need to be longer, more intensive, and/or focussed on the development of other skills. b. Our interview work showed that parents who identify themselves as having a poor personal relationship with reading, can go on to develop positive shared reading relationships with their children. However, family reading practices are highly individual and unique to the social and cultural context of the family (Levy, Hall & Preece, 2018); for example, parents are more motivated to engage in shared reading when there is clear evidence of their child's enjoyment (Preece & Levy, 2018). Interventions are thus more likely to be successful if they are individualized to consider the unique perspective of each family. c. Our work on recruitment and retention showed that some simple engagement strategies can increase the participation of disadvantaged familiar in interventions. Higher enjoyment and engagement resulted from 'taster' sessions, partnering with a third sector organisation, and a focus on 'reading for pleasure'. Higher attendance resulted from scheduling groups at familiar, local locations at a convenient time of day (Lingwood et al, in prep). These strategies should, however, be balanced with a consideration of the methodological integrity of the study. d) Our work on parental input to children with language difficulties found that input is linguistically more rich in reading than in play, but that some children with language difficulties showed low interest in reading (Barker et al., in prep). In such cases a high proportion of parental talk was about controlling behaviour: the book was less often the focus of joint attention and the activity did not appear enjoyable. We propose that practitioners can recommend shared book reading as providing potentially richer and more complex language input for children with language difficulties, but where children do not engage with books, play may be a more successful way of boosting language through a mutually enjoyable joint focus of attention. |
| Exploitation Route | Our target stakeholders are parents, practitioners (e.g. speech and language therapists, health visitors, early years educators), policy-makers in early years education, and researchers: a) The finding that short-term reading interventions do not deliver an improvement in language acquisition should be taken forward by researchers, to determine how long and intensive book reading interventions should be to engender change in children's language. It should also influence the decisions of policy-makers considering which interventions to support. b) The finding that interventions are likely to more successful if they are individualized to consider the unique perspective of each family should be taken into account in the design of early years interventions by researchers and practitioners. c) The finding that we can encourage disadvantaged families to better engage in interventions, by using a few simple recruitment and retention strategies, should influence the design and implementation of interventions by practitioners and researchers. d) The finding that parental input to children with DLD during reading contained richer language than during free play, but that a substantial minority of children with DLD showed extremely low interest in reading, should be taken into account when practitioners (especially speech and language therapists) are choosing interventions for clinical populations. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Other |
| URL | http://www.lucid.ac.uk |
| Description | We have numerous outputs listed here, but for future summaries, please see www.lucid.ac.uk, where we post information about all our resources. We will finish the grant with a large CPD event for practitioners, combined with a separate event for parents - held in Sheffield on March 24th and 25th, where we will reveal our research findings and discuss implications for policy and practice. Other highlights include: a) Drafts of our systematic review have been turned into talks for a number of stakeholder groups (parents and early years education practitioners) and an evidence briefing for a national charity; 2) As a direct result of this grant, the charity Beanstalk contacted us to help shape their new national reading programme for the early years. This has resulted in a £1 million (our share £200,00) People's Lottery grant to roll the scheme out over the country, and evaluate its effectiveness; 3) We have been invited to take part in a substantial number of engagement activities, ranging from discovery activities for the public (e.g. Meet the Scientist at Liverpool World museum), invited talks at National events for our stakeholder groups (e.g. National Literacy Trust's, Talk to your Baby annual conference), to presentations to policy makers (e.g. Ministry of Education, Singapore). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Influence on BBC Educations new programme to support early language development |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| Description | Influence on shared reading with children practitioners at The Reader, via input into training |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | UK charity The Reader is moving to a volunteer-led or embedded model of delivery in which the organisation is training volunteers or staff in health and social care (e.g. Homestart) to encourage family (parent-child) shared reading. We have received University of Liverpool ethical approval to use the video-recordings of parent-child reading which have been gathered as data in this project as Reader training materials. Films which model good practice in a naturalistic setting (framed by the researcher's input) are an invaluable resource to an organisation which is seeking to offer quality training on a limited budget to volunteers working with parents and children across multiple sectors. |
| Description | Influenced content of Save the Children's Wonder Words campaign |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
| URL | https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/what-we-do/uk-work/in-homes/wonder-words |
| Description | Input into Early Years Training at Beanstalk |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The charity reported that they had: 1. Fedback our advice to colleagues on most effective 'targets' for any Beanstalk programme development around supporting 'other adults' to provide support to children (i.e. child minders and librarians rather than parents). 2. Used the 'techniques to promote language development' material we prepared to a) tweak the structure of our Day 2 training session 'reading fluency' and b) as the basis of the session handouts, Our support will be acknowledged support via the LuCiD logo and referencing in documents. 3. To use the same material as the basis of designing their advanced 'working with early years children' online training module, taking an approach similar to that of Future Learn. 5. To use the 'scales' materials we recommended as the basis of developing an assessment of the efficacy of approach 'tool' which can be used as part of our wider training & support i.e. assess filmed and/or directly observed practice. |
| URL | https://www.beanstalkcharity.org.uk/blog/our-innovative-approach-to-transforming-early-years-educati... |
| Description | LuCiD Evidence Briefing 3 How does shared book-reading help boost child language development in the early years? |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Beanstalk, a national reading charity, requested we write an evidence briefing to use in the design of their new Preschool Reading Program in preschools and nurseries, which will be followed up by a joint strategy meeting in April. This will ensure that the design of their new program is firmly evidence-based, and thus substantially more likely to improve the effectiveness of the program and the literacy of the target children who take part in the program. |
| Description | Supporting families with shared reading activity in the home: CPD event |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The event was attended by approximately 20-30 early years teachers and policy makers in local government. All who replied to a post-event email reported that the event had had an impact on their practice. |
| Description | ESRC LuCiD travel award |
| Amount | £2,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2017 |
| End | 06/2017 |
| Description | International Centre for Language and Communicative Development study visit grant |
| Amount | £2,160 (GBP) |
| Organisation | International Centre for Language and Communicative Development |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2017 |
| End | 06/2017 |
| Description | Social Sciences Partnership Impact knowledge and Exchange |
| Amount | £14,100 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2018 |
| End | 07/2018 |
| Description | The People's Postcode Lottery Dream Fund |
| Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | People's Postcode Lottery |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2017 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | Travel award to attend a workshop entitled 'Improving Literacy: Understanding Reading Development and Reading Difficulties across the Lifespan' Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China, 21-23 September, 2016 |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Newton Fund |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2016 |
| End | 09/2016 |
| Title | Book sharing in infancy |
| Description | All data from study: UK data service ReShare record 853203 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Open evidence for RCT on impact of providing parents of 1-year-olds with books and encouraging shared reading. |
| URL | https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk |
| Title | RCT to test effect of a 3rd party designed reading intervention on 3-4 year olds' language development |
| Description | Data for analysis of RCT. UK data service record 853329 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Openly available data for assessment of value of encouraging shared reading. |
| URL | https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk |
| Title | RCT to test effect of a phonological awareness intervention on preschooler's phonological awareness |
| Description | Data for analysis of RCT. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Openly available data for assessment of value of encouraging shared reading. |
| URL | https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk |
| Title | RCT to test effect of dialogic and pause reading (shared book reading strategies) on 3-year-olds' vocabulary growth |
| Description | Data for analysis of RCT. UK data service record 853233 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Openly available data for assessment of value of encouraging shared reading. |
| URL | https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk |
| Title | RCT to test effect of encouraging shared book reading on 4-year-olds' ability to make inferences for story comprehension. |
| Description | Data for analysis of RCT. UK data service record 853233 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Openly available data for assessment of value of encouraging shared reading. |
| URL | https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk |
| Title | Transcripts of interviews with parents about shared reading practices in the home |
| Description | Data for analysis of home reading environments |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Openly available data for assessment of home shared reading practices |
| URL | https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk |
| Description | CPD day: Supporting families with shared reading activity in the home |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The CPD day was part of a whole-weekend event for practitioners, research participants and their families, and the public to report on the grant findings, promote discussion about practice and involve families in reading related activities. Approximately 40 practitioners attended the CPD session (with families attending other activities and sessions across the weekend). There was much valuable interprofessional discussion on the day and feedback from attendees was extremely positive. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | EERA Conference (Copenhagen) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I presented the paper 'Examining the links between parents' relationships with reading and shared reading activity with their pre-school children' at the EERA international conference. The audience included practitioners, researchers and teachers. The presentation provoked a lot of discussion about the ways in which we develop reading interventions. Following the presentation the chair invited me to write the paper into a journal article (she is editor). The journal is the International Journal of Educational Psychology. This paper is now in preparation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | ICPLA presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A presentation at the International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics conference in Malta. ICPLA is a highly clinically applied conference and, as well as international academic delegates from all over the world, the audience included many professional practictioners and undergraduate students from Malta. There was a mix of all these groups in the audience, the talk was well-received and provoked questions and discussion. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Impact Event in Sheffield at the conclusion of the project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Over the course of a weekend we ran three strands of impact activity. 1. Participating families were invited to attend designated sessions, where they were given feedback from the project. Families also received a reading activity conducted by The Reader Organisation, a goody bag (with a book and information about relevant activities in their area) and refreshments. 2. We had a day of CPD for invited practitioners who work with children and families. Findings from the whole project were disseminated and practitioners were also given a pack of materials to use in their daily practice. 3. We had a day of public engagement activities where families participated in reading sessions and reading related activities. They were also given information about the findings from the project. 6 months after the impact event, I asked practitioners if their practice had changed as a result of the impact event. Out of the 13 attendees 4 wrote to say that they have made significant changes to their practice following the event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Improving Literacy: Understanding Reading Development and Reading Difficulties across the Lifespan (China) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Jamie attended a workshop for young academics interested in researching reading development. He presented preliminary findings on evaluating the effectiveness of a shared reading intervention. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Interview for Mother and Baby Magazine - Rowland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Contributed information for a Mother & Baby magazine and is about how speech develops in babies and young children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Interview with Meghan Gurdon (Wall Street Journal) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed by the journalist for input into her forthcoming book The Enchanted Hour: Why Children Flourish When We Read Aloud, to be published by HarperCollins. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Invited blog for the Communication Trust |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Caroline Rowland was invited to write a blog for the Communication Trust's new Developing and Using Evidence website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/posts/2016/caroline-rowland/ |
| Description | Invited talk at The National Literacy Trust's Talk To Your Baby Conference 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented a 20 minute talk on the relationship between shared book reading and language development. The talk summarised the evidence base for using shared book reading to support language development in young children. The talk sparked discussion among the conference delegates and a number of future possible collaborations arose. The talk also increased awareness of the Reading Together Project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Language In Interaction Summer School - Rowland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | A presentation at a summer school designed for postgraduate students. The presentation sparked a lively discussion and an increase in interest in language development |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.languageininteraction.nl/education/summer-school-2016.html |
| Description | Live Chat |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Two researchers (Claire Noble and Jamie Lingwood) participated in a 'Live Science Chat', where they hosted an online Q&A event. The general public could ask them questions about why family based shared book reading is important for children's language development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://nappysciencegang.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/live-chat-with-language-development-researchers-ja... |
| Description | Liverpool City Centre recruitment day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We spent two days in Liverpool city centre speaking to the general public about our research. The aim was to engage with the local community and communicate our research to the general public in an informal setting. As a result of the visit we have increased awareness in the regional area of the project and language development in general. We have also received a number of requests from interested parents to take part in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | LuCiD blog on the findings from evaluation of The Reader shared reading programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presenting findings from evaluation of the effectiveness of a shared reading intervention delivered by The Reader. We discuss how to encouraging parents to enjoy reading with their children. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://lucid.ac.uk/news-and-events/blogs/encouraging-parents-to-enjoy-reading-with-their-children-fi... |
| Description | LuCiD blog on visit by Jamie Lingwood to University of Otago, New Zealand |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Outlining Jamie Lingwood's experience of working at another University for 4 weeks, and discussing the intervention work that Professor Reese and her team are currently carrying out with home-based educators in New Zealand. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.lucid.ac.uk/news-and-events/blogs/kia-ora-dunedin-my-research-visit-to-the-university-ofo... |
| Description | LuCiD blog on visit by Jamie Lingwood to the Reading development workshop, Tianjin Normal University, China |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Summarising and reflecting on Jamie Lingwood's attendance at the Reading development workshop, Tianjin Normal University, China |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://lucid.ac.uk/news-and-events/blogs/blog-reading-development-workshop-tianjin-normal-university... |
| Description | Magazine article (Nursery World) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Article in national magazine for nursery practitioners |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.lucid.ac.uk/media/1428/article-1_peter-and-rowland-150615.pdf |
| Description | Meet the Scientist Event, The world Museum, Liverpool |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The meet the Scientist event was run in collaboration with the World Museum in Liverpool. The event reached many parents and children and our contribution was teaching them about how we learn to talk. The outcome was an increased awareness of language acquisition research and what it can tell us about language development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Meet the Scientist: Liverpool World Museum: Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds - Rowland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Participation in 'Meet the Scientists', an interactive, hands-on science day for all the family run by scientists from the University of Liverpool |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.lucid.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/liverpool-meets-the-scientists-at-the-world-museum/ |
| Description | Nct North Liverpool Playgroup Visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We visited a local playgroup run by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) in Crosby, Liverpool. The aim was to engage with the local community and communicate our research to the general public in an informal setting. As a result of the visit we have increased awareness in the local area of the project and language development in general. We have also received a number of requests from interested parents to take part in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Online Chat for the Nappy Science Gang |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The online chat sparked discussion of the role of shared book reading between the researchers and the parents who took part in the online chat. A formal write up of the online chat was posted on the 'I'm a scientist get me out of there' website and the 'Nappy Science Gang' blog and generated more discussion. Parents who took part in the discussion were extremely receptive to information about the positive impact of shared book reading and planned to implement the ideas and advice give during the online chat. After the online chat, one of the chat facilitators signed up to take part in our research. She recently took part in her first study. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://nappysciencegang.wordpress.com/2015/09/25/live-chat-with-language-development-researchers-ja... |
| Description | Outreach event for South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire parents at Weston Park Museum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Parents from diverse socio-economic backgrounds attended a talk about the study they talk part in. Parents and children then took part in a number of activities around the museum related to child development. The outcome was increased awareness of the research process and of child development. Extremely positive feedback from parents from a wide variety of backgrounds. High attendance rate. Many children from low SES areas came to the museum for the first time. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology/research/groups/developmental |
| Description | Playgroup visit - Listening Hearts, Childwall |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We visited a local playgroup run by Listening hearts in Childwall, Liverpool. The aim was to engage with the local community and communicate our research to the general public in an informal setting. As a result of the visit we have increased awareness in the local area of the project and language development in general. We have also received a number of requests from interested parents to take part in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Playtime at Bidston Tesco |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Playtime is a fun and free drop-in session for children under 5 and is run in association with the Child Language Study Centre at the University of Liverpool. We get together all year round on the first Wednesday of every month between 1.30 and 3.30 in the Community Room at Bidston Tesco. All parents and children are welcome and each session provides fun activities and music to support children's development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/Playtime-at-Bidston-Tesco-1462099084088524/ |
| Description | Poster presented at the Child Language Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | McGillion, M. & Matthews, D. (2018, June). A Randomised Control Trial to Test the Effect of Promoting Caregiver Contingent Talk During Picture Book Reading on Child vocabulary development in a diverse SES sample. Poster presented at the Child Language Symposium, Reading, U.K. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Presentation at Leeds University Linguistics Seminar Series - Noble |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented research on shared reading and the Reading Together Project. Approximately 30 members of the Leeds Linguistics department attended. Feedback and questions from the attendees suggest the presentation was well received. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation at Nursery World Show, London (February, 2017) Closing the gap: language development from 0-3. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk for early years professionals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation for Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (September, 2017) The link between early child language and social disadvantage. Oral evidence session: Bercow: Ten Years On. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to present evidence at oral evidence session: Bercow: Ten Years On. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation to Early Childhood Research Centre at School of Education Research Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of the presentation was to update colleagues within the Centre for Early Childhood Education at the University of Sheffield on the findings from the first phase of our research project. This was an opportunity to receive critical feedback on initial analysis, conclusions, and the next steps for the project. A varied discussion followed the presentation, which led to new connections being made and furthered subsequent analysis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Presentation to UK Literacy Association (UKLA) conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This presentation was given to the UKLA conference, which attracts a varied delegation from Universities, Local Authorities, schools and third sector organisation, all of whom share an interest in literacy. The presentation shared the findings from the first phase of research, exploring the factors that influence shared reading practices between parents and young children at home. This was an opportunity to share lessons and implications from the research with practitioners and policymakers, as well as receiving feedback on the research design and conclusions. The audience were very engaged with the topic and there was a varied discussion following the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Presentation to delegates from the National Institute of Education and the Ministry of Education, Singapore |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The delegates reflected on the research project and the early findings that were presented. The delegates were interested in understanding the different approaches to carrying out research related to early childhood, to influence the development of research centres in Singapore. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Presentation to the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) Family Learning Research Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Following the presentation there was lots of discussion with practitioners in the audience about the barriers that some families experience to shared reading, intergenerational family learning, technology and literacy, and how to value family literacy practices in a broad sense (i.e. to build positively on what is already happening in families). Practitioners were engaged in the research topic, seeing it as an important area of research and discussing how to change home practices in a positive way. There was particular discussion about how programmes to support parents may help parents build relationships and connections with each other, and how these 'unintended impacts' can be effectively captured by practitioners. Presenting some of the early analysis gives the audience an opportunity to stimulate our thinking as we continue with analysis and the next phase of research. For example, one area that we will consider is intergenerational reading practices such as those between grandparents and grandchildren. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Presentation: Promoting Language Development via Shared Reading, LuCiD, September 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on the study to Lucid 2nd annual language and communicative development conference, Manchester, September 2016. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Reading for pleasure symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | UKLA/ BERA symposium in London, for practitioners, academics and teachers. All sessions were focused on the value of Reading for Pleasure. The findings from the study on the factors that influence parents' reading for pleasure with their children were presented. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Shared Reading Practices in Families |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This presentation was given to the ECER conference, which attracts a varied delegation from Universities, Local Authorities, schools and third sector organisation, all of whom share an interest in literacy. The presentation shared the findings from the first phase of research, exploring the factors that influence shared reading practices between parents and young children at home. This was an opportunity to share lessons and implications from the research with practitioners and policymakers, as well as receiving feedback on the research design and conclusions. The audience were very engaged with the topic and there was a varied discussion following the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Sheffield 'Little Library' outreach event at 'Sheffield by the Sea' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | There were two main results from participation in this outreach event with the local authority's library service. One was a greater understanding of how families interacted with books in the home, the extent to which they used library services, and the age at which parents started reading with their children. Talking to parents about their family lives gave important initial insights into some of the difficulties they may experience in relation to sharing books with children, for example their perception of their child's level of interest in reading. The second result was to find out more about the views of practitioners working within the library services, particular their perceptions of the barriers to reading within more disadvantaged areas of the city and how these barriers may be overcome. This outreach event stimulated our thinking about some of the barriers to reading that families may experience and also the important role of parental beliefs about the value of reading. As a result of conversations with practitioners we thought about the possible role of children's gender in shared reading practices, adding a question to the interview schedule to focus on parental beliefs about gender and children's interests. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Speech and Language Therapy Team meetings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A series of presentations at Speech and Language Therapy team meetings to raise awareness of the research and engage their collaboration in recruiting research participants. Therapists were clearly interested in the study and asked a number of questions about the links between the Manchester studies and other work packages in the wider project. They were keen to hear the eventual outcomes of the research in the future. These presentations are ongoing throughout the period of recruitment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| Description | Stakeholder meeting with local authority literacy programme manager (Sheffield) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This discussion focused on sharing information with local authority colleagues working on city-wide literacy programmes, in order to find out whether there would be opportunities for joint-working through the course of the project, and outline out research approach. The discussion was an opportunity both to tell practitioners working in similar areas about the rationale for the research study, but also for them to shape the design of the research. Information was shared with colleagues and a number of opportunties for joint-working were discussed, for example involvement in literacy outreach events and access to family intervention programmes operating through children's centres. As a result of this intial conversation we decided to broaden our engagement activities to also recruit families to the study through face-to-face methods (such as attendance at playgroups and parental engement programmes) where this was possible, rather than solely through recruitment material distributed via nurseries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Summer school. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | McGillion, M. (2018, July). Promoting Language through Contingent Talk. Department of Language & Linguistic Sciences, University of York Summer School |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Talk at a work shop for Childcare providers and clinicians, Western Bank Museum, Sheffield, UK. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Two-day event for families and practitioners at Weston Park Museum. Focus on shared booked reading. Two full days of hour-long sessions to share research with over 300 families. Story sessions delivered by the Reader Organisation. Craft activities in the museum around books.Full day CPD event for educators. This talk was part of the CPD event. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Talk for primary school teachers at CPD event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Talk on Supporting Early Language and Reading at CPD event on Supporting School Readiness: Maths and Language. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Teaching seminar exploring the barriers to shared reading in families |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This seminar was designed for postgraduate students undertaking the early childhood route of the EdD at the University of Sheffield. Students came from different settings around the country, with many working in schools or Local Authority education departments. The seminar therefore had impact on professional practitioners both within schools and in policy making domains. The presentation was designed to spark discussion within the audience, who drew on different experiences from their own settings. Students were also interested in how the research presented may influence their own research projects, demonstrating the perceived relevance of the research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Teaching seminar, discussing the influence of family and home environment in the development of reading practices |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This teaching seminar was given as part of a residential weekend for the EdD at the University of Sheffield. It was given as part of teaching around contemporary debates in education for the languages and literacy stream of the programme. The purpose was to provide an overview of current research literature around the influence of the home environment on reading practices, and to set our research project in that context. The first part of the seminar focused on a presentation style, but was then followed by debate and discussion. In particular, students were able to analyse data from the study, and discuss the themes that they felt arose from this data in relation to the literature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Two day ESRC Social Science Fair event in association with LuCiD |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The event reached 100s of parents and children, teaching them about how we learn to talk, about the role of technology in language development, and increased awareness of language acquisiton research and what it can tell us about language development. Evaluations from the parents - these are verbatim responses to the question "What was the most interesting thing you learnt?" How reading with children helps language development About technology as a tool for learning; How children learn new words Generic responses e.g. 'how children learn', 'learnt about language development', 'lots of the information was interesting etc.' Adults know 60,000 words How to write name in hieroglyphics In Canada babies learn to talk 3 months earlier than average Sound symbolism About pre-verbal communication |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.lucid.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/free-family-fun-day-at-the-manchester-museum-7-8-novem... |
| Description | Understanding the barriers to shared reading in families |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A presentation was made to delegates at a Research Symposium hosted by BERA (British Educational Research Association) to discuss the design and preliminary findings from the research. BERA comprises academics and practitioners in the field of education. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | University seminar exploring the barriers to shared reading in families |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The purpose of the presentation was to update colleagues and students within the School of Education at the University of Sheffield on the findings from the first phase of our research project. This was an opportunity to receive critical feedback on initial analysis, conclusions, and the next steps for the project. A varied discussion followed the presentation, which led to new connections being made and furthered subsequent analysis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Video recorded presentation titled 'Evaluating Interventions' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We created a video recording of a presentation titled 'Evaluating Interventions'. The presentation aimed to inform practitioners and third sector organisations about the importance of evaluating interventions. As a result of the presentation we have increased awareness about the importance of evaluating interventions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Visit to Yewtree Children's Centre Summer Party |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We visited a local Children's Centre to take part in their Summer Party. The aim was to engage with the local community and communicate our research to the general public in an informal setting. As a result of the visit we have increased awareness in the local area of the project and language development in general. We have also received a number of requests from interested parents to take part in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Visit to local Children's Centre - Litherland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We visited a local Children's Centre to talk to parents at their messy play session. The aim was to engage with the local community and communicate our research to the general public in an informal setting. As a result of the visit we have increased awareness in the local area of the project and language development in general. We have also received a number of requests from interested parents to take part in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Visiting toddler playgroups in Sheffield |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | The Research Assistant attended toddler play groups in different areas of the city to talk to parents with pre-school children about the research project, and find out whether any of them would be interested in participating in the study. These groups provided an opportunity to informally talk to parents while they were playing with their children in a relaxed environment. Lots of the parents had not been involved in research projects before, so this was a chance to talk to them about what their involvement would mean and to reach people who may not otherwise have become involved. Some groups were attended multiple times, offering an opportunity to build up rapport with parents, and for those who had become 'formal' participants in the study to encourage friends to think about being interviewed for the research. The conversations with parents ranged around many different areas and sought to get a picture of their everyday family life, before talking more specifically about the research project. These conversations resulted in participants coming into the study who may not otherwise have responded to publicity material. We were also able to reach parents whose children did not attend a nursery setting and to understand their home life in-depth. Most of the parents with whom one-on-one conversations were held, and who had a child of the right age to enable them to participate in the study, agreed to participate and be interviewed. Only two potential participants at this first stage were were not interested in participating. Therefore, this was an effective way of engaging with potential participants and encouraging people to get involved in the next stage of the research. Engaging with families face-to-face may also have encouraged participation from groups that have particularly been seen as 'harder to reach', for example those from BME communities and those on a low income. Many participants had not been involved in research before, and meeting people in the communities in which they lived was a way to break down barriers and explain informally what being involved in 'research' would mean in practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | • Keynote Paper: "No-one would sleep if we didn't have books"; Understanding the Barriers and Motivators to Shared Reading in Families Scottish Insight Initiative: 'Conversations about Language and Literacy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Keynote lecture at this funded event, designed to promote understandings about the role of reading for pleasure. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |