Teachers' intentional language teaching and early Chinese language development : observations from mainland China

Abstract

Early language development is crucial for future academic achievement and lifelong success. A growing body of research has shown that intentional teaching, characterized by purposeful instructional strategies and specific educational goals, can effectively enhance early language skills. However, limited research has explored teachers' diverse intentional language teaching practices and their impact on early Chinese language development and further, there is a lack of culturally appropriate instruments to assess intentional language teaching in the Chinese context. This thesis aims to explore the relationship between intentional language teaching and early Chinese language development. Four interrelated studies were conducted to: 1) explore key intentional language teaching strategies employed by Chinese kindergarten teachers; 2) identify distinct teacher profiles in intentional language teaching practices; and 3) examine the effects of teachers' intentional language teaching on early Chinese language development.. Study 1 developed and validated the Kindergarten Teachers' Intentional Language Teaching Behavior (KTLTB) questionnaire through item generation, pilot testing, and validation. Based on the literature review and teacher interviews, items were reviewed using the Delphi method. Exploratory factor analysis with 306 teachers refined the scale, and confirmatory factor analysis with 439 teachers confirmed a final 51-item, six-dimension structure. The KTLTB demonstrated strong reliability, validity, and alignment with teachers' beliefs about language and literacy skills. Study 2 used latent profile analysis to identify distinct profiles of intentional language teaching among 463 Chinese kindergarten teachers. Four profiles emerged: Comprehensive, Interactive, Balanced, and Domain-Specific Teachers. The study highlighted that teacher characteristics and contextual factors significantly predicted profile membership. Study 3 further examined how teachers’ instructional profiles influenced the structural organization of children’s language skills. Drawing from the original sample in Study 2, a subsample of 631 children taught by 98 teachers representing the four instructional profiles was selected. Using network analysis, the study modeled the interrelations among six core language subskills (phonological awareness, morphological awareness, vocabulary, character recognition, orthographic awareness, and name writing) and compared the resulting networks across profiles. The findings revealed that children’s language competencies formed cohesive and interconnected systems, with the Comprehensive profile, characterized by consistently high levels of instructional support across all intentional teaching dimensions, supporting the most integrated network structure. Study 4 examined the longitudinal impact of intentional language teaching behaviors on children’s language development using a two-wave multilevel design. Fifty-two teachers and 329 children from 19 kindergartens participated in the study, which spanned one academic year. Using cross-lagged panel modeling and multilevel structural equation modeling, the results demonstrated high temporal stability for all language skills and significant reciprocal influences among the six subskills. The findings highlighted that intentional teaching strongly promoted language abilities, with both "domain-matched" and cross-dimensional facilitation effects were observed. Findings from this thesis confirm the multidimensional and diverse nature of teachers’ intentional language teaching, as well as the integrated, mutually reinforcing aspects of children's language development. The study also identifies the structural and long-term, cross-domain effects of intentional teaching on early Chinese language development. The implications of these findings are discussed.