Feasibility Study: A Teacher Program to Foster Conversations in Multilingual Classrooms

This early-stage feasibility study examines the influence of a commercial professional development (PD) program on proximal characteristics of conversations with children from diverse backgrounds. Using a pre-post-test design, conversations in 40 group activities were examined. Ten teachers and 44 children from preschool classrooms participated. After the program, teachers use significantly more interactive strategies, and their language is syntactically more complex. Teacher-child exchanges are also significantly more balanced. Children show significant differences only in language complexity. The discussion highlights how the PD program supports these changes and offers considerations for evaluating the implementation of similar programs in multilingual classrooms.