Språkutveckling för alla : En kombinerad kvalitativ och kvantitativ studie om förskolans stödinsatser för att främja en likvärdig språkutveckling

The purpose of this study was to find out how preschool teachers and child workersdescribe their work to make language development in preschool accessible to allchildren. This is particularly with a focus on children with language difficulties and themethods and strategies that preschool teachers and child workers describe using. Thestudy also aims to explore the thoughts, knowledge, and approaches of specialeducation teachers and principals in order to provide their staff with helpful tools toachieve language development that is accessible to all children, depending on theirindividual needs.We conducted semi-structured interviews with one principal and two special educators.In addition, we distributed questionnaires to both preschool teachers and childcareworkers. To analyze the collected empirical data, we applied Engeströms model of theactivity theory, along with thematic and content analysis. In the activity theory we havefocused on four key concepts: object, subject, tools, and the division of labor.Our results show that many preschools are already actively working to promotechildren's language development. We also identified various special educational toolscurrently in use, as well as those that could be implemented to provide all children withequal opportunities to develop their language skills. The findings further highlight theimportance of collaboration among all professional roles in the preschool setting.