Papers by Femke van der Wilt
Frontiers in Psychology
Play in nature-based environments in childhood education has positive benefits for child developm... more Play in nature-based environments in childhood education has positive benefits for child development. Although previous reviews showed the benefits of play in nature-based environments for child development they did not attempt to understand how and why nature-based environments contribute to play quality. This review aims to explore the value of play in nature-based environments compared to non-nature-based environments for developmental outcomes of young children (2–8 year). We searched for studies that investigated the relation between play and nature-based environments on the databases PsycINFO, ERIC, and Web of Science. Inclusion/exclusion criteria were: (1) the study focused on play in/on a nature based environment, (2) the study included participants between the age of 2–8 years, (3) it was an empirical study, (4) the study was conducted in the context of early childhood education (ECE), and (5) the study included participants without special needs or disabilities. Using thes...
Educatieheld Magazine, Feb 1, 2021
Early Education and Development, 2021
The Journal of Educational Research, 2022
Abstract In the present study, it was hypothesized that the proportion of open questions teachers... more Abstract In the present study, it was hypothesized that the proportion of open questions teachers ask during shared book reading would be directly and indirectly (through class aggregated mean length of utterance) related to children’s vocabulary and would be directly and indirectly (through class aggregated mean length of children’s utterance and vocabulary) related to children’s narrative competence. A total of 7 early childhood teachers and 176 pupils participated in this study. Outcomes of mediation analyses revealed that the proportion of open questions was positively related to class aggregated mean length of children’s utterance and vocabulary and negatively related to narrative competence. In addition, the proportion of open questions was indirectly and positively related to children’s narrative competence, through class aggregated mean length of children’s utterance. The results of this study indicate that the type of questions teachers ask during shared book reading is related to children’s language competence.
Studia paedagogica, 2021
Engaging in positive relationships with peers is highly important for children’s learning and dev... more Engaging in positive relationships with peers is highly important for children’s learning and development. In the present study, social network analyses were used to investigate how children’s language competence affects their peer relationships in the context of early childhood classrooms. A total of 13 classrooms (N = 248 children) participated. Children’s language competence was measured using tests for oral communicative competence and receptive vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, a sociometric method was used to obtain network data. Outcomes of social network analyses showed that children are more likely to form relationships with children with high and similar levels of receptive vocabulary knowledge. In addition, weak support was found for the hypothesis that children form relationships with children with high levels of oral communicative
Journal of Software, 2019
Op elke tafel ligt een A4’tje, de toets. Het is muisstil. Sommige leerlingen zijn druk aan het sc... more Op elke tafel ligt een A4’tje, de toets. Het is muisstil. Sommige leerlingen zijn druk aan het schrijven, andere kijken strak voor zich uit. Afdwalende blikken richting een medeleerling worden bestraft met een waarschuwing. Op leerlingen die vragend hun vinger opsteken, wordt hoofdschuddend gereageerd. Een toets maak je alleen.
In this chapter, we advocate for an approach in which a pre-study is integrated in research into ... more In this chapter, we advocate for an approach in which a pre-study is integrated in research into group interactions: Mixed Structural Group Interaction Analysis. The aim of the pre-study is to collect data on latent social relationships that informs the data collection, analysis, and interpretation of the main research. Based on theories and empirical insight from social network analysis, we address the “why” and “how” of this argument. Specifically, we show how a relational pre-study could be integrated with group interaction data collection and analysis in a development-type mixed-methods research design.
Een goed ontwikkelde Theory of Mind, het vermogen om het perspectief van een ander in te nemen, i... more Een goed ontwikkelde Theory of Mind, het vermogen om het perspectief van een ander in te nemen, is belangrijk voor het toekomstig functioneren van kinderen.. Maar hoe krijg je als leerkracht zicht op Theory of Mind?
Learning and Instruction, 2022
The first purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of dialogic classroom talk on ch... more The first purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of dialogic classroom talk on children's language skills (i.e. oral communicative competence and receptive vocabulary knowledge). The second purpose was to examine the effect of this type of classroom talk on children's social competence (i.e. theory of mind and social acceptance). A total of 17 teachers and 311 children (aged 4-7 years) participated in this study. Eight teachers participated in an 8-week intervention directed at dialogic classroom talk. Multilevel analyses revealed that the intervention had a significant effect on children's oral communicative competence. No significant effects were found on children's receptive vocabulary knowledge, theory of mind, and social acceptance. The results of this study indicate that dialogic classroom talk is beneficial for children's oral communicative competence. Further research is required in order to investigate how dialogic classroom talk might affect receptive vocabulary knowledge and social competence as well.
European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 2019
The effect of three interactive reading approaches on language ability: an exploratory study in e... more The effect of three interactive reading approaches on language ability: an exploratory study in early childhood education Femke van der Wilt, Inouk Boerma, Bert van Oers & Chiel van der Veen To cite this article: Femke van der Wilt, Inouk Boerma, Bert van Oers & Chiel van der Veen (2019): The effect of three interactive reading approaches on language ability: an exploratory study in early childhood education, European Early Childhood Education Research Journal,
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 2018
The present study investigated the relation between oral communicative competence and peer reject... more The present study investigated the relation between oral communicative competence and peer rejection in early childhood education, as well as gender differences in this relation. Participants were N = 447 children aged 4-6 years. Children's level of oral communicative competence was measured using the Nijmegen Test for Pragmatics and a sociometric method with peer nominations was used to assess their level of peer rejection. Regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for gender, age, and SES, oral communicative competence accounted for unique variance in peer rejection and was negatively related to the extent to which children were rejected by peers: children with poorer oral communicative competence experienced higher levels of peer rejection. No gender differences in this relation were found. Future research demonstrating the causal effect of oral communicative competence on peer rejection can provide early childhood education teachers who try to prevent or reduce peer rejection a strong argument to focus on the promotion of children's oral communicative competence.
Pedagogiek, 2019
Popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, or average: Do young children of different sociometr... more Popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, or average: Do young children of different sociometric groups differ in their level of oral communicative competence? Children’s sociometric status refers to their position within the peer group and plays a major role in their future social-cognitive development. It is therefore important to investigate factors that are related to it. Although it has been suggested that one of these factors is children’s level of oral communicative competence, little attention has been paid to its potential role. Therefore, the present study investigated sociometric group differences in the level of oral communicative competence in a sample of N = 570 children in early childhood education. Sociometric status was measured using a nomination procedure. Based on peer nominations, children were categorized into five sociometric groups: (1) popular (generally well-liked), (2) rejected (generally disliked), (3) neglected (low visibility and neither liked nor di...
Early Education and Development, 2019
Rejection by peers has devastating effects on children's social-cognitive development. As languag... more Rejection by peers has devastating effects on children's social-cognitive development. As language difficulties have been found to be one of the underlying causes of peer rejection, the present study focused on the relation between these two variables. Specifically, this study was the first to test a hypothesized model connecting children's level of receptive vocabulary knowledge to the extent to which they are rejected by their peers, through their ability to communicate effectively. A sample of N = 135 children (aged four to six) participated in the study. Their receptive vocabulary knowledge was assessed with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the level of oral communicative competence was measured using the Nijmegen Test for Pragmatics, and peer rejection was indicated by means of a nomination procedure. Research Findings: Outcomes of mediation analyses revealed that children's receptive vocabulary knowledge was indirectly related to peer rejection, through oral communicative competence: Poor receptive vocabulary knowledge was associated with poor oral communicative competence, which was in turn related to a higher level of peer rejection. Gender was not a significant moderator in this model. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the need to focus both on oral communicative competence and on receptive vocabulary knowledge when addressing peer rejection in kindergarten.
Educational Psychology Review, 2019
Being rejected by peers has devastating consequences for a child's future social-cognitive develo... more Being rejected by peers has devastating consequences for a child's future social-cognitive development. It is therefore important to investigate factors that contribute to childhood peer rejection. In doing so, the present review specifically focused on sociometric status, a concept that refers to a child's position within the peer group (e.g., liked or disliked). Although previous studies indicated that children's ability to communicate effectively might partly determine their sociometric status, much was still unclear about this relation. Therefore, in the present review, a total of 25 studies into the relation between children's (aged 1 to 12 years) level of oral communicative competence and their sociometric status was systematically reviewed. Results generally pointed to a significant relation between the two variables. Specifically, rejected children communicate less responsive compared with popular children. However, several gaps in previous research were identified, resulting in five recommendations for future studies. First, the complexity of the construct of oral communicative competence asks for an approach in which multiple methods are combined (i.e., mixed methods). Second, future studies should be conducted in non-western countries as well to study possible cross-cultural differences. Third, as the majority of researches were small-scale exploratory studies, future research should include larger samples in order to generalize the findings outside the sample. Fourth, future studies should adopt longitudinal and experimental designs to investigate the direction of the relation of interest. And finally, as previous research showed that the interactional context, gender, and age might influence the relation between oral communicative competence and sociometric status, future studies could take these factors into account.
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Papers by Femke van der Wilt