Ecological observation of preschool children's linguistic skills

Subject

The research aims to develop a practical and rapid system to support preschool teachers in assessing the language skills of children between 36 and 42 months (3-3,6 years). The primary objective is to create a "language toolbox," a set of playful activities that will allow them to observe, within the ecological context of preschool, specific areas such as lexical comprehension, grammatical comprehension, lexical production, and phonetic-phonological skills. The project will initially involve approximately 70 children. Teachers will also be involved, participating in data collection and language training activities. The research methodology involves the use of a validated instrument (Pappagallo Lallo, Stella et al., 2004) for the phonetic-phonological component and other new tests to be verified with gold-standard tests for assessing other language areas. The project will be divided into several phases: instrument development, teacher training, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of results. The expected outcome is the creation of a practical and effective tool for the early observation of language skills and difficulties in the educational context, supporting teachers' teaching and stimulating children's linguistic development. The project is implemented within the framework of a scientific collaboration agreement with the Directorate of Preschools and Nurseries of the Republic of San Marino and the University of San Marino (see the third mission section).

Status of works

After a preliminary project and activity development phase, carried out in collaboration with the teachers of the San Marino Preschool, the Documentation Center, and the Management, the action research project was launched in September 2025. Data collection has been ongoing since October 2025 and will continue until June 2026, involving several buildings of the Republic of San Marino Preschool.

Teachers, families, and children participate in the project. Following meetings with families to discuss the project's objectives and implementation methods, the children complete language comprehension and production activities at school, in their usual educational context, aimed at achieving the research objectives. Alongside the paper-and-pencil version of the tests, a digital version of the activities is also being developed. Once the data collection phase is complete, the pilot research results will be analyzed, interpreted, and published.