“What else might this be called?”: Exploring educators' experiences with the Early Years Toolbox Vocab Task in culturally and linguistically diverse early childhood education and care settings

Abstract

This thesis explores the Vocab Task, part of the assessment tool, the Early Years Toolbox, and its implementation in culturally and linguistically diverse early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings in Australia. It investigates educators' perceptions of the task's effectiveness, its role in understanding children's oral English development, and how their pedagogical practice is informed. The literature review highlights the evolving role of digital technologies in ECEC, the need for culturally responsive assessments, and inclusive learning environments. It also underscores the opportunities and challenges associated with technology use, such as improving communication with families, extending children's play experiences, and addressing equity issues and potential disconnections between home and ECEC learning environments. Sociolinguistic theories of Halliday and Vygotsky, emphasising the significance of language in social interactions and the interplay between thought and language, along with Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, highlighting the impacts of various environmental factors on children's learning and development, provide the theoretical framework of this study. Qualitative methods were used, involving semi structured interviews with seven educators from different areas of Australia. Thematic analysis revealed three main themes: factors contributing to score variations, including children's first language, life experiences, and images shown; educators' views on implementation, test procedures, and potential improvements; and reflections on supporting oral language development through various intentional teaching strategies. Findings suggest the Vocab Task is useful for monitoring expressive English vocabulary but has limitations for children with English as an Additional Language (EAL). Continuous refinements combined with other comprehensive assessment methods are needed for the future of language assessment in ECEC.