Abstract
Learning Language and Loving It is a well-known model of inservice education for early childhood educators and preschool teachers. Its objectives are to facilitate language learning, peer interaction, and literacy development in naturalistic classroom contexts. The inservice education program consists of 8 evening group sessions and 6 individual video feedback sessions. Early childhood educators are taught to use (a) child-centered strategies (eg, follow the children's lead), (b) interaction-promoting strategies (eg, ask questions that continue the conversation, wait for the child to take a turn), and (c) language-modeling strategies (eg, label, expand, comment). Educators also learn strategies to facilitate peer interactions and early literacy skills. Investigations of the efficacy of this inservice program indicate that it effectively improves educators' language facilitation strategies and verbal supports for peer interaction. Typically developing children evidenced increased talkativeness, used a more diverse vocabulary, and increased their peer interactions. The program's use with children who have disabilities (eg, language disorders) and children who are learning English as a second language is beginning to be explored.