Effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on language development of preschool children

Filiz Erbay and Ilknur Tarman
Istanbul Aydin University, Turkey

This study aimed at investigating the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic period on the language development of preschool children according to the opinions of teachers. A qualitative case study design was adopted, with data obtained from preschool teachers (N=21) working in independent kindergartens, kindergartens within primary schools, and private kindergartens affiliated with the Ministry of National Education, Turkey. Owing to the difficulties of reaching teachers and conducting face-to-face interviews during the pandemic, an easily accessible online sampling and data collection method was adopted. A personal information form and open-ended question form developed by the researchers were used to obtain the research data for a content analysis technique. Teachers stated that the language development of children was adversely affected during the pandemic period, and they observed developmental delays in verbal language and social communication skills.
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Authors: Dr Filiz Erbay works as a Professor in the Department of Child Development, Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul Aydin University. Filiz received the title of Associate Professor in the field of preschool education in 2014. She received her MSc and PhD degrees from Selçuk University, Turkey, in child development and education. Her research interests are preschool education and child development. Email: filizerbay@aydin.edu.tr Dr İlknur Tarman (corresponding author) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Child Development, Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul Aydin University, Turkey. She received her BA from Hacettepe University, Turkey, and Masters degree from Penn State University, United States. She earned her PhD in preschool education from Hacettepe University, Turkey. Her research interests are early childhood education and child development. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8701-2383 Email: ilknurtarman@aydin.edu.tr Please cite as: Erbay, F. & Tarman, İ. (2022). Effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on language development of preschool children. Issues in Educational Research, 32(4), 1364-1383. http://www.iier.org.au/iier32/erbay.pdf