Evaluation of a nursery based language intervention in a socially disadvantaged area

This longitudinal study was designed to evaluate the impact of a community-based speech and language project, set in an area of Plymouth known for its high levels of social disadvantage. The interventions include a specifically designed nursery programme, known as Wise Words for Nursery, and a modular series of parenting groups for the parents of pre-school children. The data were collected from five consecutive year groups entering a single primary school for the years 1993-1997. Each of the five cohorts underwent a battery of tests to collect data on their lexical development, information recall, reception of grammar, sentence length and speech clarity. Statistical analysis of the data showed a significant difference in the communication abilities of the most recent cohort when compared to the previous years. The findings provide considerable support for the efficacy of the approach employed.