Tone Sofie Røsholt Ovati

• Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Rydland, Veslemøy; Lekhal, Ratib; Lydersen, Stian & Grøver, Vibeke (2025). Does Teacher Talk During Shared Reading Predict Child Oral Language Development in Diverse ECEC Settings? First language. ISSN 0142-7237. p. 1–22. doi: 10.1177/01427237251377897. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study investigated whether features of teacher talk predicted children’s oral language development in diverse early childhood education and care settings, and whether the potential effects differed due to children’s age or dual language learner (DLL) status. The study included 203 classrooms with 734 children aged between 25 and 59 months at onset, 56.6% of whom were DLLs. Teacher talk during small-group shared readings was recorded in the fall and coded for question types (advanced and referential wh-questions) and linguistic features (vocabulary quantity, vocabulary diversity, and utterance length), and children’s vocabulary and syntactic comprehension were assessed in the fall and spring. Our findings suggest that teachers’ advanced wh-questions can significantly promote children’s development of syntactic comprehension, regardless of their age and DLL status. Furthermore, teachers’ utterance length and diverse vocabulary use predicted children’s development of syntactic comprehension, and teacher’s diverse vocabulary use predicted children’s vocabulary development, with some of these relationships being moderated by children’s age and DLL status. These findings emphasize the importance of teachers employing strategies that elicit children’s participation and activate thinking from a young age and irrespective of their language background.

• Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Rydland, Veslemøy; Grøver, Vibeke & Lekhal, Ratib (2024). Teacher perceptions of parent collaboration in multi-ethnic ECEC settings. Frontiers in Education. 9. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1340295. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Introduction: For teachers working in multi-ethnic early childhood education and care settings, a strong collaboration with parents may be an important mechanism for supporting young children's language development. However, little research has investigated how teachers perceive their communication with parents from diverse backgrounds and what centre-level factors predict the quality of teacher-parent collaboration. Methods: This study sought to explore teacher-parent collaboration within early childhood education and care in urban multi-ethnic areas of Norway, using survey data from 266 teachers across 56 centres and 198 classrooms. We examined whether teacher characteristics (education, experience and self-efficacy) and centre linguistic diversity were related to teacher perceived communication with parents regarding ways of supporting children's dual language development and teacher experienced challenges in parent collaboration. Results: Results revealed that teachers with higher self-efficacy communicated more with parents and experienced less challenges in collaboration with them. Furthermore, more experienced teachers working in more linguistically diverse centres identified more challenges in parent collaboration, while these characteristics were not related to communication. Teacher education was not associated with communication nor challenges in parent collaboration. Discussion: Our results indicate that professional development measures targeted at strengthening teacher self-efficacy might be an important mechanism to promote parent collaboration, particularly in multi-ethnic education settings.

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• Lekhal, Ratib; Bratlie, Siri Steffensen; Karlsen, Lisa-Marie; Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Øksendal, Elise & Wilhelmsen, Tiril [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2026). Oslo Early Education Study (OEES): Enhancing Interaction Quality through Practice-Based Professional Development in Early Childhood Education and Care. Full text in Research Archive
• Øksendal, Elise; Lekhal, Ratib; Grøver, Vibeke; Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt & Rydland, Veslemøy (2025). Did a language-focused professional development intervention impact teacher talk in group play? Full text in Research Archive
• Øksendal, Elise; Lekhal, Ratib; Grøver, Vibeke; Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt & Rydland, Veslemøy (2025). Do teacher talk features in small group play change after receiving a professional development intervention? Full text in Research Archive
• Wilhelmsen, Tiril; Lekhal, Ratib; Rydland, Veslemøy; Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Øksendal, Elise & Coplan, Robert J. (2025). Supporting children's peer-play development in ECEC through emotion socialisation. Full text in Research Archive
• Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Lekhal, Ratib; Rydland, Veslemøy; Øksendal, Elise & Grøver, Vibeke (2025). Teacher Talk during Shared Reading Predicts Child Oral Language Development in Multi-Ethnic ECEC Settings. Full text in Research Archive
• Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt (2024). Forskning i Oslo-barnehager: Samarbeid gir bedre utvikling av språk. Full text in Research Archive
• Grøver, Vibeke; Rydland, Veslemøy; Bratlie, Siri Steffensen & Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt (2024). Two recent shared reading intervention studies implemented in the larger Oslo area. Full text in Research Archive
• Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Grøver, Vibeke; Lekhal, Ratib & Rydland, Veslemøy (2024). Impact of an Early Childhood Education and Care Professional Development Intervention on Teacher Talk during Shared Reading. Full text in Research Archive
• Rydland, Veslemøy; Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt & Esperanza, Sonia (2024). Språksterk – barnehage-hjem-samarbeid med flerspråklige familier. Full text in Research Archive
• Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Rydland, Veslemøy; Grøver, Vibeke & Lekhal, Ratib (2023). Teacher Perceptions of Parent Collaboration in Multi-Ethnic ECEC Settings. Full text in Research Archive
• Reiersen, Camilla; Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt; Lekhal, Ratib & Rydland, Veslemøy (2023). Preschool practitioners’ experiences with the implementation of the Oslo Early Education Study intervention. Full text in Research Archive
• Røsholt, Tone Sofie; Rydland, Veslemøy; Grøver, Vibeke & Lekhal, Ratib (2022). ECEC Teachers' Perceptions of Parent Collaboration to Support Children's Language Development in Multilingual Areas of Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
• Røsholt, Tone Sofie; Rydland, Veslemøy; Grøver, Vibeke & Lekhal, Ratib (2022). ECEC Teachers’ Perceptions of Parent Collaboration to Support Children’s Dual Language Development in Multilingual Areas of Oslo. Full text in Research Archive
• Ovati, Tone Sofie Røsholt (2026). Teacher Support for Children’s Language Development in Early Childhood Education and Care: Parent Collaboration, Shared Reading, and Professional Development in Diverse Classrooms. Universitetet i Oslo. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Supporting children’s language development is a central task in early childhood education and care (ECEC). However, we still have limited knowledge about language-supportive practices across diverse ECEC settings and how professional development (PD) can strengthen teacher practices over time. This thesis uses multiple analytical approaches to examine teacher support for children’s language development through collaboration with parents, language exposure during shared classroom reading, and participation in PD. It draws on three empirical studies conducted as part of the Oslo Early Education Study in 56 diverse ECEC centers in Norway. Paper I explored teacher–parent collaboration and its associated factors using survey data from 266 teachers. The results showed that teachers with higher self-efficacy communicated more frequently with parents about supporting children’s dual language development and reported fewer challenges in working with parents. In contrast, more experienced teachers working in more linguistically diverse centers identified more challenges in parent collaboration. These findings offer insight into factors that may either strengthen or hinder teachers’ collaboration with parents. Paper II examined whether teacher talk during shared reading in 203 classrooms predicted the societal language development of 734 children. The results indicated that teachers can meaningfully promote children’s oral language development by asking questions that encourage children to provide elaborate responses and by adjusting the complexity and diversity of their talk to match children’s developmental levels. These findings underscore the value of shared reading as a language-supportive context for children across ages and linguistic backgrounds. Paper III examined the effects of a PD intervention on teacher talk using a randomized controlled trial that compared 106 intervention teachers with 108 business-as-usual control teachers. Shared reading sessions were recorded at three time points to investigate how and when teacher talk changed during a two-year, practice-based PD intervention. The results showed that intervention teachers tended to increase their questioning as well as the diversity and complexity of their talk over time, suggesting that sustained support may be necessary for teachers to develop specific language-supportive practices in diverse ECEC classrooms. In summary, the thesis (I) identified variability in teachers’ communication with parents and perceived challenges, which were associated with factors within the ECEC center; (II) demonstrated that specific teacher talk practices during shared reading can promote language development in diverse groups of children; and (III) showed that such practices may develop over time through an ongoing, practice-based PD model. Together, these findings enhance our understanding of teachers’ work in supporting children’s language development in diverse ECEC settings.

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