NELI Preschool improves children’s language skills  

Trials show children who participate make three month’s additional progress in their language development

NELI in nurseries

NELI Preschool, the nursery equivalent to the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), was trialled with three-and four-year-olds in 65 nurseries between 2021 and 2022. Findings from the successful randomised controlled trial, funded by Nuffield Foundation, show that children made the equivalent of three months’ additional progress in their language development.

The positive results of this trial have “important implications” for improving educational attainments for young children in the UK, according to researchers at University of Oxford’s Department of Education, who published a report on the findings.

It highlights the “importance of early intervention” in narrowing the gap between children entering school with poor oral language and their peers, explains professor Hulme, whose team at OxEd is running a further EEF-funded project with private, voluntary and independent (PVIs) nursery providers.

   In addition, the EEF is working with the DfE’s Stronger Practice Hubs to explore funding a “larger trial” with state-maintained and PVI settings here. 

Enrichment programme

Unlike NELI-R, which is an intervention programme for children with the weakest language skills, NELI-Preschool is an enrichment programme delivered to the whole nursery class, with additional targeted support for children with weak oral language. The 20-week programme is designed around the principles of shared book reading and guided play and involves scripted interventions focusing on improving vocabulary, developing narrative skills, encouraging active listening and building confidence in speaking.

The programme is “well-liked” by trial settings and staff felt “well-prepared” to deliver it as a result of its “comprehensive and informative” online training, according to researchers. Settings found LanguageScreen “easy-to-use” when identifying the children who need the targeted element of the intervention. Some nurseries made NELI Preschool central to their planning for continuous provision. And fidelity to the programme “remained high throughout delivery”, despite the challenging circumstances in nurseries in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eleanor Ireland, Nuffield Foundation’s Programme Head for Education, says that preschool is an “ideal time” to support children’s language before they start their formal education.

The next step for NELI Preschool in the UK is to “ascertain effectiveness and move on to practicability at scale”, the report says.