Evaluation of Infant Language Link: an intervention aiming to improve expressive and receptive language skills among children aged 5-6
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN60336419 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN60336419 |
- Submission date
- 10/08/2023
- Registration date
- 15/08/2023
- Last edited
- 22/01/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
For children with speech and language difficulties, early intervention is crucial for success in education. Targeted interventions sometimes fail to reach the correct pupils. Infant Language Link enables schools to identify and support children in reception, years 1 and 2 with mild to moderate language needs. The intervention uses a graduated approach to determine the level and intensity of support for pupils, using a standardised universal screening tool to accurately assess pupil ability and tiered levels of support to improve language skills.
Who can participate?
Mainstream state primary schools with pupils in reception (age 4-5) and in years 1 and 2 (aged 5-7)
What does the study involve?
The intervention is designed for schools to identify and support pupils from reception (age 4-5), and provide continued support for pupils in years 1 and 2 (aged 5-7). For this evaluation, it will be delivered to year 1 pupils, although intervention schools will be free to also provide the programme to pupils in reception and year 2 should they wish. All pupils in the class are provided with support, and those identified as needing further support participate in targeted group sessions led by Teaching Assistants (TAs).
The online screening tool for assessing pupil language needs is a central part of the intervention. This screening takes place at the start of the intervention period. The Infant Language Link learning materials will be provided to schools; these include 500 group and classroom resources, 12 planned termly language groups, 24 individual teaching plans and 52 handouts for parents.
Guidance notes and session plans for teachers are supplied along with resources to support the delivery of engaging, interactive teaching and learning activities, for example, story planners, talk templates and concept cards. The session plans and ILL learning resources enable TAs to deliver the targeted group sessions in a structured way. Tracking sheets allow teachers and TAs to record individual pupil progress. Schools in the control group continue providing language support on a business-as-usual basis during the study period.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Pupils could benefit from improvements in receptive and expressive language skills. The programme is delivered in school during school hours by regular school staff. As such, there are no risks of physical or psychological harm beyond those already applicable in a school setting.
Where is the study run from?
The intervention is delivered in Y1 classrooms at schools in England by teachers and teaching assistants employed by the participating schools. These school staff will have received online training offered by the delivery team, who administer the programme remotely and do not visit schools in person.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
October 2022 to January 2025
Who is funding the study?
Education Endowment Foundation (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Martin Culliney (Evaluation lead), m.culliney@shu.ac.uk
Contact information
Principal Investigator
Sheffield Hallam University
10101 Arundel Building
Sheffield
S1 1WB
United Kingdom
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-7329-8675 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +44 (0)1142256072 |
| m.culliney@shu.ac.uk |
Study information
| Study design | Two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial with random allocation at the school level |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Cluster randomised trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Efficacy |
| Participant information sheet | 44098_PIS.pdf |
| Scientific title | Evaluation of Infant Language Link: an intervention aiming to improve expressive and receptive language skills among children aged 5-6 |
| Study acronym | ILL |
| Study objectives | Research questions 1. Primary research question: What is the impact of the intervention on Year 1 pupils’ language and communication skills, as measured by the primary outcome (CELF linguistic concepts and sentence comprehension subtests and RAPT combined)? 2. Secondary research questions: 2.1. What is the impact of the intervention on the subgroup of Year 1 pupils who received targeted support, as measured by the primary and secondary outcomes? 2.2. What is the impact of the intervention on the subgroup of Year 1 FSM pupils, as measured by the primary outcome? 2.3. What is the impact of the intervention on Year 1 pupils’ receptive and expressive language skills as measured by individual subtests of the outcome measure (CELF linguistic concepts and sentence comprehension; RAPT information and grammar)? 2.4. What is the impact of the intervention on the subgroup of EAL pupils, as measured by the primary outcome? |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 07/02/2023, Sheffield Hallam research ethics committee (Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, S1 1WB, United Kingdom; None available; SSH-ResearchEthics@shu.ac.uk), ref: ER51329820 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Expressive and receptive language |
| Intervention | This trial is evaluating the Infant Language Link intervention. Pupils in schools randomly allocated to the intervention group will receive the programme, which uses a standardised universal screening tool to assess pupil ability in language and communication. The results are used to determine whether additional support is required through small group or one-to-one sessions delivered by teaching assistants, who receive training from the developer in the form of two 90-minute webinars. Teachers at intervention schools also attend two online training sessions. All delivery takes place at school during normal lesson times. Pupils in control schools continue to be taught under business-as-usual conditions. Randomisation will be conducted at the school level to minimise spillover risk. The procedure will be conducted using the ‘stratarand’ command in Stata. All schools will be allocated at the same time. Three stratifiers will be used, specifically whether a school: is/not (1/0) in an Education Investment Area, does/not (1/0) use any relevant interventions (such as NELI, Wellcomm and Talk Boost), and uses external speech and language therapy support. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Impact of Infant Language Link on language and communication skills in pupils measured using a combined measure derived from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Fifth Edition (CELF‑5) receptive and expressive language subtests and the Renfrew Action Picture Test (RAPT) at the end of Year 1 |
| Secondary outcome measures | Impact of Infant Language Link on language and communication skills in pupils measured using the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Fifth Edition (CELF 5) receptive and expressive language subtests and the Renfrew Action Picture Test (RAPT) as separate measures at the end of Year 1 |
| Overall study start date | 01/10/2022 |
| Completion date | 31/01/2025 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Learner/student |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 5 Years |
| Upper age limit | 6 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 3400 pupils across 170 schools |
| Key inclusion criteria | All maintained mainstream schools with pupils in the appropriate age range can take part provided that they have not already used the Infant Language Link intervention. |
| Key exclusion criteria | Pupils diagnosed with: 1. Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) 2. Selective mutism 3. Global learning difficulties |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/03/2023 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/06/2023 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- England
- United Kingdom
Study participating centre
Sheffield
S1 1AY
United Kingdom
Sponsor information
Charity
5th Floor, Millbank Tower
21 – 24 Millbank
London
SW1P 4QP
England
United Kingdom
| Phone | +44 (0)204 536 3999 |
|---|---|
| info@eefoundation.org.uk | |
| Website | https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/03bhd6288 |
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Private sector organisation / Trusts, charities, foundations (both public and private)
- Alternative name(s)
- EducEndowFoundn, Education Endowment Foundation | London, EEF
- Location
- United Kingdom
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/04/2025 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in non-publicly available repository |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Report to be published on funder website, freely available online. |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in a non-publicly available repository, the EEF data archive, as pseudonymised (meaningless pupil and school identifiers) pupil assessment scores study data. Researchers can apply for access. Consent from participants was required and obtained. |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participant information sheet | 15/08/2023 | No | Yes | ||
| Protocol file | version 2.0 | 07/05/2024 | 22/01/2025 | No | No |
| Statistical Analysis Plan | version 1.0 | 08/05/2024 | 22/01/2025 | No | No |
Additional files
Editorial Notes
22/01/2025: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. Uploaded protocol (not peer-reviewed) as an additional file.
2. The statistical analysis plan was uploaded as an additional file.
15/08/2023: Trial's existence confirmed by the Education Endowment Foundation (UK).
