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Teacher’s Experience of Infants’ Language Delays and Perception of Language Rehabilitation Services Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the differences in language development in infants and toddlers before and after COVID-19 based on the experiences of teachers, and to find out the necessity of language rehabilitation services and the awareness of the need for remote language rehabilitation services.Methods: A total of 125 early childhood educators who worked in the Seoul and Gyeonggi regions during the COVID-19 pandemic participated in this study. A survey was conducted to assess the educators’ experiences with language delays in young children before and after COVID-19, as well as their perceptions of speech and language rehabilitation services.Results: It was found that the in-class distancing and mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the interaction between teachers and infants or between infants. It was found that the number of teachers who reported that the number of children with language delays in their class was “four or more” increased approximately twofold. In addition, 45.6% of respondents indicated that the most needed support to address language development delays after COVID-19 was the “expansion of speech and language therapy and other treatment services,” and the educators had a positive perception of receiving remote speech and language rehabilitation services.Conclusion: This study is significant in that it was able to identify the valuable insights into the experiences and perceptions of early childhood educators, who have been closely watching infants and toddlers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DOI: 10.12963/csd.250086
Authors: Minji Jo, Soojin Kim, Sujin Son, Sunhwa Kim, Yeojung Jung, Yoonhee Yang
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409420946
FWCI:
Cites: 26
Cited by:
Related to: 10