A comparison of methods to teach foreign‐language targets to young children

Four preschool kids without disabilities learned Spanish words. The team compared two ways to teach the words.

One way was tact training. Kids learned to name the picture in Spanish. The other way mixed naming, listening, and reading at the same time.

Each child got both ways in an alternating pattern. The teachers counted how many trials each child needed to master seven sets of words.

Tact training won. Kids reached mastery faster in five of the seven word sets.

The win was big. One child cut learning time in half when tact training came first.

Hu et al. (2023) extends this idea to autism. They taught English mands to Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with ASD. After mand training, the kids could also name and point to the items without extra teaching.

Clements et al. (2021) used matrix training to teach three-digit numbers. They saw 8-12 untrained tacts for every one taught. Matter et al. used DRR tact training and got faster acquisition, not more untrained items. The two studies show different payoff paths from emergent-learning designs.

Meier et al. (2012) found that teaching either mand or tact can spark the other operant in kids with autism. Matter’s team focused only on tact training for neurotypical kids, yet the speed gain matches the theme of “train one, get more free.”

If you run foreign-language lessons or vocabulary drills, start with pure tact trials. Have the child name the picture in the new language and give praise. Save mixed listening, reading, and naming for later review. You may cut session time and reach mastery faster, just like these preschoolers did.