Language Archives - Literacy Whats That

Language is more than just words. People who share a language share a culture and an identity. Learning a language is more than just learning sounds, vocabulary and grammatical rules. It’s also learning the culture expressed by that language. Therefore when parents/families teach children their spoken language they are also teaching them and identity and a culture. Sound is an important part of this process.

Sounds in Spoken Language

Children become aware that some words rhyme. When I read Sofi “Green Eggs and Ham”, she will meet my “box” with the word “fox” for example. She recognizes the same sound. However, Mark at 4 yrs knows they rhyme and can make work families –cat, sat, mat, rat, and so on. Although at different levels they are both developing phonological awareness; that is they can hear and work with the sounds of the English language.

The ABCs

Knowledge of the alphabet – the names, sounds and shapes of the letters by the time children get to kindergarten is a great help. At 2yrs a child (my experience, perhaps even younger) who has been immersed in a language rich environment can recognize the name, sound and identify a word that starts with a specific letter. Sofi ‘reads’ her alphablock book. She starts with the letter name, sound and the name of the picture on that page. Of the 3 things she identifies the most helpful in helping her to read is the sound she makes when she looks at a particular letter. We read by blending sounds, not by saying letter names.

Reading Aloud

This is really the context within which reading develops. It’s probably the most important building activity a parent can do to start the process. When children actively participate in the reading aloud with adults, they learn new words, learn more about a theme, learn about written language and really see the connection between reading and writing. They are making connections and practicing applying knowledge acquired in different contexts. They may connect to another book, to a movie, to a personal experience…. they begin to transfer knowledge from one area to another.

Vocabulary and knowledge of the World

Vocabulary is the number of words we use to name concrete/ abstract objects/ideas. It’s word power that allows us to express what’s in our minds and understand other peoples’ ideas. The size of a person’s vocabulary is connected to that person’s ability to comprehend what he/she reads in all areas. Children learn vocabulary both indirectly, by hearing and seeing words as they listen, talk and read; and directly when parents and teachers teach them the meaning of words. The more personal experiences children have the greater is their vocabulary. When they go grocery shopping with their parents, when they go to the park, zoo, travelling, visiting, are all opportunities to learn that are built in a day’s activity. These are not programs, these are ways of living. Parents are busy so it’s important to use the time they have with the children and use it productively. Even watching TV together and talking about what they are seeing can be an opportunity for learning, providing the program can teach anything of value.

Comprehension

Comprehension is critical to reading. Getting meaning out of text is the reason to read. By using what they already know children can attach new meaning, new concepts, new words to further their understanding of a subject. At this young stage ‘conversations’ with adults about the world around them are a good context to show children how to make connections. Also by asking what they think can happen, making mental pictures, and asking questions. When adults model these strategies aloud they are showing the though process for reading/ problem solving, etc. Later children will learn to make predictions, make inferences, summarizing and so on. By modelling these behaviours early on adults are helping build these reading blocks, which will be part of a structured reading process at school.

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There are many games and programs to keep children entertained and teach them words and sounds, but there is no substitute for the human voice and human interaction. I truly believe this.

With Love and Gratitude

Alda

Resources

www.starfall.com ( I like this site. It’s the closest I’ve found to teach phonics the way I believe is less confusing for children. )

It is very important that children develop oral language and vocabulary skills as part of literacy preparedness. According to Hart and Risley , Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children (2002),”in professional families, children heard an average of 2,153 words per hour, while children in working class families heard an average of 1,251 words per hour, and children in welfare families heard an average of 616 words per hour.” By the time these children get to kindergarten there is quite a disparity in the number of words they have heard and acquired, which has a direct impact on their reading readiness. Therefore the development of oral language and vocabulary is crucial in this process.

A Rich Language Environment

Young children learn language naturally by using it, imitating those around them, and by working through the rules of the language on their own (ex: “ I goed” precedes “I went”). Humans’ brains are wired for talk. However, children require time to develop language through everyday practice within a social context. This process of language acquisition varies from child to child. Some children start speaking and using complex sentences earlier than others. Immersing children in a language rich environment, whether in their mother tongue or the official language, is extremely important no matter how early or how late they start talking. They may not be talking, but they are listening. Having ‘conversations’ with children, before they are talking, teaches them the rules of conversation such as taking turns, paying attention, facial and voice expressions/intonation (asking questions, exclamations)and so on.

Oral Language Components – Relating Sounds to Meanings

Phonological – it’s about the rules of combining sounds . English speakers understand and pronounce English words and know that some sounds always come at the end of words.

Semantic – the smallest units of meaning – morphemes- that combined with others make up words.

Syntactic – the rules that make possible to combine words into sentences. As soon as a child uses two words together, as in “I happy” she is using a syntactic rule to convey meaning.

Pragmatics – the rules of language use: formal and informal language. Children need to learn the ways of speaking at day care/school. Pragmatic is important because we are perceived by others based on both what we say, how and when we say it. (Reading Rockets article by Celia Genishi “Oral Children’s Oral Language Development”).

www.readingrockets.org is an excellent literacy site for both parents and teachers. On the oral language development part of the site parents can access tip sheets in English and Spanish about topics such as: Nursery Rhymes, Literacy for pre-schoolers, growing readers and much more. On their PBS series, we can find articles such as Roots of Reading for infants and toddlers in a video clip hosted by Fred Rogers. He looks at the earliest stages of literacy and helps parents and other stake holders who can help children get on their literacy journey. The amount of information and guidance on this site is tremendous. I’ve spent many hours on this site.

Peer Learning

Peer learning is an important part of language development. It is important to give children the opportunity to interact with other children, especially if they are of mixed-age groups.

Adult-Child Conversations

Story time is a great opportunity for adult-child interaction or one sided ‘conversations’. At 9 months old my grandson had a favourite story. At first I didn’t understand why the fussing because I usually read both stories . Then I figured out that the fussing stopped when I read a particular story. He had a favourite story! I saw this behavior again with my granddaughter. Now they both talk (at the ages of 4 and 2 ) so we have conversations about story settings, characters, problems, solutions, feelings while we reread their favourite stories. Of course in this process I must remain faithful to the script… because they know if I skip/change a word or sentence. At age 4 he reads some words of the story as he is developing sight words and also learning phonics, or reads pictures as in ‘see and say’ story books. At age 2 she is into Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham and has memorized parts of the story.

It is never to early to start children on the road to literacy in a fun and relaxed way.

With Love and Gratitude