Thursday, July 16, 2015

Language Development: What is it and why is it important?


 
Oral language, for most learners, is an optimal tool for learning.  It doesn’t require special materials or tasks or situations or contexts.  It is possible to use language to learn anywhere, at any time, with anyone.  And, although we begin using language very early (at birth), we can continue to grow in our language skills and our ability to use language to learn throughout our lives.

Oral language plays such an important part in school success!  It is essential that we help children/students develop the oral language skills they will need to become readers, thinkers, and learners.  We cannot afford to allow children/students to “fail” and be held back in school—and in life.
What is Oral Language?

What is there to learn about oral language?  Here are some frameworks.

How Babies Talk
Golfinkoff & Hirsh-Pasek 1999
Language Development
Hoff (2009)
 
Helping Young
Children Learn Language & Literacy, Vukelich, Christie, and Enz (2008)
Oral Language and Early Literacy in Preschool, Roskos, Tabors, Lenhart
(2009)
Speaking and Listening for Preschool thru 3rd Grade, Resnick and Snow (2008)
Babbling/sounds
Phonology
Phonology
Phonology
Phonology
Words
Lexicon
Semantics
Semantics
Semantics
 
Morphology
Morphology
Morphology
Morphology
Sentences
Syntax
Syntax
Syntax
Syntax
Uses of Language
Communication
Pragmatics
Pragmatics
Pragmatics

 

Oral Language Development

Within each of these frameworks, there are several things to learn and there is a course of development, beginning at birth.  Some dimensions of language (phonology, for example) are mastered at a fairly young age.  The “average” child, for example, recognizes and can produce all of the sounds of his/her language by age 6 or 7.  Basic syntax skills are also learned fairly early.  Children, for example, begin putting words together as young as 18 months/24 months; and they have mastered the basics of syntax by 6 or 7.  Appropriate use of conjunctions, however, continues throughout the school years. 

Morphology also begins developing at an early age: children, for example, start adding endings to some words, as preschoolers. But children are still learning about dividing words into parts and learning about derivations and affixes into high school.

Lexicon and word meanings, however, continue to develop throughout our adult years. Semantics addresses meaning at both the word and sentence levels. Understanding and speaking with clear and effective meaning is a life-long venture.

Mastering pragmatics is also a  life-long task.  That development begins in the first year or two and continues throughout our life span.

A More Detailed Outline of the Sequence of Language Development

In my “Dialogue About Language, Literacy, and Learning” Blog, I outline the sequence of oral language development using a

Sounds/Words/Sentences/Discourse framework.

 I start with posts on sounds (see links below) and then words, sentences, and discourse.  There are separate posts for each of those dimensions or levels of language.  I should note that there is too much information for each link to digest in one session.  I offer them here to make the links easier to find as I will be referring back to these links as I relate them to success in reading, thinking, and learning in preschool through elementary school, with a special emphasis on closing the achievement gap.

Sounds


Words


Sentences


Discourse


If we want children to succeed in school, we will need to begin to pay attention to the development of those oral language skills before they get to school.  In the next post, I’ll write about how we look at the progress that children are or are not making in their oral language development in the Zero to 5 age range.

 

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