Language & Literacy in the School Years

Objectives 1. You will be able to describe 5 components of skilled reading. 2. You will be able to describe and contrast different approaches to reading instruction. 3. You will be able to describe and provide examples of metasemantic, metasyntactic, and metapragmatic awareness.

Objectives 4. You will be familiar with features of narrative development. 5. You will be able to discuss cultural differences in narratives 6. You will be able to describe and provide examples of several aspects of creative language use

Language & Literacy The relationship b/w spoken & written words The relationship b/w spoken & written words The relationship b/w spoken language & reading/writing The relationship b/w spoken language & reading/writing

Phonological Awareness Definition Definition Development of Phonological Awareness Development of Phonological Awareness – Identifying # of syllables – Analyzing syllables into constituents Significance Significance Causes Causes

Later Lexical Development Relationship to reading Relationship to reading Size of children’s vocabulary Size of children’s vocabulary Reason for increase Reason for increase

Contextualized v. Decontextualized Language

Characteristics of Decontextualized Language Distance b/w sender & receiver Distance b/w sender & receiver Use of complex syntactic structure Use of complex syntactic structure Permanency of the information Permanency of the information Autonomous (rather than interactive) establishment of truth Autonomous (rather than interactive) establishment of truth Explicitness of reference Explicitness of reference High degree of cohesion High degree of cohesion Hoff-Ginsberg Hoff-Ginsberg

Phases in Development of Early Narrative Abilities 1st Phase - Elicited information 1st Phase - Elicited information – Styles of adult support 2nd Phase - Less questioning by adults 2nd Phase - Less questioning by adults 3rd Phase - Include more unique information 3rd Phase - Include more unique information

Stages of Narrative Development Applebee’s System Stage 1 - Heap Stories Stage 1 - Heap Stories –2-3 years of age –Consist of  labels  descriptions of events –Contains no themes (Paul, 1995)

Stage 2 - Sequence Stories 3 year olds 3 year olds Child labels events that involve a key theme, character, or setting. Child labels events that involve a key theme, character, or setting. No plot No plot Temporal or causal relationships not provided. Temporal or causal relationships not provided.

Stage 3 - Primitive Narratives /2 year olds /2 year olds Narrative contains a core character, object or event. Narrative contains a core character, object or event. Contains Contains –initiating event –an action –a consequence of that action No real ending or resolution No real ending or resolution

Stage 4 - Chain Narratives 4 1/2 - 5 year olds 4 1/2 - 5 year olds Some cause & effect or temporal relationship Some cause & effect or temporal relationship Weak plot Weak plot Attributes or characters of plot not provided Attributes or characters of plot not provided Ending may not be logical Ending may not be logical

Stage 5 - True Narrative year olds year olds Contains: Contains: –theme –central character (& motivations) –plot Events are logical & temporal. Events are logical & temporal. Ends with a resolution of the problem. Ends with a resolution of the problem.

Narrative Development During School Age Types of Narratives/Genres Types of Narratives/Genres – Personal narratives – Scripts – Stories Children’s abilities Children’s abilities

What Makes a Good Story? Story Coherence Story Grammar Story Grammar – Setting  Place  Characters – Episodes  Initiating event  Problem  Resolution

What Makes a Good Story? Linguistic Cohesion Use of conjunctions Use of conjunctions Pronominalization Pronominalization – Description of individual pictures – Thematic subject strategy – Anaphoric reference

Narratives & Culture Home/school match/mismatch Home/school match/mismatch Topic-focused narratives Topic-focused narratives Topic-associated narratives Topic-associated narratives

Metalinguistic Development Stage 1: Literacy Socialization Distinguish print from nonprint Distinguish print from nonprint Know how to interact with books Know how to interact with books

Metalinguistic Development Stage 2: Word Consciousness, Segmentation, Comprehension Recognize word boundaries Recognize word boundaries Discuss parts of speech Discuss parts of speech Separate words into syllables Separate words into syllables Unable to understand 1 word can have different meanings Unable to understand 1 word can have different meanings

Metalinguistic Development Stage 3: Segmentation & Comprehension Understand verbal humor w/ linguistic ambiguity Understand verbal humor w/ linguistic ambiguity Understands words can have several meanings Understands words can have several meanings

Types of Metalinguistic Awareness Metasemantic Metasemantic – Word Awareness  comprehension of term “word”  understanding that words are “units”  understanding that relationship b/w phonemes & referents are arbitrary

Types of Metalinguistic Awareness Cont’ Metasyntactic Metasyntactic –correct ungrammatical sentences presented to them Metapragmatic Metapragmatic –explain social rules

Review Question A child who understands the term “word” refers to units of the language system has: A child who understands the term “word” refers to units of the language system has: A. Metasyntactic awareness A. Metasyntactic awareness B. Metapragmatic awareness B. Metapragmatic awareness C. Word awareness C. Word awareness D. Overcome word retrieval difficulties D. Overcome word retrieval difficulties

Tarzan learns to read How did you learn to read? How did you learn to read? –Is it common to learn to read without instruction? –Is it possible to learn to read without instruction?

More questions about reading Is it possible to understand a written language if you have no contact with the users of the language? Of any language? Is it possible to understand a written language if you have no contact with the users of the language? Of any language? Did Tarzan have metalinguistic awareness? Can you learn to read without that? Did Tarzan have metalinguistic awareness? Can you learn to read without that?

Literacy Experiences at Home Emergent literacy Emergent literacy What is learned What is learned – Environmental print – Conventions of print – Functions of literacy

Home Support of Literacy Uses of literacy in the home Uses of literacy in the home Parental engagement of children in literacy experiences Parental engagement of children in literacy experiences SES differences SES differences Cultural differences Cultural differences

Literacy in Trackton & Roadville Similarities b/w communities Similarities b/w communities Differences b/w communities Differences b/w communities Implications for literacy instruction Implications for literacy instruction

Components of Reading Phonemic Awareness Phonemic Awareness Letter recognition Letter recognition Grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules Grapheme-phoneme correspondence rules

Components of Reading Cont’ Word recognition Word recognition –decoding skills –sight-word vocabularies Semantic knowledge Semantic knowledge –Refers to “all information about a word”

Components of Reading Cont’ Comprehension & interpretation Comprehension & interpretation –Successful comprehension depends on  automatic word recognition  vocabulary size  working memory  world knowledge

Chall’s Model of Reading Development

Chall’s Model of Reading Development Cont’

Children with Reading Problems Diagnosis Average - above average intelligence Average - above average intelligence No cognitive or social deficits No cognitive or social deficitsDyslexia Visual-perceptual deficits Visual-perceptual deficits Linguistic processing disorder Linguistic processing disorder Single disorder v. cluster Single disorder v. cluster Difficulties with phonological processing Difficulties with phonological processing

Writing Writing is a language activity Writing is a language activity Traditional Approach to writing Traditional Approach to writing Current/whole-language approach to writing Current/whole-language approach to writing

Benefits of Early “Writing” Experiences Involvement in writing process Involvement in writing process Helps learn relationship b/w speaking & writing Helps learn relationship b/w speaking & writing Develop alphabetic principle by writing letters on their own Develop alphabetic principle by writing letters on their own Exposes children to relationship between reading & writing Exposes children to relationship between reading & writing

Writing Development 1. Marks on paper 2. Controlled scribbling 3. Scribble stories

Writing Development Cont’ 4. Scribbles with letter awareness 5. Word awareness ode ef di dit 6. Inventory writing I love mom. I love dad. 7. Sentence writing 8. Paragraph writing

Approaches to Reading Instruction Reading as decoding Phonics methods Phonics methods Bottom-up skills Bottom-up skills Teach decoding Teach decoding Focus of instruction Focus of instruction

Approaches to Reading Instruction Reading for Meaning Texts as sources of meaning Texts as sources of meaning Function over form Function over form Sight vocabulary Sight vocabulary Top-down approach Top-down approach Whole-language & language experience approaches Whole-language & language experience approaches

Whole-Language Approach Construct meaning from experience Construct meaning from experience Language is not separated into parts Language is not separated into parts Read aloud to children Read aloud to children Comprehension & production of oral & written language are part of one process Comprehension & production of oral & written language are part of one process

Current Reading Approach Focus on meaning Stress oral & written lang connection Integration of decoding skills