CHAPTER 6: Language Development in Preschoolers Revised by Dr. Laura McLaughlin Taddei Language Development in Early Childhood Education Fourth Edition Beverly W. Otto

Case Study Discussion Break up into small groups and discuss case studies: Think of the five aspects of language development. Observe and write down ways the children are developing in these areas: Talking about Mustaches during Snack Time Maurico Reading Books Asia and Lyric Building a Road Together

Contexts of Language Development in Preschool Years Home, School, Community influences How a child’s home and community support and guide their explorations influences their language and cognitive development

Speech Preschool Child – their speech is a direct reflection of what they are thinking Not yet capable of private or internal speech Telling preschool children to sit and just listen is essentially telling them to sit and not think

Development of Phonological Knowledge Patterns of development Order of phoneme development reflects complexity in producing phoneme – see page 171 Variation between children of same age

Development of Phonological Knowledge, continued Phonemic awareness Words are composed of separate sounds Sounds in words can be manipulated Evident in children’s “sound play” Rhyming with Mr. Mike Video attempts to match speech sounds to print – see words and begin to associate sounds

Development of Semantic Knowledge Experiential basis for semantic knowledge Assimilation Accommodation Overextensions and underextensions Book sharing experiences

Reading Aloud Assignments coming up – Due April 8th: Research the importance of using read alouds with young children to help develop language: Due April 15th – Read Aloud Lesson Plan Interactive Read Aloud Video

Development of Semantic Knowledge, continued Figurative language: children are beginning to understand similes and metaphors – hop on over here, sleep on it… Preschoolers’ narratives – storybook experiences help preschoolers when they tell stories; examples?

Development of Syntactic Knowledge Mean length of utterance/MLU – Mommy eat one carrot (4) Mommy eats carrots (5) – more complex why? Noun and verb phrase complexity Negation (no, not) Interrogatives (questions) Passive sentences

Development of Morphemic Knowledge How words change to indicate Past tense Possession Plurality Comparison

Development of Morphemic Knowledge, continued Role of experimentation Begin to distinguish irregular words and regular words Example: go-went vs. walk-walked Overgeneralizations may still occur go-goed good-gooder-goodest

Development of Pragmatic Knowledge Using language differently for different purposes Evidence from Dramatic play Ethnographic research

Development of Pragmatic Knowledge, continued Preschoolers’ oral narratives Preschooler’s interactions with print

Development of Pragmatic Knowledge, continued Environmental print Early writing Literacy-related drama Storybook experiences