CHAPTER 1: Language in Our Lives Language Development in Early Childhood Education Fourth Edition Beverly W. Otto Adapted by Dr. Laura Taddei

Reflect on your own experiences Individually reflect on your own experiences with language Some questions to consider – what was your home language? Did you interact with others who came from a different language background? Did you travel to another area where a different language or dialect was spoken? Language Reflection Activity The purpose of this activity is to have students begin to think about their own language development and the contexts in which it occurred. Ask students to individually reflect on their experiences with learning language and developing their language competencies as they were growing up. For example, what was their home language? Did they interact with others that came from a different language background? Did they travel to other areas where a different language or dialect was spoken? What experiences did they have in learning a language different from their home language? After several minutes of this individual reflection (students may want to take brief notes on their reflection), ask students to share their reflections. This sharing could be either in a whole class setting or you might decide to have students meet in groups of 3-

What is language? A medium of communication An essential component of all cultures A system of symbols by which we clarify our thinking

What language competencies are needed by children? Oral language Listening and speaking Written language Reading and writing

Overview: Aspects of Language Knowledge Phonological Semantic Syntactic Morphemic Pragmatic

Activity – Small Groups Pages 4 to 13 – each group will be assigned one of the aspects of language and describe/illustrate what their aspect means: Group 1 – Phonological Group 2 – Semantic Group 3 – Syntactic Group 4 – Morphemic Group 5 - Pragmatic

Phonological Knowledge Knowledge of the sound-symbol relationships in a language Discrimination of speech sounds precedes the ability to produce those sounds

Phonological Knowledge Key Concepts Phoneme Phonological awareness Prosodic features

Semantic Knowledge Knowledge of word labels that specify concepts Receptive knowledge Expressive knowledge Schemata Cognitive structures representing interrelations between concepts

Syntactic Knowledge Knowledge of the system of rules for combining words in meaningful phrases and sentences Syntax- word order or grammar

Morphemic Knowledge Knowledge of word structure Morphemes Free morphemes Bound morphemes Derivational Inflectional

Pragmatic Knowledge Knowledge of how language is used differently in different settings Social-cultural settings Register Genderlect Written texts and genre

Levels of Language Knowledge Linguistic knowledge Metalinguistic knowledge Verbalization of metalinguistic knowledge Refer to page 16

Modes and Forms of Language Competencies Oral language Listening and speaking Written language Reading and writing

Critical Role of Children’s Oral Language Competencies Provide basis for learning written language system Enable effective communication during learning activities and social interactions