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Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Engaging in the Language Arts: Exploring the Power of Language Donna Ogle and James W. Beers Chapter 2: Understanding Oral Language Development

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon What Is Language? Language is a system. Language includes arbitrary symbols. Language allows us to classify everything. Talking and writing are expressive modes of language. Listening and reading are receptive modes.

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Why is Oral Language Important? Talking Improves Students’ Ability to communicate Language growth does not stop once a child reaches school age Plan opportunities for students to talk and listen Talking and Listening Promote a Deeper Understanding of Text Talking Promotes More Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon Why is Oral Language Important? The Interdependence of Oral and Written Language Competence with the oral system, particularly the representation function, has a direct impact on how well students progress with the written system The Pressing Issue of Talking Talking and listening facilitate an honest exchange of ideas, promote better understandings, and develop deeper appreciations for other points of view

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon What Do We Know about Oral Language Development? The Properties of Language Language is generative Language is rule-governed Language is arbitrary Language has a dual quality

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon What Do We Know about Oral Language Development? The Components of Language Phonology: The study of speech sounds (phonemes) and how they are produced and combined Morphology: The study of morphemes—the smallest unit of meaning in our language Syntax: Concerned with the arrangement of words into acceptable sequences Semantics: Deals with meaning and how it is communicated in our language system Pragmatics: Refers to the rules that help us navigate our conversations

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon What Do We Know about Oral Language Development? The Importance of Talking and Listening 45 percent of the time we spend engaged in communication is devoted to listening Children’s comprehension is far greater than their production

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon How Does Language Grow? Skinnerian Theory Shaping Discriminate learning Imitation Psycholinguistic Theory (Chomsky) Innate capabilities Language acquisition device (LAD) Deep structure and surface structure Transformational rules

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon How Does Language Grow? Semantic-Cognitivist Theory (Bloom) Thought precedes language Role of the adult is crucial Object permanence Utterances are the result of semantic, not syntactic, relationships

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon How Does Language Grow? Sociolinguistic Theory The speech act is the central focus of analysis Illocutionary force, conversational principles, and presuppositions Intention may be implicit or explicit Conversational principles refer to the listener’s expectations Presuppositions refer to what both speakers and listeners expect of the information provided in an utterance.

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon How Does Language Change during the Preschool Years? The Prelinguistic Period Crying Cooing Babbling The Emergence of Speech Between twelve and eighteen months Holophrases The Beginnings of Sentences Between eighteen and twenty-four months Family Life Royalty Free CD

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How Does Language Change during the Preschool Years? The Development of Vocabularies Semantic Features Hypothesis Functional-Core Hypothesis Prototypic-Complex Hypothesis Comprehension versus Production Productive vocabularies typically lag behind receptive vocabularies

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Is Language Development “Finished” When Children Enter School? Syntax Continues to Grow Conjoining Embedding Passive sentences Vocabulary Continues to Grow Horizontal and vertical increases in word meaning Phoneme Awareness Continues to Grow Voiced and Unvoiced Sounds Phoneme Segmentation Sound Associations Conversational Abilities Continue to Grow Topic Maintenance Conversational Repair

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon What Do We Know about Dialects? Characteristics of African American English The linguistic differences between AAVE and Standard English (SE) are minimal and rule- governed The linguistic differences that AAVE exhibits have considerable overlap with southern dialects and other dialects Not all African Americans use a dialect

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What Do We Know about Dialects? Characteristics of Latino English Linguistic differences between LE and Standard English (SAE) are minimal and rule-governed Guidelines for Working with Diverse Language Learners Learn more about the culture and dialect of students Help students develop an understanding and respect of others’ dialect differences Model a curiosity and interest in other cultures and dialects

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What Do We Know about Dialects? Teaching Standard English Discuss examples of and differences between home language and school language Examine children’s writing samples to determine which linguistic features should be taught first Teach components of school language in a direct, explicit way Expect older students to use school language in the classroom Model language rather than correct it

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon How Do Students Use Language? Halliday’s Model for Language Use Functions: instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, heuristic, imaginative, and representational Tough’s Model for Language Use Functions: self-maintaining, directing, reporting, reasoning, predicting, projecting, and imagining

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How Can We Promote Language Growth? Examine Assumptions about Language Language growth continues Language and cognitive growth Intertwine Language growth occurs with active Involvement Language growth occurs in a student-oriented environment Language growth occurs in responsive environments

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon How Can We Promote Language Growth? Increase Time for Discussion Promotes a deeper understanding of text Increases higher-level thinking Improves communication skills How to Begin Discussing in class Supporting the discussion

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Allyn & Bacon How Can We Promote Language Growth? Promote Language Growth Using Other Activities Directing Activities Self-Maintaining Activities Reporting Activities Reasoning and Predicting Activities Projecting Imagining Activities