Developing+Language

__Developing Language__
 ‘Spoken language is the base for building literacy, being able to hear language, perceive difference in meaning and articulate language is crucially important for learning to read and write.’ (Hill, 2006) For this reason it is imperative to understand the development of spoken language, and the differences between the developmental rates of language among different children. Hence, teachers have to be aware of the development and skills of all their students before progressing to teaching reading and writing.    Language is a system of symbols that is used to communicate meaning, cited in Hill (2006) it explains that these symbols can also consist of sounds, finger movement and print (Vucelich, Christie & Enz 2002) Language is made up of sounds (phonemes), words and word order (syntax, and meaning (semantics).    The development of language begins at birth, where the child distinguishes patterns in language, young children’s development is usually playful and occurs rapidly as they grow, however there are many factors that can affect language development, including medical problems, gender differences, socioeconomic status, cultural and linguistic diversity, language disorders and delays. (Hill, 2006) It is important for a teacher to recognize these factors, and be aware not to make assumptions with children in terms of there acquired skills in language development.

__Strategies for Language Development__
 To be an effective teacher it is important to be able to scaffold children’s learning and development in language efficiently. Teacher’s can encourage children’s spoken language through play, reading aloud, dramatisation, describing, conversations, all which help build toward a bigger vocabulary. Teachers can also scaffold to introduce a bigger vocabulary and a new syntax through expansions, restating language and introducing new words or new syntax; extensions, restating children’s comments and adding new information; repetition, repeating part or all of the child’s comments; parallel talk, describing the child’s actions; self-talk, describing actions or thoughts out loud; and vertical structuring, questioning the child to produce longer more complex sentences. (Hill, 2006) 