Summary EML1501 STUDY NOTES

STUDY UNIT 1: AN INTRODUCTORY ORIENTATION TO THE STUDY GUIDE 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 Language as a concept 2 1.3 WHAT IS EMERGENT LITERACY? 4 1.3.1 Explanations of emergent literacy 4 1.4 EMERGENT SPEAKING 5 1.5 LISTENING SKILLS 5 1.5.1 Phonological awareness 6 1.5.2 Vocabulary 6 1.5.3 Narrative skills 6 1.6 EMERGENT WRITING 7 1.6.1 Requirements for the development of writing skills 7 1.7 EMERGENT READING 8 1.7.1 Alphabet Knowledge 8 1.7.2 Print awareness 8 1.7.3 Comprehension 8 1.8 THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 9 1.8.1 The behaviourist approach to language learning 9 1.8.2 The nativist approach to language learning 9 1.8.3 The cognitive and social approach to language learning 10 1.9 STAGES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 10 1.9.1 The pre-linguistic stage 10 1.10 THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT 11 1.10.1 The home environment 12 1.11 THE ROLE OF TEACHERS AND OTHER ADULTS 12 1.11.1 The reflective teacher 12 1.11.2 The teacher as the pedagogical leader 13 1.11.3 Children’s literature 14 1.11.4 The use of developmentally appropriate materials 14 1.11.5 Activity 14 1.11.6 Reflection questions 16 1.12 PLAY AS A PEDAGOGY FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING 16 1.12.1 What is play? 16 1.12.2 Theories about play 16 1.12.3 Types of play 18 1.12.4 Role of play 19 1.13 CONCLUSION 20 1.14 QUESTIONS ON UNIT 1 20 STUDY UNIT 2: Theories of language development 21 2.1 INTRODUCTION 21 2.2 THE MEANING OF LANGUAGE 23 CONTENTS ........... iv 2.3 THE NATURE VERSUS NURTURE THEORETICAL VIEWPOINTS 24 2.3.1 Language as the product of nurture 24 2.3.2 Language as a product of nature 27 2.3.3 Piaget’s cognitive theory of language acquisition 28 2.4 APPLICATION OF THEORIES TO TEACHING 32 2.4.1 The Behaviourist theory for teaching language 32 2.4.2 The Nativist theory for teaching language 33 2.4.3 The Cognitivist theory for teaching language 33 2.4.4 Vygotsky’s theory for teaching language 34 2.5 CONCLUSION 36 2.6 Questions on Unit 2 36 STUDY UNIT 3: EMERGENT READING 38 3.1 INTRODUCTION 38 3.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES 38 3.3 ENVIRONMENTAL PRINT 40 3.4 SCHOOL EXPERIENCES 42 3.5 CHARACTERISATION OF EMERGENT READING 43 3.6 LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS 44 3.7 WHY READ TO CHILDREN? 45 3.7.1 Strategies for reading aloud 45 3.7.2 Activity 48 3.7.3 Reflection 48 3.8 MEDIA USED FOR STORY READING AND STORY TELLING 49 3.8.1 Puppets in storytelling and story reading 49 3.8.2 Flannel board stories 50 3.9 TECHNIQUES FOR READING 50 3.9.1 Shared Reading 50 3.9.2 Independent reading 51 3.10 APPROACHES OF PROMOTING EMERGENT READING 52 3.10.1 Whole word approach or the look and say approach 53 3.10.2 The language experience approach 53 3.10.3 PHONETIC APPROACH 55 3.11 CONCLUSION 57 3.12 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 57 STUDY UNIT 4: EMERGENT WRITING 58 4.1 INTRODUCTION 58 4.2 DEFINITION OF EMERGENT WRITING 60 4.3 PREREQUISITES FOR THE ACQUISITION OF WRITING SKILLS 61 4.3.1 Physical development and writing skills 61 4.4 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND EMERGENT WRITING 62 4.4.1 Conceptual knowledge and emergent writing. 63 4.4.2 Procedural knowledge 63 4.4.3 Implications for emergent writing 63 4.5 GENERATIVE KNOWLEDGE 64 4.6 ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT AND EMERGENT WRITING 64 4.6.1 Implications for emergent writing 64 4.7 STAGES OF EMERGENT WRITING 64 4.8 THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPELLING 69 4.8.1 Phases in the development of spelling 69 Contents ........... v EML1501/1 4.9 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN WITH EMERGENT WRITING SKILLS 71 4.10 THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER 71 4.10.1 The teacher’s knowledge 71 4.10.2 The teacher as a leader 72 4.10.3 The reflective teacher 72 4.11 CONCLUSION 73 4.12 QUESTIONS ON UNIT 4 73 STUDY UNIT 5: ASSESSMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN 75 5.1 INTRODUCTION 75 5.2 WHAT IS ASSESSMENT? 76 5.3 WHAT IS EVALUATION? 77 5.3.1 Difference between assessment and evaluation 78 5.4 ASSESSMENT IN THE CLASSROOM 79 5.4.1 Conditions for undertaking assessment in the classroom 80 5.5 FORMS OF ASSESSMENT 80 5.5.1 Summative assessment 80 5.5.2 Formative assessment 81 5.5.3 Curriculum-based assessment 83 5.6 FOCUS ON PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S ASSESSMENT 84 5.6.1 What is preschool assessment? 84 5.6.2 Why is preschool assessment important? 84 5.6.3 Guidelines on preschool assessment 87 5.7 ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR PRESCHOOLERS 88 5.7.1 Checklists as tools for measuring reading readiness 88 5.7.2 Anecdotal observation forms 92 5.7.3 Daily tasks form 92 5.7.4 Videos and audio recordings 92 5.8 THE ROLE OF THE PRESCHOOL TEACHER 93 5.9 CONCLUSION 94 5.10 QUESTIONS ON THE UNIT 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY 95 PREFACE ........... vi ........... vii PRT3704/1 PREFACE Emergent literacy is a module whose purpose is to equip you as a student teacher with the knowledge, skills and techniques of how to teach early literacy in the Foundation Phase (FP), which is Grade R to Grade 3. This module will deepen your knowledge about emergent literacy as a sub-form of literacy and in the way it manifests in children. Discussions on the definitions of emergent literacy, on theories of play, on explanations about the different forms of play, and other topics such as approaches to teaching phonics, seven principles of developing vocabulary, assessment in early literacy and others important concepts, are intended to strengthen your knowledge of the module. As an aspirant teacher, you will learn and develop skills for guiding young children to progress in their language development. You will also learn to choose appropriate approaches to teach and develop young preschool children. It is important for you to know the different stages of development that children go through before they become literate and the children’s ages associated with these stages. Emergent literacy or the acquisition of early reading and writing skills begins at birth when an infant interacts with adults, in particular the mother and father/caregiver. Long before children can read and write conventionally, they begin developing the knowledge necessary to acquire and practise these skills successfully. During infancy and the toddler years, children must be exposed to an enabling environment that will focus on their wellbeing. The enabling environment will provide the necessary experiences underlying reading and writing and will encourage rather than stifle curiosity and eagerness to learn. It is through the realisation of that knowledge that has drawn attention to emergent literacy or pre-literacy. In our Foundation Phase (FP) programme, emergent literacy is a part of the core modules. In fact, emergent literacy, is basic to all the content in the curriculum because all learning starts with the acquisition of language. According to Phatudi (2014) language acquisition is a subconscious and intuitive process whereby a young child picks up or develops a language through regular exposure from an early age. In the module about Child Development, language as an aspect of cognitive development is explored. The Child Development module provides student teachers with knowledge about the child’s physical, cognitive (language), social, moral, perceptual and aesthetic development. Two other modules in the FP, namely, Reading, Writing and Spelling – (First Language) and Reading, Writing and Spelling – (First Additional Language) build on gains achieved in this module on emergent literacy. Reading and writing in the home language begin with emergent literacy, especially when the child starts school. Reading and writing in the First Additional Language (FAL) ensures that the child has acquired the home language before learning the FAL. The approach employed to teaching the FAL resembles those of teaching literacy. PREFACE ........... viii The module that specifically aims at promoting emergent literacy is Children’s Literature. It is a module that promotes listening, speaking, reading and writing in an informal manner using age-appropriate materials. The content targets children from the age of one year up to the age of six years. The purpose of the module is to instil in the child a love for reading. With regard to you as a student teacher, I am certain you will realise how important the Emergent Literacy module is. It lays the foundation for the other modules and should therefore be studied in depth. In order to have a clearer understanding of language modules in the FP curriculum, you are advised to understand the Emergent Literacy module first, because it will indicate the children’s level of development in literacy. You are advised to read Unit 1 of this module with special attention because it explains the layout of this study guide in detail. ........... 1 EML1501/1 1STUDY UNIT 1 1An introductory orientation to the study guide THE AIM OF THE UNIT The aim of Unit 1 is to introduce you as a student teacher to the concept of emergent literacy or pre-literacy and to explain how a child’s language acquisition develops from early childhood babblings to language that has the same meaning as that of adults. LEARNING OUTCOMES After studying this unit, you should be able to: • Define emergent literacy using own words. • Outline the stages of language development from infancy to 5 years. • Discuss the acquisition of listening, speaking, reading and writing. • Name and indicate the significance of emergent literacy skills. • Describe the role of teachers in fostering emergent literacy skills. • Discuss play as a pedagogy in the early learning stages. KEY CONCEPTS • Language as a concept • Emergent literacy • Emergent speaking • Emergent skills • Emergent writing • Emergent reading • Language acquisition • Children’s literature • Play as a pedagogy for language learning 1.1 INTRODUCTION Welcome to the module on Emergent Literacy and we trust that you will enjoy and find it interesting as much as we do. Unit 1 introduces you to the concept of emergent literacy. It provides a cross-section of the content of the study guide in brief but with clarity. The purpose is to guide you through all the units of this study guide so that you become a well-grounded, knowledgeable and reflective teacher who will lead pre-schoolers to the development of full literacy. ........... 2 Unit 1 explains how skills needed for the development of oral language, reading and writing skills are acquired. Although the emphasis of the module is on the Grade R child, we deemed it necessary to trace the development of literacy from the age before Grade R for you to better understand the child’s journey to literacy. The study guide elaborates on the role that teachers can play in supporting young children to develop literacy skills. The content of this study guide is simplified by a number of practical examples including illustrations that further clarifies the topic under discussion. You will learn about the concept “language” so that you develop an in-depth understanding about language as a phenomenon and language as a factor in literacy development. We start by presenting case studies to capture the different contexts in which teaching and learning occurs. Defining emergent literacy and explaining its components in detail follows next. The importance of a knowledgeable and reflective teacher and the teacher as a pedagogical leader are discussed. Stages of language development are also discussed as precursors to the section on ‘emergent speaking’. A brief reference is made to theories that explain how language is acquired. Full detail about theories of language development is given in Unit 2. Emergent reading and emergent writing skills are mentioned in this unit (Unit 1) but explained in detail in Units 3 and 4 respectively. Play as a popular pedagogy in early learning is discussed in detail in this unit (Unit 1).