Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
Chapter 12
Language and Literacy Development
The development of language occurs in infancy, when young children use sounds to
express themselves. This evolves into words, short phrases, and finally sentences that the child
uses to express their thoughts and feelings with one another. Language allows children to better
understand the world around them. There are phonetic rules of language, which include
phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. Children learn these rules as they
socially interact with adults in their environment. Social interaction is a critical mechanism for
children’s language acquisition and is a component of the interactionist model of language
development. Students whose primary language is one other than English are faced with the
challenges of learning a second language that may have different characteristics or rules. There
are many ways that children learn a second language, simultaneously or sequentially. Children
often shift from one language to another when they are speaking (code-switching); this does not
affect language development.
Young children’s language develops in stages and is the foundation for literacy. A
language arts curriculum stresses listening, speaking, reading, and writing, all of which are
components of language and literacy development. Teachers should be aware of the importance
of creating a print-rich and literacy-rich environment within their classroom. Many different
types of books should be accessible to the children throughout their day. The beginning of
teaching reading to young children is as simple as having story time and asking the children
questions. There are three approaches to teaching reading, including the whole language
approach, the whole word approach, and the phonics approach. All of these can be included in an
early childhood education classroom.
What are the Language Rules?
• The sounds that infants making during the babbling stage, develop into the sounds heard
in adult language.
• Morphology is the study of the structure and content of words.
• Semantics is the study governing the meaning of words and word combinations.
Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
• Syntax refers to word order or grammar that prescribes how words are combined to create
sentences.
What are the Theories of Language Development?
• The Nativist Model. Advocates believe that children are prewired for language and that
language is a process of normal maturation.
How do Children Acquire a Second Language?
Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
How do Children Develop Literacy?
• Emergent literacy is the belief that learning to read and write has much in common with
spoken language development.
• Components of the language arts curriculum:
o Listening: children will develop the ability to listen so they can make meaning of
their environment.
o Speaking: children will develop the ability to speak clearly, correctly, and
distinctly so they can be understood at school, home, and in the larger community.
• There are many ways to create a rich literacy (print-rich) environment:
o A variety of materials for reading.
o Diverse writing materials.
• A literacy-rich environment will also have these 5 characteristics:
o A special area of the room for book sharing.
o A variety of language and literacy related activities embedded throughout each
day.
Gordon Biddle, Early Childhood Education: Becoming a Professional Instructor Resource
• A language – and literacy-rich classroom will have materials that have been chosen to fit
the developmental needs of the children in the classroom.
o Exploratory activities encourage independence and curiosity.
• Planning for language and literacy teaching:
o Teachers should give clear directions.
o Have children ask questions, and provide them with an age appropriate answer.
• Classrooms should have a book collection that invites children into its library center.
o Rhythmical language books, point-and-say books, touch-and-smell books, board
books, early picture storybooks, action books, informational books, picture books,
predictable books, storybooks, wordless books, and beginning chapter books.
o 5 books for every child.
• Parents can be instrumental in fostering literacy development in their children.
o Parents value literacy.
o Parents use reading and writing in their daily activities.
o Parents engage children in frequent book sharing.
o Parents encourage children’s early literacy explorations.
• Literacy development at home and school is affected by three factors: setting, modeling,
and planned and unplanned events.
What are the Methods for Teaching Reading?
