Comparative Analysis Of Language And Literacies Learning Essay

As our nation shifts towards a more culturally diverse population both educators and families have to find a common ground to ensure that English Language Learners are academically successful. All stakeholders must carefully consider the social cultural impact on an ELL education. The process of raising bilingual learners take more than a language a school and a language learned at home. The transition must have a purpose and a goal.

Developmental psychologist have been very interested in parent’s styles and how they impact on the development. During the early 1960s, psychologist Diana Baumrind conducted a study, she put the study on 100 preschool-age children (Baumrind, 1967).However, Baumrind found that actual cause and the effect links between the

Researchers have uncovered convincing links between parenting styles and the effects these styles have on children. During the early 1960’s, psychologist Diana Baumrind conducted a study on more than 100 preschool-age children (Baumrid, D. (1967) child-care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behaviour. Genetic psychology monographs, 75, 43-88). Using naturalistic observation, parental interviews and other research methods, she identified four important dimensions of parenting; disciplinary strategies, warmth and nurturance, communication styles and expectations of maturity and control. Based on these dimensions, Baumrind suggested that the majority of parents display one of three different parenting styles. Further research by Maccoby also suggested the addition of a fourth parenting style (Maccoby, E.E. (1992). The role of parents in the socialization of children: An historical overview. Developmental psychology, 28, 1006-1017)

There have been many policies and legal battles when it comes to English Language Learners. For every policy, then will inevitably be a case to challenge it, as it is difficult to define what is truly equitable for every ELL student. Programs for English Language Learners (ELLs) have struggled to get the needed recognition and support from school district offices of our public schools. One piece of legislation that was passed to help end the inequality of education for these students was the Equal Education Opportunity Act or EEOA. The EEOA mandated that all students that are identified as an English Language Learner are to receive individual English only instruction. This is a good start to offering the right kind of instruction that is needed for students who are struggling to learn a second language.

Throughout a child’s early stages of life, language is used primarily for communicating with parents in order to get what they need. From as early as birth babies communicate through crying in order to tell parents what they want. Parents soon learn to distinguish between the hungry cry, the wet/dirty cry and the tired cry. According to Halliday, 1975, children begin to learn their first language from between six – eighteen months old. He believes children are learning a ‘system of meanings’. He looks at language from a functional point of view and suggests there are seven functions that language serves for young children. The first four of these functions ensure that social, emotional and physical needs are catered to, they are called, Instrumental, Regulatory, Interactional and Personal. Instrumental refers to a child using language to ensure they get what they need or want. The Regulatory function tells others what to do in order to control their behaviour. The Interactional function relates to the use of language in order to interact with the people around the child particularly those seen as important such as parents and siblings or close friends. The personal function relates to how the child uses language to explain feelings, and their own identity. The other three functions are used as children become older and want to know more about the world, tell stories and pass on information.

The key elements of emergent literacy note that adult support and supervision is crucial to children’s language development in an early childhood setting. Their confidence in learning and engagement comes from their social background, families, and community experiences. It is noted that from birth, children’s communication with others are extensive by the use of sounds, gestures and language. The cognitive and linguistic aspects they need are social, spiritual and creativeness thus allowing them make connections and sense of new experiences (DEEWR,

We believe that everything in our life is usually fine with no problems but that are times that we tend to realize the difference in our life, “But, I do think that the language spoken in the family, especially in immigrant families which are more insular, plays a large role in shaping the language of the child” (Tan P.199). The family plays a major language modeling role onto the child. The author contradicts sociologists and linguists on the influenced by peers of developing language skills. She believes it is through family that affects how the child interprets language. In addition, the quality of speech is at home. Steele’s quote conveys to readers that life observations are based on a particular person’s perspective. Tan provides ample evidence on sociologists and linguists research on developing language skills, their research points out that children’s language skills are influenced by classmates. Yet Tan’s belief is that immigrant families have greater impact on the child due to their grasp of the english language. Ultimately, it is Tan’s personal experience that lead to her idea on with developing language skills compare to the sociologist and linguist whether than by family. Tan indicates that her life experiences with language developing skills are influenced by

Children’s language development does not occur by maturity only. Adults play a major role in children’s semantic development. Children who are not getting enough quality parent- child interaction have a lower vocabulary, as the amount of vocabulary they learn is due to their literacy experiences at home. Children’s first words are words that are familiar to them typically include “people, objects that move, foods, animals, familiar actions, outcomes of such actions and social terms” (Berk, 2013, p. 376). Therefore social support is critical in order to help in the child’s language development, according to Bruner’s concept of a “language acquisition support system” (LASS) (Fellowes and Oakley, 2014).

Contemporary research in child development suggests quite convincingly that an optimal level of development occurs with a stimulating environment and strong contextual support (Bronfenbrenner 2000; Diamond 2000). Furthermore, these factors may have even more impact during the first years of life. Of the various factors comprising the environment, few would disagree that the home is a primary agent for learning and development. For the past half century, considerable effort has been devoted to mapping the relations between the home environment and selected aspects of the child’s development.

The author attempts to show the diversity of cultures in the way parents interact with their young children as they learn to speak. Studies by the researchers indicate that cultural values, language ideologies and social practices of a particular community can influence important aspects of the acquisition process of the language, such as the order in which certain grammatical structures learned or even if a particular language is acquired at all. Another interesting point is highlighted that the acquisition of language does not end with childhood, but continues taking new roles in life or learning a second

Cultural factors always shape the ways different communities engage in readinf and writing. The research shows that the language with which children are socialized to become competent members of their community and competent users of their particular language is imbued with cultural markers general beliefs, values, and norm, as well as specific beliefs and practices related to children's development(Building Literacy Instruction From Children’s

     If I say that I am currently employed with a major petroleum distribution center, you may think that I am a highly qualified person making limitless amounts of money. However, I am using the power of language to merely say that I work at a gas station making minimum wage. Great historical figures throughout history have used the power of language, the ability to use words to their advantage, to inspire people to unite under one common cause and to change the world.

Children rely heavily on the input of their surrounding environments to develop these skills further (Eileen Allen & Marotz, 2003). The communication strategy used by children over the first year of life is predominately non-verbal before development progresses to include verbal communication (Rodnick & Wood, 1973). McDevitt and Ormrod (2010) suggest social emotional, physical and cognitive development is facilitated by the experiences children have in their “family, school and community” (p. 5). This raises the idea that the level of communicative development may differ greatly between children depending on experiential exposure. Rodnick and Wood (1973) expand on this further suggesting children will actually develop a level of grammatical and language understanding which is essential to communication, long before they commence schooling. In research conducted by Rodnick and Wood (1973) it was noted in their findings that the children subject to their research demonstrated a lower level of communication than expected at around the age of seven and suggest it may be due to environmental factors. This then draws some attention to the educator and their ability to teach a developing child not only the importance of communication, but also the skills of appropriate and effective communication.

There are many different variations of language, language that is seen, such as sign language, body language and written language, then there is the language that is heard, such as people speaking. There are over 7,000 spoken languages in the world alone without taking into consideration nonverbal languages. For adults and children alike, this can be overwhelming because in each language there are different behaviour patterns, different registers, different age groups and what is acceptable in one language may not be considered acceptable in another such as how close is too close to stand to someone else. For children who come from families whose first language is not English, this is even more difficult when trying to live somewhere that doesn’t predominately speak their first language, which is just one of the many differences people have to be aware of when considering diversity. This essay will examine the different environmental and circumstantial factors that may influence the development of children and the role that language can play in their lives as they grow, such as what and who children are exposed to, positive and negative influences such as adults and other children and the lifelong impact these surroundings have on the child.

When looking at sociocultural factors one is faced with a variety of models that attempt to provide a social explanation of how language is acquired. This includes an examination of such influences as the social characteristics of the setting and the learner and the social rules for second language use. While typically associated with these models, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which is based in his study of psychology, does not attempt to use culture to explain how language is acquired. Instead, Vygotsky identifies the relationship between language and culture as a dynamic, reciprocal and constantly evolving experience whereby language and culture are constituted in and of each other.