Language Is The Prime Means Of Communication Essay

Language is the foundation for all academic and social skills and the basis for strong relationships with children

Language is essential to every interaction and aspect in human’s everyday lives. Imagine a world without language, everyone will be mute and doesn’t have any connection with each other. Being able to communicate through language with each other forms bonds and that’s what make human different from any animal species. And language gives us a unique and diverse characters to each of us.

The term language means to understand a range of signs, symbols and gestures used to communicate and express themselves for example a child smiling or frown or waving their hand. Language can come in two ways expressive and understanding. Expressive language means describing objects, building sentences and following rules of grammar so things make sense. Understanding means processing and making sense of what people are saying and understanding words that are being spoken. In my setting children will tend to follow the understanding language as they might just about to begin to understand and process simple things e.g. sitting down, standing up.

Language is an integral part of human existence. It is not only a crucial tool in which we use to convey meaning to others, but also a cultural construct passed down from previous generations that helps to define who we are and how we relate to others. Ultimately language defines our relationships with others, the way we use language is shaped by our own socio- cultural background and also that of whoever we may be communicating with. Self awareness of how our own use of language has been shaped by our background and an understanding of what shapes others use of language leads to better communication, understanding and empathy.

TO: Alison Allen, Human Resources Director; Cary Hasler, Marketing/Advertising Director; Joseph Earl, Customer Service Director; Elizabeth Hope-Earl, Client Account Director

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.

Language is becoming a powerful means of communication. From connecting two words first children are beginning gradually to build up sentences and their talking is becoming understandable even to those who are not in regular contact with the child. Even though there might be the odd mistake in the sentence structure, the language toward the end of this period is becoming fluent and children ask questions and generally enjoy expressing themselves through language.

Language is used to communicate and convey meaning from one person to another. It is an arbitrary system of sounds and symbols in which it is contextualised and is used to express cultural identity and social relationships. Language can be seen by the way individuals communicate through gestures and facial and body expressions. Language can be heard through voice and attitude (Gee & Hayes, 2011). Language is diverse in the sense that different languages have different words for the same concept. However language allows communication of values and beliefs. Kilickaya (2009) highlights that, ‘English is the best option for people from different backgrounds’. Within Standard English different registers are used to assist communication,

Language is our thoughts expressed, it’s how we attempt to define ourselves and set ourselves apart as individuals or as part of a social gathering of living situation.

Language can be both seen and heard, it can be written or spoken. Signs, body language, gestures and facial emotions are all visual forms of communication. Whilst, songs, groans and sighs are verbal forms. For many children, Jeanee Chall believes that they “will spend their first three years of school learning to read, and then they will start using reading to learn”. On Chall’s condition, this would signify that visual language has a great importance in a child’s life as it strengthens their ability to learn information beyond basic language and communication. In addition to Chall’s statement, authors behind the ‘Literacy and its Impact on Child’ article expressed the following, “Early education is the time in which young children develop

Children communicate in many ways. Language and communication help us to socialise and express our needs. Babies use sounds, facial expressions and hand or arm gestures to express the way they are feeling. As they grow older their language skills gradually begin to develop and they will use more complex gestures such as pointing at objects. Language allows the child to express themselves and communicate. Alongside speech, reading, writing, drawing and signing are all important parts of a Childs language development.

     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.

Since the first text message was sent in 1992 digital communication has affected our lives in both positive and negative ways. It has changed the way we run our lives, making us more efficient, more effective human beings. However many people claim that digital communication has had a purely negative impact on our civilisation. They believe the only product from digital communication is laziness. It is widely believed that the current generation is more lethargic then any other that came before it, this is apparently caused by digital communication. We have become lazier in two ways with our actions and our language. Both of these have apparently been caused by digital communication, because we no longer have to leave the house as we can

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.

Communication is a process where we share our feelings, ideas, thoughts, suggestion, experience, feedback, opinions, etc. It’s a dialogue in which the sharing of meaningful information are constantly coming in and going out between two or more people in order