EDU 3102 Child DevelopmentPrepared by:Ng Jia Ying

A video to share, a thousand words to say

Tutorial Question

Discuss ways a teacher can encourage language development in children 7-9 years.

Introduction• Language- a form of communication, whether spoken or written, or signed, that is

based on a system of symbols.• Language Area in the Brain- Left hemisphere of cerebral cortex.• Human’s acquisition of language: Nature VS Nurture

• The proponent of Nature: The Nativist Perspective by Noam Chomsky• Human are prewired to learn language at a certain time in a certain way. (Santrock, 2008)• All children have an innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD).

• The proponent of Nurture: The Behaviorist Perspective• Language is learnt by children through imitation.• Imitation + reinforcement = promotion of language

• Reality: Both factors are inseparable. Both biological & environmental influences play important roles in children’s language development.

Introduction (Continued)• In order for a child to gain good proficiency in a language,

he/she must acquire the language during the age span of brain lateralization (until puberty). (Erik Lenneberg, 1967, as stated in Berk, 2009)

• Thus, teachers play an essential role in enhancing language development in children, besides caregivers.

School Age Children (including 7-9 years old children)

Elements of Language Development• Phonology- a language’s

sound system• Morphology- the units of

meaning involved in word information.

• Syntax: the way words combined to form acceptable phrases & sentences.

• Semantics: the meaning of words & sentences

• Pragmatics: the use of appropriatelanguage in different contexts.

Elements Of Language Development

Phonology

Morphology

SyntaxSemantics

Pragmatics

How can a teacher encourage language development in children 7-9 years?

Ways to encourage language

development of a child

“Voice Out” & “Write Out”

Sessions

Story- telling

Establishment of Reading

Corners

Flashcards

Incorporation of technology into teaching

My interest as priority

1) “Voice Out” & “Write Out” Session• Children’s social competencies & language experiences greatly affect language

development (Berk, 2009)• Language = a form of communication.• The best way of acquisition: Say-it-out LOUD!

• Children at aged 7-9 should be encouraged to express their feelings & thoughts orally. • The ability of orienting information, detailed descriptions & connectives

• lead to the increase in coherence to the story (Berk, 2009)• Evaluative comments rise dramatically, becoming common by age 8-9

(Meizi & Ely, 2009; Ukrainetz et al., 2005, in Berk, 2009)• Writing session can be done after the “Voice Out” session.

• Writing can help students process word meanings actively (Santrock, 2008).• Writing gives students an opportunity to use words in a variety of contexts.

1) “Voice Out” & “Write Out” Session“Voice-Out” Session• Interact with children in a conversational

manner about objects & events that have the child’s attention.

• Ask questions to get the child to think & talk

• Provide pauses in conversations to give children opportunities to generate language (O' Donnell, Reeve, & Smith, 2007).

• Conversations with adults about past experiences contribute to dramatic gains in children’s ability to produce well- organized, detailed, expressive narratives (Berk, 2009).

“Write-Out” Session• Assign fill-in-blank sentences, & read-

and-respond activities.• To ensure them that their voice is

heard although not being uttered. • To ensure that they have mastered the

structure of sentences.

• Assign students a topic to write about, using assigned vocabulary words discussed before.• Relate words to their respective

context.

2) Story-telling• Stories are frequently claimed to bring many benefits to young learners,

including language development (Wright 1997; Garvie, 1990, as stated in Cameron, 2010 )

• Stories offer a whole imaginary world, created by language, that children can enter & enjoy learning as they go.

• Why story-telling?• To develop students’ listening skills• To develop comprehension skills• To build up vocabulary• To foster a love of stories, and hence, a reading habit

Start your class with a story!

2) Story-telling (Continued)

• Talk with the class about their experience of the central topic of the story.• Story: a springboard for

conversations

Before

• Pictures : Aid• Explanations of new words

through pictures, acting out meaning or verbal explanation, vocabulary gain doubled, and the gain lasts for 3 months.

During• Ask students to reiterate the

story.• Act-it-out• Age 7:Arrange a set of

pictures of the story in order. • Age 8: Fill-in-blank questions• Age 9: Rewrite the story

(pictures given)

After

3) Establishment of reading corner• In most languages, reading is a cornerstone of learning.• Why reading corners?

• To instil reading habit• To develop vocabulary skills

• Reading contributes enormously to vocabulary growth in middle childhood & adolescence (Berk, 2009).

• To provide opportunities for independent reading and curricular extensions• To develop the culture of sharing

3) Establishment of reading corner (continued)

Collect & Label• Teacher: initiator • Students: contributor

Set “It’s reading” time• Act as a starting point• Engage in as little as 21

minutes of independent learning per day exposes children to nearly 2 million words per year

Sharing Session• The process of

exchanging ideas occurs.• Their ability to produce

narratives rich in orienting info & evaluations.

4) Flashcards (Fc)

Flash cards which can be bright and colourful make

a real impact on visual learners. Fc also appeal to

kinesthetic learners.

Great way to present, practise and recycle

vocabulary.

Flash cards can be used in conjunction with word cards for children at

reading age.

Suitable Activity Type (1):Memory Activities

Suitable Activity Type (2):Riddles

Should be followed up with writing exercise

4) Flashcards (Continued)Memory Activities

• To test students’ memories on a certain topic.

• To test the students’ speed in learning.

• Has a time limit for each activity• “Speed up synonyms”, students

are asked to figure out as many synonyms as possible for a flashcard words within 30 seconds.

Riddles• Can be used to get students to list

down the features of an object. • Can be used to test students’

understandings• Get 2 or 3 concrete nouns and

sticky notes.• On slide A, write the descriptive

sentences of that object.• On slide B, write the name of the

object.

It is a small animal. It is yellow and black.

It can fly. It gives us honey.

It's a big animal which has a long trunk.

It can swim and run but it can't fly.

Run smoother than any rhyme, loves to fall but

cannot climb

5) Incorporation of Technology into teaching• The myriad resources of the online world also provide each classroom

with more interesting, diverse, and updated learning materials.• The incorporation of technology enables learning to achieve:

• fun learning• active engagement,• participation in groups, • frequent interaction and feedback• connection to real-world experts.

• Examples• Educational-related materials• “Movie & Popcorn” Session• “Sing-a-song”• Digital Story-telling

Essential components in encouraging

language development

5) Incorporation of Technology into Teaching (Continued)Educational-related materials• Varies from graphics, videos & presentations.• Helps to capture students’ interest in learning in an exciting way.• Helps to develop listening skills & through this, students are capable to develop other skills such as sentence structure & patterns.

“Sing-a-song”• Helps to stimulate interest and attention, & thus maintain classroom motivation.• Helps to create relaxed & informal atmosphere• Reduce anxiety & increase students’ interest in learning targeted language

• Help young learners to improve listening skills, pronunciation & speaking skills. Songs can also be useful tools in the learning of vocabulary, sentence structures, & sentence patterns, (Murphey, 1992, as stated in Millington)

Teaching Mathematics using animated & interesting videos

Teaching Science using animated & interesting videos

5) Incorporation of Technology into Teaching (Continued)“Movie-popcorn” session• Students- learn the language by listening to the language of the

movie• Provides underlying messages, knowledge about worlds and

subjects• Provides a platform for discussion

Digital Story-telling• Combination of the art of telling stories with a variety of

multimedia, including graphics, audio, video, and web publishing.• Serve the similiar function as traditional story-telling• Provides a platform for discussion

Conclusion• It is clear that teachers play an important role in encouraging language development in

children, especially school-aged children.• This can be achieved through…

• Encouraging children to express their feelings & thoughts, either in spoken or written form, or both.• Story-telling• Establishing classroom library• Using flashcards• Integrating technology into teaching & learning process

• Consistent practice of these approaches will eventually develop good proficiency in the children.

• Children’s interest should be the top priority to maximise the learning that takes place.• Reminder for all teachers: Never make your students to study language, but make them

learn language.

Reference List• Why are folktales so useful in language teaching? (2011). Retrieved February 22, 2014, from Roger jenkins

storyteller: http://www.rogerjenkins.com.sg/languagethroughstory.html

• Riddles about animals. (2012, May). Retrieved February 20, 2014, from Cram: http://www.cram.com/flashcards/riddles-about-animals-2203830

• Why Integrate Technology into the Curriculum?: The Reasons Are Many. (2014, February 22). Retrieved February 23, 2014, from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

• Berk, L. E. (2009). Child development (eighth edition). United States of America: Pearson Education, Inc.

• Budden, J. (2004, February 24). Using flash cards with young learners. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from BBC-TeachingEnglish: http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/using-flash-cards-young-learners

• Cameron, L. (2010). Learning through stories. In L. Cameron, Teaching languages to young learners (pp. 159-179). United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press.

• Classroom Library. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2014, from Nation union of teachers: http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/12403

 

Reference List• Film in primary literacy. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2014, from Film Education:

http://www.filmeducation.org/resources/primary/teaching_with_film/film_in_primary_literacy/• Millington, N. (n.d.). Using Songs Effectively to teach English in Young Learners. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from

CAMTESOL: http://www.camtesol.org/Download/LEiA_Vol2_Iss1_2011/LEiA_V2_I1_11_Neil_Millington_Using_Songs_Effectively_to_Teach_English_to_Young_Learners.pdf

• Murphy, K. L., Depasquale, R., & McNamara, E. (2013, November). Using Technology in Primary Classroom. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from National Association for the Education of Young Children: http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200311/TechInPrimaryClassrooms.pdf

• O' Donnell, A. M., Reeve, J., & Smith, J. K. (2007). Educational psychology: reflection for action. United States of America: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• Santrock, J. W. (2008). Cognitive and language development. In J. W. Santrock, Educational psychology (third edition) (pp. 54-64). Singapore: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

• What is digital story telling. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2014, from Educational uses of digital storytelling: http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=27&cid=27

• Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational Psychology (Eleventh Edition). Ohio: Merrill.• (SoulPancake). (2013, September 12). Kid’s President’s Pep talk to Teachers and Students. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwlhUcSGqgs