Importance of Early Literacy: Language-Literacy Connection

1. Importance of Early Literacy: Language-Literacy Connection Dinah Beams Fall 2013 Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind

2. Words and More Words • Words in English 500,000 • Words used by average American adult 125,000 • Words used by Shakespeare 30,000 • Words used in 3 hrs of TV 7,000 • Words recognized child entering school 6,000 • Words sight-read by end of 3rd grade 3,000

3. Growth of Expressive Vocabulary • Expressive words at 12 months 1-3 • Expressive words at 24 months 300 • Expressive words at age 3 900 • Expressive words at age 5 2300 • Diagnostic Methods in Speech Pathology

4. Importance of the Early Years: Hart and Risley (1995; 2003) • 86% to 98% of the words in each child’s vocabulary consisted of words in their parents’ vocabulary • Number of words spoken by parents powerful predictor of verbal intelligence and academic success • Vocabulary use of child at age 3 predictive of language skill at age 9-10 • 30 million receptive word gap between highest group and lowest group by age 3

5. With the power to read and think critically, we have the potential to learn everything that is known. Books are windows to the universe. Paul Ogden, A Silent Garden

6. Language vs Literacy Spoken/Signed Language Literacy (Written Language) Happens in real time Fleeting and temporary Fragmented and informal Varied, animated, melodic Shared with others Interactive Situational Happens in space (paper) Permanent Formal conventions Flat Often done alone Not interactive Primarily not dependent on situation Gift of Early Literacy, 1999

7. Language and Literacy are Related • Symbiotic relationship • A child needs to understand the meaning behind the words (language)in order to read (literacy). • Children who read earlier in life score higher on early language tests. • Language (using words and signs) and the awareness of language (awareness of spellings, letters, etc.) grow together , supporting each other. Literacy development involves this understanding of metalanguage.

8. If we could get our preschool parents to read to their preschool children 15 minutes a day, we could revolutionize the schools. Dr. Ruth Love Superintendent Chicago Public Schools, 1981

9. Books encourage the Development of Communication • Looking at books develops concentration and attention span • Interested involvement of caregiver helps the child to learn language • Imitating, labeling, expanding, and turn-taking happen naturally while sharing a book • Reading and rereading reinforces new words • Ability to focus on particular concepts. Manolson, 1992

10. Stage 1 Prelexic Prelogographic “preverbal children” Birth – 1 year Cooing and babbling Verbal or sign “before symbols” Birth – 2 ½ years Developing early concepts of print Paulson, Noble, Jepson, & van den Pol, 2001

11. Stage 2 Lexic Logographic Whole word (verbal or sign) 1 – 1 ½ years Beginning talker Whole written word 2 ½ - 4 years Recognizes name in print Recognizes written symbols in environment Paulson, Noble, Jepson & van den Pol, 2001

12. Stage 3 Systematic Simplification Early Alphabetic 1 ½ - 2 ½ years Simple word combinations Message is clarified by interpreting child’s body language 4 - 5 years Simple sound/letter correspondence Letters have meaning Experimental spelling Paulson, Noble, Jepson, & van den Pol, 2001

13. Stage 4 Assembly Later Alphabetic 2 ½ - 3 ½ years Syllable combinations Awareness of sentence structure Vocabulary expansion 5-6 years Phonetic spelling Sounds out simple words Familiar words part of child’s visual memory

14. Stage 5 Metaphonological Orthographic 3-4 years Awareness of word structure Understands that words can be changed and manipulated Rhyming and word play 7+ years Morphological structure More fluent readers Able to self correct and learn new word meanings

15. Few children learn to love books by themselves. Someone has to lure them into the wonderful world of the written word, someone has to show them the way Orville Prescott A Father Reads to His Children

16. Literacy Milestones “What is the use of a book”, thought Alice, “without pictures or conversation?” Lewis Carroll

17. Literacy MilestonesBirth – 12 months • Child explores books: mouthing, patting, banging • Child responds with attention, gestures, vocalizations after looking at pictures • Purpose • Promotes bonding • Exposure to language in fun, exciting way

18. How Parents Can Help • Introduce books early in everyday routines • Label and describe pictures • Sing songs and say rhymes • Label and describe events and objects in the environment • Provide a good model

19. Literacy Milestones 12 – 24 Months • Enjoy books as toys • Like to turn the pages themselves • Love predictable stories • Know books go front to back and right side up (after 18 months of age) • Point out familiar objects in pictures • Like the same books over and over

20. How Parents Can Help • Read and re-read favorite books • Talk about events in books, as well as talking about everyday routines • Provide materials for drawing • Point out symbols in the environment • Sing songs and repeat rhymes • Provide a good model for language and literacy!

21. Literacy Milestones 24 – 36 months • Child chooses books • Child wants the same book over and over • Will correct adult if story is read differently • Child loves predictable, repetitive language • Child can sit for 5 – 15 mins of storytelling

22. How Parents Can Help • Follow the words on the page with a finger • Encourage story writing • Talk, describe, question, converse • Provide a good model of language and literacy!

23. Literacy Milestones 3 – 5 years • Children begin to recognize likenesses and differences in words and type • Understand meanings of words and short sentences • Understands sequence of events in a story • Answers simple questions in detail • Enjoys retelling stories

24. How Parents Can Help • Play word games • Encourage child to retell recent events • Encourage imaginary play • Provide simple games • Encourage child to write and draw • Continue to engage in complex conversations

25. Goals for Early Literacy • Develop a love of books • Promote bonding • Develop awareness of concepts about print and that print is meaningful • Enhance language learning • Promote academic achievement

26. The Gift of Early Literacy, 1999 Specific Language Strategies to Promote Early Literacy with Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

27. Simplification • Communicate about the child’s interest • Follow the child’s lead • Communication should be simple, clear, and straightforward

28. Negotiation • Helping the child work out understanding of meanings of words • Repetition • Paraphrasing

29. Child Initiation of Conversations • Not Parent Directed • Child Communicates and Parent Responds

30. Real-Life Experiences • Expose a child to a variety of experiences from which they can build language • Apply language to all experiences

31. Semantic Contingency • Continue the topic the child introduces • Add new information to the topic – this encourages the child to continue the conversation • Introduce new language

32. Accountability • Gently encourage child to use the most sophisticated language he can • Be playful and encouraging

33. I cannot live without books. Thomas Jefferson