Learning to read and write is a developmental process. Each child's experiences with language and literacy before they attend school will have an affect on the way in which their later literacy development will progress. This is because language and literacy are generative processes. In other words, the more children talk, read and learn, the more they are going to be able use and develop these processes. (Hill, 2006, pg17).
Language is made up of four different parts; sounds (phonemes), word order (syntax), words, and meaning (semantics). Pragmatics is the socialuse of language which has to do with selecting language to suit a particular purpose and vocabulary. Children experiment with vocabulary from birth onwards. Language is used for many different purposes including, satisfying personal needs, to control others, to express ideas, to interact socially with others, to explore and test new things, and to communicate information. There are six spoken language genres that teachers can use with children; recounts, narratives, procedures, explanations, reports and arguments. A recount is used to retell past experiences and tell what happened. A narrative is used to entertain, to teach or to extend the reader’s imagination. A procedure, which is also known as ‘Instruction’ describes the way to do things. A report organizes and stores information about a class of things. An explanation explains how something works or to give reasons for how something came to be. An argument is used to take a position on some issue and justify it.The goal of an argument is to persuade someone to your point of view (Hill, 2006, p314-316.)
Learning to read and write
Learning to read and write is a developmental process. Each child's experiences with language and literacy before they attend school will have an affect on the way in which their later literacy development will progress. This is because language and literacy are generative processes. In other words, the more children talk, read and learn, the more they are going to be able use and develop these processes. (Hill, 2006, pg17).
Language is made up of four different parts; sounds (phonemes), word order (syntax), words, and meaning (semantics). Pragmatics is the socialuse of language which has to do with selecting language to suit a particular purpose and vocabulary. Children experiment with vocabulary from birth onwards. Language is used for many different purposes including, satisfying personal needs, to control others, to express ideas, to interact socially with others, to explore and test new things, and to communicate information. There are six spoken language genres that teachers can use with children; recounts, narratives, procedures, explanations, reports and arguments.
A recount is used to retell past experiences and tell what happened.
A narrative is used to entertain, to teach or to extend the reader’s imagination.
A procedure, which is also known as ‘Instruction’ describes the way to do things.
A report organizes and stores information about a class of things.
An explanation explains how something works or to give reasons for how something came to be.
An argument is used to take a position on some issue and justify it. The goal of an argument is to persuade someone to your point of view (Hill, 2006, p314-316.)
(Reading English speaking 100 most popular words,2007, Youtube video, retrieved 24 April 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hz9Xgyz0A0)
(Hill, S 2006, Developing Early Literacy: Assessment and teaching, Eleanor Curtain Publishing, Prahran)