Linking Language and Literacy

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Linking Language and Literacy

• Fulfilling the Promise
• Parent Educator Institute
• Wisconsin Dells, WI
• March 5, 2003
• Casey O'Keefe, MS/CCC-SLP
• Assistant Professor
• Reading/Language Arts Department
• Cardinal Stritch University
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• caokeefe_at_stritch.edu

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The Gift

• Language as a tool
• Socializing
• Learning
• Thinking

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The Phenomenon

• Hardwired for language
• Innate capacity
• Universal features
• Historical/cultural evolution

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The SystemApel, K. Masterson, J. 2001

• Phonologic
• Sound system
• Semantic
• Meaning system
• Morphologic and Syntactic
• System for grammar and word order
• Pragmatic
• System for social use of language

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The System

• Nonverbal
• Paralinguistic
• intonation, stress, emphasis, rate, phrasing,
  pause
• Nonlinguistic
• gesture, body posture, facial expression, eye
  contact, physical distance

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The Risks

• Hearing Problems
• Phonology
• difficult to understand as compared to peers
• Morphology
• Problems learning the little words
• Semantics
• Lack of vocabulary development
• Problems finding the right word
• Syntax
• Problems putting the words in order
• Pragmatics
• Using language socially

Hearing Problems Phonology difficult to
understand as compared to peers Morphology Problem
s learning the little words Semantics Lack of
vocabulary development Problems finding the
right word Syntax Problems putting the words in
order Pragmatics Using language socially
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The Link to Literacy

• Phonology
• Phonological Awareness
• Semantics
• Word Recognition
• Syntax and Morphology
• Reading comprehension and written expression.
• Pragmatics
• Character feelings, motivation, and voice in
  reading and writing

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Thought and Language Vygotsky, L.S. (1986).

• Thought is not merely expressed in words it
  comes into existence through them. Every thought
  tends to connect something with something else,
  to establish a relationship between things.
  Every thought moves, grows and develops, fulfills
  a function, solves a problem (p. 218).

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Parent/Child InteractionsHart, B. Risley, T.
(1999).

• Children who are frequently engaged in
• conversations with their parents acquire
• vocabulary rapidly and demonstrate greater
• intelligence at the age of 3 than children who
• have less opportunity for conversations.

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Parent/Child InteractionsHart, B. Risley, T.
(1999).

• Talk to socialize children
• Feeding
• Dressing
• Keeping safe and engaged in the world

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Parent/Child InteractionsHart, B. Risley, T.
(1999).

• Optional Talk
• Highly correlated with measures of the childrens
  verbal/cognitive competencies at age 3
• The talkativeness of the parents becomes the
  talkativeness of the children.

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Parent/Child InteractionsHart, B. Risley, T.
(1999).

• ParentTalkativeness influences
• The amount children learned more than the
• language development of the children
• The frequency and elaboration of the social
• dance as childrens increased knowledge drew
• more complex adult responses.
• The childs perception of their importance,
• competence, and ability to be understood
• The probability that children would to talk with
  their parents about their experiences

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Thought and Language Vygotsky, L.S. (1986).

• Instruction, after all, does not begin in
  school (p. 208).

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ScaffoldingVygotsky, L. S. (1962).

• Zones of Actual Development (ZAD)
• How the child functions in unsupported tasks
• Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD)
• How the child functions in supported tasks

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Scaffolding cont...Merritt, D. Culatta, B.
(1998).

• Interactive scaffolding
• Mediates teaching and learning through the
• use of language
• Reduces ambiguity and make the details explicit
• Focuses on key information
• Connections
• Associations
• Conclusions
• Allows for feedback
• Anchors conceptual development and problem
  solving skills

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Thought and Language Vygotsky, L.S. (1986).

• play creates a zone of proximal development
  of the child. In play a child always behaves
  beyond his average age, above his daily behavior,
  in play it is as though he were a head taller
  than himself (p. 102).

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Dramatic Play and LanguageRice, M., Wilcox, K.
(1989).

• DRAMATIC PLAY
• facilitates the childs ability to use language
  to create events.
• The four major components
• Schemes organization of the event
• the roles who does what?
• the props what things do you need to create an
  event?
• verbal scripts specific language modeled
  repetitively during the play.
• Activities are designed for group interaction and
  facilitate cognition, contextualized and
  decontextualized language.
• Language develops through social interaction.

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Language FacilitationFey, M. (1986).

• Facilitative Play
• the child plays with whatever s/he wants and
  plays with it however s/he wants to.
• Follow the childs lead 3 steps
• Wait for the child to do something
• Interpret the behavior as meaningful and
  communicative
• Respond to the childs actions in a way that is
  assumed to facilitate language development

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Language FacilitationFey, M. (1986).

• Self-Talk
• Talking aloud to yourself. Verbalize what YOU
  are seeing, hearing, doing, or feeling.
• Good for children who dont have a lot of verbal
  out put. You are providing a model for the
  child.
• Parallel-Talk
• Talking aloud about what the CHILD is seeing,
  hearing, doing, or feeling.

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Language FacilitationFey, M. (1986).

• Expansions
• Verbal responses that repeat the childs prior
  utterance while adding new grammatical or
  semantic details.
• Child Baby sleep.
• (note) places doll in the crib
• Adult The baby is sleeping.

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Language Facilitation Fey, M. (1986).

• Expatitations
• Extend the childs meaning by contributing new
  but relevant information.
• Child Baby sleep
• (note) places a doll in the crib
• Adult The baby is tired.
• Build ups and Breakdown
• Take the childs utterance
• Build it up through expansions
• Break it down to stress grammatical forms
• Build it up again.

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Family Literacy

• The study of the relationships between
• families and the development of literacy
• role of families in literacy development
• design of structured programs

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ResearchStrickland, D., Morrow, L. Eds. (2000).

• Children who read story books with their parents
  are more likely to be successful readers than
  those who dont.
• Children who have access to a healthy, varied
  amount of reading material are likely to be more
  successful readers than those who dont.
• Parental help can be very powerful in improving
  literacy.

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Style of Communication Strickland, D., Morrow,
L. Eds. (2000).

• One way communication
• School to parents
• Newsletters
• Workshops
• Programs that dispense information of reading to
  children and regular study habits

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Parent Partnerships

• Parents are experts regarding their child
• Discourse between home literacies and school
  literacies is inconsistent
• See children in the context of their families
• See families in a larger context

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Family LiteracyStrickland, D., Morrow, L. Eds.
(2000).

• Physical Environment
• Books found everywhere car, nightstands,
  coffee tables, etc.
• Children have their own desks and a quiet spot
  for reading
• Many literate tools crayons, paper, writing
  implements accessed easily
• Computers, typewriters, chalkboards, and
  magnetic letters.
• Teacher Role Communicate the importance of a
  print rich environment

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ClassroomStrickland, D., Morrow, L. Eds. (2000).

• Lending library
• check-out system
• Audiotapes
• second language learners
• children with limited storybook reading
• Children use them in the classroom and take them
  home.
• Videotaped interactions

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Shared Book-Reading ExperiencesStrickland, D.,
Morrow, L. Eds. (2000).

• Parents in naturally occurring interactions
• Parents helped children learn new words or
  concepts during reading
• Used knowledge of their childrens background
  to connect what was in the text to real life
• Scaffolded the text for their children

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Shared Book-ReadingExperiencesStrickland, D.,
Morrow, L. Eds. (2000).

• Parents in naturally occurring interactions
• continued
• Expanded or extended the story being read
• Focused childrens attention
• Checked their comprehension
• Elicited labels for objects and descriptive
  attributes

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Concepts of Print

• Cover
• Title, author, illustrator
• Beginning, ending
• Sequential language (first, second, last)
• Left/right orientation
• Top/bottom orientation
• Print tells the story, not pictures

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Concepts of Story Structure

• Narrative Genre/Story Grammar
• Character
• Setting
• Problem
• Solution

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Concepts of Sentence Structure

• Sentence Complexity
• Linking Ideas
• Coordination
• Cause/Effect
• Time/Sequence

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Concepts of Words

• Word Meaning
• Concepts
• Meanings
• Classification
• Literate language
• Conversation (high frequency)
• Books (low frequency)

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Concepts of Sound

• Phonological Awareness
• Rhyme/rhythm
• Words in sentences
• Syllables in words
• Sounds (phonemes)in syllables

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Concepts of CultureGee, J.P. (1996)

• Social Literacy
• Literacy in the context of the individual
• Literacy in the context of society
• Literacy in the context of politics and power