Language Acquisition

Before doing the readings, I had an idea of how children acquire language. The readings further confirmed my ideas. Children acquire language from everything around them, mostly from hearing their parents or other adults talk. Between the ages of 2 and 7 seems to be a critical time for this to take place. Children copy what they hear their parents say, even if when they say it, it’s not grammatically correct. They still understand the ideas of language enough to formulate such ideas. When children say things incorrectly, parents usually rephrase it correctly and in a positive way so as not to discourage their kids from talking. The article Mama Teached Me Talk said that when kids say two words such as “Daddy go” they have already “mastered basic rules of syntax”. As they get older, they adjust what they are saying to match that of the adults around them. The article further states that language is an “innate capacity triggered by the level of development”. The Wikipedia article discusses the fact that language acquisition sparks the nature versus nurture debate.

After reading all of the articles and this week’s chapters, I feel that it is a combination of nature and nurture. Sure there is the innate ability to develop language, however, that has to be brought about by the environment. The two examples of the children who didn’t have language skills and were beyond the critical stage, shows that environment plays a huge role in language acquisition. The articles also mention that repetition increases one’s ability to do something. Repeating a variety of language activities will further strengthen a child’s skills. Reinforcing the appropriate level of a certain behavior is also shown to increase performance.

So what might all this have to do with reading? Reading to a child is a form of communication. Hearing the words read aloud and properly will help them to acquire language and expand their vocabulary. Once they have acquired language, they will begin to read on their own. Reading and language acquisition seem to go hand in hand.

Online Articles

In the “Silencing Teachers” article, I really felt for the teachers in the Downer school. First of all, what kind of name is that for a school? They were saying that the students in that school were “predominantly poor, non-native English speaking Latino children”. Having the school named that seems to inadvertently label the students and attitudes in the school. While I read the article, I was left with the constant question of why don’t the administrators in the district put the students’ best interest first? They are so worried about making the grade that they don’t see what it is doing to the children. The teachers are trying their best but getting nowhere as they try to fight for the students. After all, wouldn’t it be the teachers that know the students’ needs best since they work with them on a daily basis? It is very sad to know that this is going on in this district, and I’m sure many others across America.

The section from Wikipedia that defines literacy as “the ability to read, write, spell, listen and speak” was interesting. I found it interesting to know that a long time ago, literacy was measured by one’s ability to write their name or read the Bible. Now we have much different standards, which are still in question. So many different aspects go in to literacy, such as decoding, fluency and comprehension. The article also mentioned a bunch of new illiteracies, to which I had never given any though. I realize that with the introduction of the computer and Internet, a whole new world of ideas and information came about. I hadn’t thought of these as having an effect on one’s literacy. I feel that the initial definition of literacy does make sense on a basic level, however, it is clear that so much more goes into shaping a literate person. Will there ever be a concrete definition of what it means to be literate without someone arguing something else?

Happy Reading!

Welcome! My name is Samantha. I currently teach grades 1-3 in a Montessori school in Waldwick. I'm looking for a new job for September, so if you know of anything let me know!