Essay: Language And Literacy Development In Early Childhood Education.

1. Identify and describe relevant key concept(s) of language and literacy that are the focus of your learning activity plan

2. Description of a practical language or literacy activity you could use in the early childhood setting to support the child/children’s oral language development in the Australian context. How are you going to introduce the activity, what do you do during the activity (to involve the child/children and support their learning) and how are you going to conclude the activity?

3. How the plan relates to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)

Building Language Skills through Activities

Language and speech are the way to express oneself. A person can express himself through his speech to others. Speech is the most powerful way of expressing the feeling of a person. Language is the effective means of communication. The language and literacy has been considered as the major domains of early childhood development. This is the development of the skills that are used to communicate with others through the use of language. Therefore, the development in language is one of the major necessities (Jones & Harcourt, 2013). The key concept of language and literacy include the development in the childhood learning in order to speak the native language and further the reading in that language as well as writing in that language. The concept of literacy is defined as the ability to read as well as write the language (Harcourt & Jones, 2016).

 In order to support the development of the literacy and the language of the child different activities can be adopted. The activity would include the encouraging the child to make the vowel-like and the consonant-vowel sounds such as, “ ma”, “da”, and “ba”. The activity would include the reinforcement of activity like makin attempts by maintaining the eye contact, arranging responding speech and imitating vocalizations by using different patterns and emphasis (Logan, Lowrie & Bateup, 2017). This can be done by raising the pitch of the voice while making any questions or to make any remarkable announcement. The activity would further proceed by conducting a competition that would include teaching the child to imitate the actions, like clapping hands, throwing kisses playing finger games like the pat-a-cake, peek-a –boo. (Garvis, et al., 2013).

The activity can be concluded by declaring one child as the winner of the activities as this would inculcate a sense of competition and would increase the sportsman spirit in the child. The most important activity that should be included in the conclusion of the activity is wishing goodbye to the kids and teaching them the same thing. This is a gesture that the children must be taught and they must be explained the use of it. It is used to convey a message. This is the best way of ending up the activities (Davis, Torr & Degotardi, 2015).

To conduct the activity the resources that are required are the books, to conduct the activity a faculty of good teachers are required who have completed the pre-primary and the Montessori training. The other resource that is required is a pre-primary school with proper infrastructure where such activities can be conducted. Resources like the activity blocks are also required to complete the activities (Cheeseman, Sumsion & Press, 2014).  

Resources Required for Supporting Language Development

The early years learning framework includes the framework of Australia that aims at enriching the learning of the children from birth to five years of age. This frame work has been designed to assist the educators to provide the young children the opportunities to maximize their potentials and develop a foundation for the future success in teach (Peers & Fleer, 2014). The activities that is mentioned above includes the players like the educators, children from the age group zero to four years. It also includes the play-based activities, and there is a particular curriculum which is an essential element of the EYLF framework. The activities also includes a particular pedagogy which includes the practice of early childhood educator`s professional (Edwards, et al., 2016). Therefore, there is a big connection between the EYLF frameworks. The activities include the building and nurturing the relationships, curriculum decision-making, teaching and learning. All these are essential components of the framework (Barblett, Knaus & Barratt-Pugh, 2016).

Reference list:

APA conventions (not included in word count)

Barblett, L., Knaus, M., & Barratt-Pugh, C. (2016). The pushes and pulls of pedagogy in the early years: Competing knowledges and the erosion of play-based learning. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 41(4), 36.

Cheeseman, S., Sumsion, J., & Press, F. (2014). Infants of the knowledge economy: the ambition of the Australian Government’s Early Years Learning Framework. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 22(3), 405-424.

Davis, B., Torr, J., & Degotardi, S. (2015). Infants and toddlers: how visible are they in the Early Years Learning Framework?. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 9(1), 12.

Garvis, S., Pendergast, D., Twigg, D., Fluckiger, B., Kanasa, H., Phillips, C., ... & Leach, D. (2013). The Victorian early years learning and development framework: Managing change in a complex environment. Australasian journal of early childhood, 38(2), 86.

Harcourt, D., & Jones, L. (2016). Re-thinking professional development: Positioning educational documentation as everyday professional learning. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 41(4), 81.

Jones, L., & Harcourt, D. (2013). Social competencies and the'early years learning framework': Understanding critical influences on educator capacity. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 38(1), 4.

Logan, T., Lowrie, T., & Bateup, C. (2017). Early Learning STEM Australia (ELSA): Developing a Learning Program to Inspire Curiosity and Engagement in STEM Concepts in Preschool Children. 40 years on: We are still learning!, 621.

Peers, C., & Fleer, M. (2014). The theory of ‘belonging’: Defining concepts used within belonging, being and becoming—The Australian early years learning framework. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 46(8), 914-928.

Edwards, S., Skouteris, H., Cutter-Mackenzie, A., Rutherford, L., O’Conner, M., Mantilla, A., ... & Elliot, S. (2016). Young children learning about well-being and environmental education in the early years: a funds of knowledge approach. Early Years, 36(1), 33-50.