Children develop language in many different settings and in many different ways. Children’s interactions with their surrounding environment plays a big part in learning language. Language for children and for adults is a way of communicating as well as a way to understand themselves and their world. This essay will look at how children aged 0-2 years develop language. More specifically this essay will focus on how language can be learnt and developed through different types of interactions, the role that educators have in regards to children’s language development within an early childhood education and care (ECEC) centre and the different types of learning environments that can be used to develop language.
Language is how people communicate …show more content…
Harris (2009) states that children between the ages of 0-6 months absorb different voices whether directly or indirectly spoken to and that the higher the voice the more excited the child will be and the lower the voice the more soothed they will be. Therefore, parents of new born babies and educators in the care of young children can constantly interact with children in a number of ways using different tones of voices including when feeding them, changing their nappies, giving them a bath and when putting them to sleep. As children get older these interactions can become more in depth and parents and educators can use words to narrate what the child is doing. For example, when a parent or an educator is helping a child get dressed they can narrate what is happening by using two word sentences including – shoes on, arms up, two shoes, two hands etc. Language interactions between parents, educators and young children can also occur through reading stories together. McLachlan (2007) states that reading stories to children plays a big part in their language development as it teaches them new things and starts helping them learn about written language. Additionally, Harris (2009) states that stories with rhyming words, rhythm and repetition are easily engaging for children and children can sometimes be seen incorporating stories within their dramatic play (pp. 139-142). Language interactions can also take place …show more content…
The above interactions can be replicated by educators, throughout the daily routine of the centre or room the child is in. However, educators also have the important task of documenting and assessing children’s development and setting up different learning environments in order for children to learn as a part of the national law and regulations. Educators work in partnership with children’s families so that the children in their care are receiving the quality care they need in order to develop. This is affirmed in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (2009) Principle 2 – Partnerships which states that they each value, trust, communicate, share and engage with each other in all aspects of children’s development and wellbeing (p. 12). Ways in which educators can document and assess children’s language development is by using observations of children and planning experiences accordingly as a part of a weekly program. According to the National Quality Standard (NQS) Elements 1.1.2 and 1.2.1 (ACECQA 2011) the foundation of any ECEC program must include every child’s interests, knowledge, culture and abilities which must be assessed as an ongoing cycle of planning, documenting and evaluating children’s development. Educators can document and assess children aged 0-2 years’ language development in a number of ways including using various types of observation styles - anecdotal,
Language is how people communicate …show more content…
Harris (2009) states that children between the ages of 0-6 months absorb different voices whether directly or indirectly spoken to and that the higher the voice the more excited the child will be and the lower the voice the more soothed they will be. Therefore, parents of new born babies and educators in the care of young children can constantly interact with children in a number of ways using different tones of voices including when feeding them, changing their nappies, giving them a bath and when putting them to sleep. As children get older these interactions can become more in depth and parents and educators can use words to narrate what the child is doing. For example, when a parent or an educator is helping a child get dressed they can narrate what is happening by using two word sentences including – shoes on, arms up, two shoes, two hands etc. Language interactions between parents, educators and young children can also occur through reading stories together. McLachlan (2007) states that reading stories to children plays a big part in their language development as it teaches them new things and starts helping them learn about written language. Additionally, Harris (2009) states that stories with rhyming words, rhythm and repetition are easily engaging for children and children can sometimes be seen incorporating stories within their dramatic play (pp. 139-142). Language interactions can also take place …show more content…
The above interactions can be replicated by educators, throughout the daily routine of the centre or room the child is in. However, educators also have the important task of documenting and assessing children’s development and setting up different learning environments in order for children to learn as a part of the national law and regulations. Educators work in partnership with children’s families so that the children in their care are receiving the quality care they need in order to develop. This is affirmed in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (2009) Principle 2 – Partnerships which states that they each value, trust, communicate, share and engage with each other in all aspects of children’s development and wellbeing (p. 12). Ways in which educators can document and assess children’s language development is by using observations of children and planning experiences accordingly as a part of a weekly program. According to the National Quality Standard (NQS) Elements 1.1.2 and 1.2.1 (ACECQA 2011) the foundation of any ECEC program must include every child’s interests, knowledge, culture and abilities which must be assessed as an ongoing cycle of planning, documenting and evaluating children’s development. Educators can document and assess children aged 0-2 years’ language development in a number of ways including using various types of observation styles - anecdotal,