1. Introduction
Language serves more purposes than just to communicate ideas from person to person. Language can be both seen and heard. Language can be written or spoken. Speech is described by Crystal (2005, p. 1) to be phonic. Writing is graphic. Crystal (2005, p. 1) speaks of the elements of language as having a physical bond. One cannot begin to write if they are not first familiar with oral language (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 57). Likewise, one cannot understand language if one cannot comprehend the meaning of why certain utterances are verbalised or the reasons for writing. Language is diverse. To comprehend language one must understand the context of the communication (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 121). The context for language consists of a register, …show more content…
The first phase of communication is what Fellows and Oakley (2014, pp. 54-56) call the pre-linguistic stage. The pre-linguistic stage begins from birth and lasts to when a child is around one year of age. It is important however, to consider both nature and nurture when designing learning environments to cater to cognitive and language development as environmental factors influence growth along with biological maturation (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, p. 46). A child in the pre-linguistic phase will by making vocal speech type noises and listening to a range of new sounds to having a limited vocabulary, associating names with common objects and showing some conventions of listening and speaking. Stage two to four consist of linguistic speech (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, pp. 56-60). During these stages the child’s vocabulary grows and they can pronounce most sounds correctly. By the fifth stage where the child begins using language symbolically the child is around five years of age. Approximately the next three years will consist of the child building skills to be able to use verbal language for a range of uses (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, p. 60). The uses were discussed earlier (para. 2) such as using language to express feelings or …show more content…
Fellows and Oakley (2014, p. 47) suggest that there are six main perspectives on language learning. One theory is the Behaviourist developmental perspective. Behaviourist theorists believe that learning is more dependent on nurture. B. F. Skinner believed that people operate on the environment to produce different outcomes (Margetts & Woolfolk, 2013 p. 223). Another theory is that of the Nativists who believe that language is acquired naturally through biological maturation (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 47). Chomsky believed that each child will learn language naturally in due course. The developmental stages defined by Fellows and Oakley (2014, pp 56- 60) show the natural progression that Nativists believe a child follows in adopting language. However, Fellows and Oakley (2014, pp 56-60) point out the influence nature has from parental influences and environmental interference. An example of this is an infant in the pre-linguistic stage showing evidence of quietening to pay attention to particular noises. Piaget stemmed the cognitive developmental perspective on language procurement. Piaget believed that a child cannot develop language skills until they have first advanced to certain cognitive stages (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, p. 50). The cognitive developmental perspective on language would explain why a child cannot learn how to write if they have not first grasped
Language serves more purposes than just to communicate ideas from person to person. Language can be both seen and heard. Language can be written or spoken. Speech is described by Crystal (2005, p. 1) to be phonic. Writing is graphic. Crystal (2005, p. 1) speaks of the elements of language as having a physical bond. One cannot begin to write if they are not first familiar with oral language (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 57). Likewise, one cannot understand language if one cannot comprehend the meaning of why certain utterances are verbalised or the reasons for writing. Language is diverse. To comprehend language one must understand the context of the communication (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 121). The context for language consists of a register, …show more content…
The first phase of communication is what Fellows and Oakley (2014, pp. 54-56) call the pre-linguistic stage. The pre-linguistic stage begins from birth and lasts to when a child is around one year of age. It is important however, to consider both nature and nurture when designing learning environments to cater to cognitive and language development as environmental factors influence growth along with biological maturation (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, p. 46). A child in the pre-linguistic phase will by making vocal speech type noises and listening to a range of new sounds to having a limited vocabulary, associating names with common objects and showing some conventions of listening and speaking. Stage two to four consist of linguistic speech (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, pp. 56-60). During these stages the child’s vocabulary grows and they can pronounce most sounds correctly. By the fifth stage where the child begins using language symbolically the child is around five years of age. Approximately the next three years will consist of the child building skills to be able to use verbal language for a range of uses (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, p. 60). The uses were discussed earlier (para. 2) such as using language to express feelings or …show more content…
Fellows and Oakley (2014, p. 47) suggest that there are six main perspectives on language learning. One theory is the Behaviourist developmental perspective. Behaviourist theorists believe that learning is more dependent on nurture. B. F. Skinner believed that people operate on the environment to produce different outcomes (Margetts & Woolfolk, 2013 p. 223). Another theory is that of the Nativists who believe that language is acquired naturally through biological maturation (Gee & Hayes, 2011, p. 47). Chomsky believed that each child will learn language naturally in due course. The developmental stages defined by Fellows and Oakley (2014, pp 56- 60) show the natural progression that Nativists believe a child follows in adopting language. However, Fellows and Oakley (2014, pp 56-60) point out the influence nature has from parental influences and environmental interference. An example of this is an infant in the pre-linguistic stage showing evidence of quietening to pay attention to particular noises. Piaget stemmed the cognitive developmental perspective on language procurement. Piaget believed that a child cannot develop language skills until they have first advanced to certain cognitive stages (Fellows & Oakley, 2014, p. 50). The cognitive developmental perspective on language would explain why a child cannot learn how to write if they have not first grasped