Speech and Language

Meeting the Needs of all

Children
Georgina Gosden
 Objectives
• Knowledge of the main theories of
language acquisition
• Knowledge of how language is
broken down into its components.
• Knowledge of the differences
between delay and disorder
• How to promote early literacy skills
in an Early Years setting
• Appropriate strategies for EAL
 The importance of
Language
• It is therefore matters that we
inquire into the place language still
holds in the definition of man.
Claude
Hagege(1995)
• It is language that informs the
definition of man.
Roland Barthes
(1984)
 Language Acquisition
• Three fundamental questions which
need to be asked:
1. How does a child learn language so
well in such a short time?
2. What is the course, or sequence, of
language learning?
3. How do we know what a child
knows?
 Theories of language
acquisition
• There are three major used to
explain how children learn
language. These are often
described in different ways or given
different labels but these are broad
definitions:
1. Behaviorist (eg Skinner)
2. Language Acquisition Device (N.
Chomsky)
3. Cognitive
4. Social Interactions
 Behaviorist Approach
• Dominated 19c and early 20c
• Often based on studies of
animal behavior and laboratory
experiments.
• The process of learning –
positive reinforcement.
• Social phase – imitation
 Natives Approach
Language Acquisition
Device
• Attempt to explain - innate/ human
mind
• Chomsky – Second Cognitive
revolution
• Children are pre-programmed to
learn a language and are highly
sensitive to the linguistic features of
the environment.
• LAD enables the young infant
somehow to process all the
language it hears and generates it
own meaningful utterances.
 Cognitive Approach
• Criticized Chomsky an for not recognizing
infants developing knowledge of people
and the environment
• This view could be linked with Piaget
descriptions of the important mental
structures or schemas, created by the
infant’s interactions and explorations in
the environment in the first 18 months
• The cognition hypothesis does not ignore
the existence of an independent linguistic
system, but emphasizes the significance of
other cognitive abilities.
 Social-interactions
approaches
• Importance of adult and other
children’s role
• We learn a language because of the
things it can do for us and the part it
plays in making social beings
Summary
General agreement that early
language acquisition has both a
cognitive and a linguistic
component.
 Group Discussion
Example 1
The case of the ‘wild children of Aveyron’ thought to
have been raised by animals from a very young age.
Example 2
The cases of children abused or neglected within
their own families and have lacked the necessary
environment to develop successfully.

(the most famous incident was ‘Jeanie’ whose family

shut her away and never talked to her. Once again
she acquired many skills but never competence in
language)
Child Language, Learning
and Linguistics.
Language

Pronunciation Grammar
Meaning

Sociolinguistic Historical
Psycholinguistic
Dimension Dimension
Dimension

Main Dimensions of Language Variation

 Brain Research
• Through accidental injuries,
particularly those which
occurred during two world wars.
• Through the effect of surgery
• Through the effects of disease
• More recently, through are
ability to scan brain activity
 Stages in Speech and
Language Development
• Listening, watching and Sharing
• Sounds and Meanings
• First words
• Two- word combinations
• Early grammatical combinations
• In the years from 2-4 there is
ample evidence of children
developing language-learning
strategies
 Why do things go
wrong?
There are a number of general
reasons:
1. Genetic
2. Congenital
3. Physical problems
4. A sensori-neural impairment
5. General cognitive
6. An illness or disease
 What are the differences
between a language delay
and a disorder?
Delay Disorder
• Children are acquiring language
• Children’s
along thelanguage
normal is not
sequential pathway but at a slower
developing
pace than
in the
average
• This may be caused by severalexpected
different sequence.
factors This
1. - general level of ability can be in one of these
areas or more:
2. - poor health and development • Comprehension
3. - hearing difficulties • Expression
4. - physical difficulties • Function
5. - poor language environment•
This can be due to a
number of factors and it
is very difficult to assess
what is happening.
 What can happen if a
child’s language is
delayed?
• Children can often appear much younger than their chronological
age. Their behavior, play patterns and interests are much more
like younger children.
• Listening, attention and concentration are poor. Memory is often
poor.
• Behavior remains ‘physical’ and is more dependent on adult
management rather than taking on control for themselves
• They are not able to understands explanations easily nor can
they anticipate danger so are more at risk.
• Their social relationships do not often develop well particularly
as they enter into the period of cooperative play where
friendships become important.
• Intellectual skills suffer – resulting in a poor start to formal
schooling
• Academic difficulties may result in the future
• Self-esteem suffers
 What can happen if a
child’s language is
disordered?
• The child can understand what she hears but is not
able to formulate an adequate answer in speech
and perhaps later in writing.
• The child cannot understand, to varying degrees,
what is said to her. This affects her ability to make
sense of her world and to respond to it
appropriately.
• Some children, for a variety of reasons, learn to
speak well but do not have the underlying
understanding of what they are saying.
• Sometimes children develop odd patterns of
understanding, being unable to deal with certain
grammatical or syntactical structures, being
unable perhaps to find the vocabulary they require
quickly.
 Supporting a child with
language impairment
• The way a child is supported will depend on the
nature of the difficulty.
• Normally children are supported in mainstream
with advise and visits from speech therapists.
• Sometimes a speech therapists works individually
with a child.
• If a long term problem may be attached to a special
unit
• There are schools which cater for children with
severe language disabilities, often boarding, where
children may need to sign or use other methods to
communicate.
• Assessment methods
Knowledge about language
and the early years
educator
• Children are sensitive and social
communicators from birth.
• Children’s Language is original and
creative and enables them to get things
done, gain cooperation of others, and
comment on their world.
• Language is one of the major
developments of infancy and, alongside
play and other ways of representing
experiences like dancing, singing, painting,
shapes thinking learning and literacy.
Knowledge about language
and the early years
educator 2
• Speaking and listening must be at the heart of all
our provision for care and education in the years
nought to eight.
• Conversations with interested adults are essential
to children’s linguistic, emotional, social and
cognitive welfare.
• Early years careers and educators can learn more
about their children by observing them and
listening to them. In order to do this we can keep
brief notebooks, word diaries, audio and video
records, and photographs.

Whitehead,M. (1996) The Development of Language

and Literacy. London. Hodder & Stoughton
 The Early Years
Foundation Stage
Language, Literacy and Communication
1- opportunities to speak and listen and
represent ideas in their activities
2- using communication language and
literacy in every part of the curriculum
3- being immersed in an environment rich in
print and possibilities for communication
 The Early Years
Foundation Stage
Creative Development
- A stimulating environment in which
creativity, originality and
expressiveness are valued
- A wide range of activities that
children can respond by using many
senses
- Resources from a variety of cultures
to stimulate thinking
- Resources from a variety of cultures
English as an Additional
Language
• Bilingualism, including multilingualism, is a natural
way of life for millions of people around the world
and even in the UK over 100 languages are in
routine use, not including the native British Celtic
languages (Crystals, 1987)
• Bilingualism has many advantages, not least being
the young linguistics' marked ability to get outside
a language in some way and see it as just one of
several options for labeling and categorizing the
world. Young bilinguals are able to explore the
sounds and meanings of several languages, as ,well
as differing ways of representing them in writing.
• (Gregory and Kelly,1992)
 Kent Steps
A Framework for the Assessment
of Pupils with English as an
Additional Language
Definition
“Bilingual here is taken to mean all
pupils who use or have access to
more than one language at home or
at school – pupils who are living in
and learning in English and one or
more other languages. It does not
necessarily imply full fluency in both
languages”
Aiming High, Raising the Achievement
of Minority Ethnic pupils. DfES 2003
 Why Assess?
• Plan, set targets and decide how to provide
appropriate support to meet the needs of pupils
• Enable profiling which validates and celebrates
pupils’ learning in all areas including their first
language
• Enable us to share good practice and encourage
schools to work in partnership
• Monitor and evaluate the inclusion of pupils and the
progress of services and mainstream staff
development
• Inform our accountability and systems for
allocation of resources
How do we celebrate cultural diversity
through the Foundation Stage Profile

• Involve parents
• Increase the awareness of others by display and a
multicultural focus to everyday activities like
drama, singing, dance, cooking, dressing up
and story telling
• Visit different places of worship
• Ask the children to keep and share holidays diaries
• Learn a few word like ‘good morning’ in another
language and encourage the children to try saying
them
• Celebrate festivals
Observation and records
• Use FS
Make home
profile
visits
and Kent Steps
• Watchphotocopies
Take play and responses
• Use Bilingual
Collect evidence
Support
from other agencies
• Communicate
Use language Support
with main
Teachers
careers
• Use observation
Collect sample oftowork
plan next steps
• Use tapes, photos