The links between early language development and literacy HOW EDUCATORS CAN HELP CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE CONCERNS
BY KEETA WILLIAMS anguage and literacy skills provide children with freedom. Children use communication to engage with new experiences, form friendships and convey their wants, needs and ideas. Communication improves their ability to learn and supports life-long participation in society.
But how does an educator know if a child is experiencing language difficulties? Will language issues in early childhood impact a child's literacy learning in primary school?
Early childhood educators understand the importance of fostering language development. Infants benefit from rhymes, music, storytelling and one-to-one interactions. Older children benefit from a language-rich environment with access to literacy materials and tools, and diverse opportunities for socialisation.
While many children who are late talkers grow up to have acceptable language skills, research indicates that speech and language competence in early childhood can influence school literacy achievements.
L
LANGUAGE AND LITERACY RESEARCH
Children learn skills progressively. Oral language skills gained during
RATTLER ISSUE 130 | MARCH 2020 | 33
early childhood include knowing the meanings and sounds of words, and the grammatical structure of sentences. These skills are required before children can learn to read and write in primary school. Word recognition depends on knowing pronunciation, and text can only be understood if the word meanings are known. Children with speech and language concerns face greater challenges developing and improving literacy. Children from Growing Up in Australia, a longitudinal study of Australian children, were separated into two groups in the later years of early childhood: those with speech and
