THE LINKS BETWEEN EARLY LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND LITERACY

HOW EDUCATORS CAN HELP CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE CONCERNS

BY KEETA WILLIAMS

Language 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.

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. 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?

LANGUAGE AND LITERACY RESEARCH 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.

Children learn skills progressively. Oral language skills gained during

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

"Studies show that language development at age three predicts not only reading ability at ages 10 to 11 but achievement in learning overall."

language concerns (SLC), and those without. Throughout primary school, the SLC children achieved lower literacy scores compared with those in the second group. This study also found the SLC children progressed normally at school, but did not catch up to the literacy levels achieved by the children in the second group.

Dr Emilia Djonov, a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Language and Literacy at Macquarie University, says, "language development prior to school equips children with competencies that are essential for learning to read and write in conventional terms. An important one among them is phonological awareness, children’s familiarity with the sound structure of language and skills in manipulating speech sounds.

"Oral language skills, which include but extend beyond vocabulary, are another key competency for success in both literacy and learning. Studies show that language development at age three predicts not only reading ability at ages 10 to 11 but achievement in learning overall."

Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel, an extensive meta-analysis of hundreds of studies, found several early abilities that could be precursors of later literacy achievement:

Knowledge of the names and sounds of letters

Ability to write their own name

Phonological awareness

Ability to quickly name aloud a series of items on a page: letters, numbers, colours and objects

Ability to remember spoken information for a short period of time.

Early childhood educators can support children in developing these abilities in preparation for primary school, but this does not mean they need to create a checklist. Educators can still maintain a play-based curriculum, as described in The Early Years Learning Framework, that is rich with opportunities for observing, using and exploring all forms of language.

"Early educators are well aware of the benefits of play for early learning, and are generally able to explain its value to families. Many early childhood services, however, often under pressure from families, adopt methods for supporting literacy that are best left for the early years of school," says Dr Djonov.

"For example, pre-packaged, one-sizefits-all, and expensive, commercial phonics programs are heavily advertised as building knowledge of sound-letter correspondences and thus supporting children in learning to read and write. Their claims, however, have not been tested by rigorous, independent research.

"Such research shows, in fact, that preschool-aged children best develop reading and writing skills through child-driven, play-based, authentic and individualised experiences with print."

Amanda Simon, a speech pathologist who has 25 years' experience and works with children in Sydney, identifies red flags that may suggest a child needs additional support with communication development.

9-12 MONTHS

⊲ Poor use of eye contact to communicate and share experiences.

⊲ Does not appear to listen when spoken to. Child may be unresponsive when their name is called.

⊲ Little or absent use of joint attention - the child does not look at an object they are interested in and then towards another person, to indicate and share their interest.

⊲ Little use of babble and no specific sounds used (e.g. baba, da-da).

12-18 MONTHS 2 YEARS

⊲ Does not try to copy physical actions (e.g. clapping).

⊲ Does not follow simple directions (e.g. "get your shoes").

⊲ Does not use any true words consistently. Roughly, children should have at least 10 meaningful words by 18 months.

⊲ Does not show interest or respond to simple directions when looking at books (e.g. "show me the duck").

⊲ Has limited play skills (e.g. mouths or throws toys rather than using toys for their intended use).

⊲ Cannot point to common body parts when asked.

⊲ Cannot answer simple questions (e.g. “what does a dog say?”).

⊲ Cannot follow two related directions (e.g. “get your shoes and your bag”).

⊲ Does not use at least 50 words regularly.

⊲ Does not combine words into two-word phrases.

⊲ Does not use the sounds m, p, b, w, n, d or t correctly when talking.

3 YEARS 4 YEARS

⊲ Cannot answer simple questions and have a short conversation.

⊲ Repeats back a question or direction rather than responding to it.

⊲ Does not show a clear understanding of early concepts (e.g. big/little, primary colours).

⊲ Cannot use four or five words in a sentence.

⊲ Cannot name many common objects, animals and actions.

⊲ Does not ask questions.

⊲ Does not answer questions about the present, a recent event, or a story they have just heard.

⊲ Cannot follow directions with prepositions (e.g. 'in', 'on', 'under', 'behind').

⊲ Cannot use grammatical components of language (e.g. plurals, pronouns).

⊲ Child’s speech is not easily understood by strangers.

5 YEARS

⊲ Does not understand preschool language concepts (e.g. common colours, words for describing size).

⊲ Frequently appears to have difficulty following directions.

⊲ Cannot have a reasonably welldeveloped conversation about a topic that interests them.

⊲ Cannot join their sentences together with words (e.g. 'and', 'because', 'after').

⊲ Cannot talk in grammatically correct sentences, although some parts of grammar are still difficult for many children at this age.

⊲ Cannot tell a simple story with a beginning, middle and end.

"It’s very important to reassure parents that any language difficulties their child may be experiencing is not a sign of a lack of intelligence. It also doesn’t mean things are hopeless."

HOW DOES EARLY INTERVENTION WORK? Early childhood intervention is the provision of specialised support services for children with disabilities and/or development delays. Research tells us that children who need intervention have a better chance of improving if they are identified and referred early.

"It is generally better to suggest referral for assessment earlier rather than later," says Speech Pathologist, Amanda Simon. "There are two reasons for this: the evidence in support of early intervention and the fact that waiting lists for services are long."

Families can ask for help from their general practitioner, local community health service or child health nurse, who can refer the child to specialist services if required. As part of The Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach, early childhood educators can refer children with developmental concerns to a local ECEI early childhood partner (www.ndis.gov.au/ecei).

HOW CAN EDUCATORS APPROACH A CHILD'S FAMILY? Simon encourages educators to discuss concerns about language development with the child's family or carer. Check that the child has had a recent hearing test, not just newborn screening.

"Explore what languages are used at home. However, even if a child comes from a different home language environment, they should still be able to use eye contact to communicate, listen and engage in joint attention," says Simon.

Marianne Connolly, the Director of St Paul’s Early Learning Centre in North Brisbane has access to a speech pathologist for children who attend the centre. She says, "When approaching a parent about language difficulties their child may be experiencing, it’s critical to be specific. Speaking in general terms is unhelpful. Give specific examples around how it affects them in the context of their early learning environment so that parents can have greater clarity. "It’s very important to reassure parents that any language difficulties their child may be experiencing is not a sign of a lack of intelligence. It also doesn’t mean things are hopeless.

"Sometimes parents can understand what their child is saying but a child’s peers or teachers may not. This can be difficult for parents to grasp on occasion. It’s important to articulate exactly how the child’s language difficulties are manifesting."

The most important factor to support children who need help developing literacy is cooperation. Children benefit most when educators, speech pathologists and families work together, to provide helpful, personalised and consistent learning experiences. 

EXCELLENT RESOURCES

These websites provide information on language and literacy with practical ideas for meaningful, play-based interactions.

Reading Rockets - readingrockets.org

GreatStart education.sa.gov.au/ greatstart

LET’S GET READING!

Here are some picture book suggestions which could help with early language development

RHYMING

LET’S GO STROLLING

by Katrina Germein illustrated by Danny Snell

ISBN: 9780648115694 *Winner of the 2019 Speech Pathology Book of The Year Award*

Puppy dog, butterfly. Aeroplane, cloudy sky. A sweet, gentle rhyming book that promotes language development and outdoor fun. Young readers will love finding familiar objects on every page.

STORYTELLING

RIBBIT RABBIT ROBOT

by Victoria Mackinlay illustrated by Sofya Karmazina

ISBN: 9781743834060 This lamp is enchanted and I am the genie

I'll grant all your wishes but DON'T be a meanie ...

A magical, hilarious tale about kindness with simple alliterative text. Perfect to read aloud.

MUSICAL PARTICIPATION

MY POSSUM PLAYS THE DRUMS

by Catherine Meatheringham illustrated by Max Hamilton ISBN: 9781922081834

Night-time falls and the possum orchestra begins.

Children will love to join in with this noisy celebration of possums and their night time antics.