PREVENTING READING DIFFICULTIES IN YOUNG CHILDREN
Preventing reading difficulties in Young Children
Being able to read and write fluently is essential for a successful school career. This statement, although true, hides the fact that there are many young children who battle with reading and writing in the foundation phase. Parents consider reading and writing important and many parents expect their children to master these skills during the preschool years.
When you stop to think about it, it is truly amazing that infants and young children learn language without conscious teaching, but simply by "soaking it up" as they listen, watch, and imitate those around them. As if by magic, the average 5-year-old child uses and understands a multitude of words.
He/she can combine the words to decipher and generate lengthy sentences; add prefixes, suffixes, and various tenses; change the word order or the intonation to change the meaning; and add gesture and body positioning to emphasize his/her point. It is a complicated system that we take for granted, and, for some children, early language development can be challenging.
What is language?
It is easiest to explain what language is not-language is not speech. Speech refers to the developmental process known as articulation. Sounds, syllables, and words are formed when the vocal chords, tongue, jaw, teeth, lips, and palate change the stream of air that is produced by the respiratory system.
Language is a complicated system that can be defined by the following units: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
Basically, language is governed by a set of rules. For some children, understanding (receptive language) and using (expressive language) these rules appropriately can be difficult. A significant delay in receptive and expressive language skills may be referred to as a language disorder. Spoken language has an important influence on children’s readiness to explore reading and writing.
According to the research document “Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children”, reading and writing begins long before the school years. One of the important preconditions for literacy is …the integrity of a child’s health and sensory organs since the window for the establishment of such skills as language is relatively brief. (National Research Council 1998 p 43).
Development of language: The first five years -
- General development
- Language development
- Phonological Awareness
- Literacy development
- Developmental Accomplishments of Literacy Acquisition
- Comprehension
- Word Identification
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