Paula Menyuk

Infant Language Education

There is a controversy among child language researchers about the effect of input on child language acquisition throughout the years of development. This controversy was the result of arguments about whether language development is the result of the environment shaping behavior, or the result of a child’s unique abilities to process language information. This is what has been labeled the “nature-nurture” argument. There has now been a great deal of data collected about the infancy years, and the influences that appear to affect language development during this period. Some of these influences are from the environment. Others are due to the innate abilities of the infant to process various kinds of sensory information. The answer to the nature-nurture argument is that both are involved. The question for educators of infants is what in the input of the environment assists in the development of language in this period.

Pre-School Language Education

There have been numerous studies that indicate that a “good” pre-school education is crucial to further healthy development and academic success. The early grades in school require expertise in a number of areas. The pre-school period is looked on as that time when preparation for the school years takes place. In particular, children who come from a variety of backgrounds can catch up with other children whose backgrounds prepare them very well for the experiences to come. In addition to children who need to be readied for school experiences are children with some of the language development problems discussed in Chapter 3, who are delayed in their language development. Others with more severe problems will have special education programs developed for them. In addition to catching up the purposes of pre-school education are to enhance development in all areas: linguistic, social, and physiological. However, we will focus on those activities that are designed to enhance linguistic development and literacy in all children.

Trends in Development and Educational Themes

The purpose of this summary chapter is to recall for readers a number of themes that we have talked about throughout. To this end we will review the trends in language development that can be observed over the lower school years. These developmental trends are a product of at least 4 factors. These are maturation in general, cognitive advances, environmental experiences, and education. All children continue to evidence change in what they know about language over these years because of these factors.

Language Development in Early Childhood — The Pre-school Years: Ages 3–5

The pre-school years are considered to be the years from approximately 3 to 5 or 6. Not all children in these years have formal schooling. Kindergarten programs that usually encompass the year from 5 to 6 are not available to all children in the United States nor to children who live in other countries on this continent and in Europe. There are, however, many pre-school programs of various kinds in many countries that enroll children aged from 3 to 6 years. Some children will enter pre-school or kindergarten knowing another language in addition to English. Others will be fluent in a language other than English or in a variety of English other than Standard English. School will be their first intensive exposure to Standard English.

Language Development in Middle Childhood: Ages 9–13

Roughly speaking, the years of middle childhood are considered to be from 9 to 12 or 13 years. The developmental changes that occur in both linguistic and cognitive achievements as well as physical development over this period are dramatic. Cognitive and linguistic progress, on the surface, is not as dramatic as physical and social development. This last aspect, social maturation, has the greatest impact on both linguistic and cognitive development. Further, this is the period during which children’s conscious awareness of what they know about language, and what they are doing with language, flourishes. These developments can be used to great advantage by educators. Children become aware of the strategies they use to solve problems, and begin to use them with greater deliberation. This might be considered the “wise guy era” in terms of linguistic behavior. For example, children during this period produce puns and tell and appreciate jokes that may be truly funny. This is a clear indication of awareness of language and its uses.

Language Education in Middle Childhood

Language education in middle childhood should take place across the many different classrooms that students attend, and to some extent it does. That is, science, social studies and mathematics study should also include focus on how children are discussing what they are doing, how they are reading assigned texts, and how they are carrying out their written assignments. Many teachers in these areas do focus on the accuracy of their students’ writing. Fewer spend much time on how well students are absorbing the material in their texts as indicated by classroom discussions, or concentrate on preparing students for this reading. Much of the work on further language development resides in the English or Language Arts classroom. However, this chapter will discuss language activities that can be used to enhance further development across the subject areas.

Language Development in Adolescence — The High School Years (Ages 13–18)

Language development of students during the high school years has not received a great deal of attention from researchers. More has been learned about developments in this period through studies carried out by educators. Further, these studies are largely concerned with analyses of written language rather than spoken language. There are some exceptions and these are studies of pragmatic knowledge during this age period. The results of the written language analyses indicate that, in general, with age there is increasing use of sentence-combining structures. Sentences become lengthier and more complex. It is not surprising that there is no large body of research on structural language development in this period because, presumably, there are no longer remarkable changes in what students know.

Language Development in Infancy: Ages 0–3

Language development during these very early years of life, from birth to about 2½ to 3 years, is very dramatic and rapid. From birth to 2½ years is the period usually labeled as infancy, in keeping with Piaget’s description of these years (Piaget, 1926). The period starts with the baby, who spends much of the time sleeping, crying and cooing, and ends with the almost-3-year-old child who can engage in conversation with family members, peers and teachers in one or more languages. The home environment is of principal importance during these years since much of the infant’s time is spent in that situation. However, over the past few decades care-giving and educational programs for infants have been developing in the U.S., as well as being available in some other countries for some time. Even though some aspects of language development are still very much the product of the familial situation in which a child is born, these programs can impact development as well, and can do so in a positive manner.

Language Development in Early Childhood — The Primary School Years: Ages 6–9

In this chapter we will discuss those aspects of language development that mark developmental changes in the years from age 6 to 8 or 9. In many U.S. school systems these years include grades 1 through 3 or 4. The years of development that we have termed early childhood is, once more, a period marked by very dramatic changes. Such changes occur both in language knowledge and in the medium through which language knowledge is acquired. It is during these years that most children learn how to read, and this can have a profound effect on what they know about language. In fact, learning to read can enhance conscious awareness of the categories and relations in language. Earlier language development consists largely of intuitive knowledge of these categories and relations, although some level of conscious awareness can be elicited even in 2-year-old children.

Early Childhood Language Education: The Primary School Years

Children are very ready to acquire further knowledge of language during this period. They are interested in language and this interest can be piqued by activities that require them to think about and talk about language. Some of these activities are specifically designed to increase knowledge of the structural aspects of the language, its phonology morphology lexicon, and semantax. There are other activities that are designed to enhance children’s pragmatic competences; their ability to engage in conversation, to tell stories, and explain. This is also a time when children develop their ability to read and write. Oral language knowledge and literacy become more important tools for learning academic content.