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Literacy is an ongoing learning process that incorporates speaking,
listening, reading, and writing, viewing and thinking. Collectively, these components form the
basis for language and communication development. During the initial stages of its development, the majority of
the emphasis is placed upon speaking, listening and responding to
non-verbal cues. |
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Language is inherently social and as such the quality and rate at
which a child acquires oral language depends heavily on early narrative
experiences. Variation in quality
and rate are influenced by parent-child interactions, characteristics of
the child, as well as by cultural and social classes. Earliest functions of language evolve
from immediate transactions, which further nurture language
development. As language continues
to develop and become refined, literacy is further enhanced through
increased development of natural language and exposure to print. |
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Children begin to realize interrelationships among reading,
speaking, listening, and writing.
Children learn to use language as part of the social understanding
they are attempting to gain.
Print-sound relationships, extensive exposure with narrative
reading, familiarity with story structure and language of texts continue to
develop and become more refined with early writing experiences and
continued exposure to various forms of print during early schooling. |
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Direct instruction in the area of reading begins with word-analysis
skills. “Whether
metalinguistic-and-linguistic-awareness abilities are a cause, concomitant,
or consequence of learning to read is not dependent on only the stimulus
demands (e.g.), whole words, blending of letters, nor on only reader
resources, but also on their interaction with the resources of the
instructor. Thus the instructor can
exert control over the success or failure of beginning readers who vary in
age and developmental attainment” (Yopp and Singer, 2000, p. 384). |
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Writing, which is inherently social is an extension of one's oral
language. Written language, like oral language, is learned naturally from
ongoing natural encounters with print prior to formal instruction. Motivation
to write is linked with oral language.
Learning how to express thoughts on paper is dependent on degree of
exposure and develops over time.
Text is dependent on the purpose for writing; the stance varies. “
The writer is always transacting with a personal, social and cultural
environment. Thus, writing process
must be seen as always embodying both personal and social, or individual
and environmental factors” (Rosenblatt, 2000, p. 1072). |
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Oral
language development, early writing experiences, encounters with
environmental and other print, and myriad social interactions serve as the
foundation for reading comprehension. The readers' schema, their organized
knowledge of the world, form new schemata as the reader attempts to
construct meaning from text. “Reading as a meaning-negotiation process
is cyclical between reader,
teacher, text and classroom context” (Ruddell and Unrau, 2000, p. 999). |
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Interactive, meaning-based teaching serves as motivation to engage
learners. “For a task to have
educational value, it is not sufficient for it merely to engage children to
joint activity; there must also be confrontation between different points
of view” (Forman and Cazden, 2000, p.163).
It is through a social interactive environment that literacy skills
become internalized. Successful
literacy learning is evidenced through students' growing ability to use
language and literacy in more and broader activities. |
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Social interaction and collaboration are critical components of an
authentic and effective literacy program.
An environment that motivates and fosters students' interest and
development in reading and writing is paramount to literacy
acquisition. “Curriculum as
conversation means it all hinges on talk or, more specifically, on
curricular invitation that encourage new conversations and hence new ways
of living lives in and out of the classroom. This is what literacy is all about” (Harste, 2000, p.1240). |
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Notes
