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Assessment Task 3: Critical Reflective Essay
Effective literacy teaching begins long before a child reaches schooling age
and has a large influence on their literacy outcomes for years to come. There are
many factors that are seen as essential to the literacy learning process, too many to
all be listed here, but one critical component that cannot be ignored is the
development of oral language. This essay will focus on the importance of fostering
oral language through storytelling and play-based learning, and the significance of
understanding the concepts of oral language as a precursor for learning to read and
write.

Storytelling is one of the most important things a child can be exposed to in
the early years as it massively benefits their oral language development, which helps
prepare them for learning to read and write (Winer, 2008). One major benefit of
reading stories aloud to young children is that it develops a unique vocabulary that
cannot be found in every day oral language. Beck and McKeown (as cited in Hill and
Launder, 2010) found that colloquial spoken language has far fewer rare words that
one would find written in books and that it is vital for children to be exposed to this
vocabulary and experience the syntactic and pragmatic way they are used. Everyday
conversations are simply not enough for a child to build a proficient lexicon,
particularly when sources of language are limited. Instead, children should be
engaging in shared reading of picture books over a wide range of subjects to boost
vocabulary development (Roberts, as cited in Hill and Launder, 2010). A childs
lexicon is intrinsically linked to the level of exposure they have had to storytelling,
and yet it is interesting to note that learning to read and reading comprehension are
intrinsically linked back to a childs vocabulary (Hill and Launder, 2010). Their co-
dependence means that if one of these elements happens to falter, it must be
rectified promptly to avoid the other from suffering as well. Dawkins and ONeill
(2011) also found that the most effective way of acquiring literate language is
through storytelling and exposure to print texts. Through literate language children
begin to learn proper and grammatically correct language, which would be
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exceedingly difficult to do through everyday conversations. When a child is told a
story without a picture book and only have the storytellers spoken word, they are
gaining exposure to decontextualized language, where the storys context is absent
and the storyteller has to rely on grammatical structures and a specific vocabulary to
create meaning for the listener (Dawkins and ONeill, 2011). In terms of the child as
the storyteller, their oral narrative skills have been linked to developing written texts
and literate language, as they gain experience with using decontextualized language.
Furthermore, listening to a child tell a story provides an opportunity to observe the
strengths and weaknesses of how a child uses oral language. They become
empowered as the text creator and instead of becoming occupied with the syntax
and spelling of written text, they can focus on the narrative itself (Kervin and Mantei,
2011). Trostle Brand and Donato (2001) wrote on the vast number of benefits from
reading aloud to children, including expanding a childs ability to store and recall new
knowledge as well as challenge what they already know, developing new concepts
about the world and themselves, cultivating comprehension skills, exposing them to
expressive language skills through narrative storytelling techniques, stimulating the
imagination, developing phonemic awareness, helping the child to understand that
written words communicate meaning, providing a cathartic emotional release, and
promoting a lifelong passion for reading that in turn maximises the childs potential
for literacy outcomes. This passion for reading can be developed by reading
everyday, keeping the child involved and engaged in the literacy process with
discussions, making text to world links, sticking to the three Rs of rhythm, rhyme
and repetition, using expressive and emotive language and gestures, having many
books readily available for the child and using the Language Experience Approach
(Trostle Brand and Donato, 2001). Using appropriately modelled reading techniques
is essential for effective literacy teaching, as a childs first attempts at reading and
writing are based on the literate environment they live in. Parents and teachers must
put literacy in a familiar and consistent context for these young learners for the ideas
to form, which over time will become more sophisticated (Raban, 2012).

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Play-based learning is one of the most effective and natural contexts for
children to develop oral language skills as the activities they participate in are of
interest to them and it captures their attention (Klein, Wirth & Linas, as cited in
Fellowes and Oakley, 2010). It is also said to be a key milestone for a childs
development when they can engage in play because of the oral language
opportunities it brings (Baron-Cohen, 1987; Stagnitti, 2009; Vygotsky, 1976; as cited
in OConnor and Stagnitti, 2011). Such opportunities could be when negotiating what
game to play, explaining a game, problem solving, expressing emotions, acting,
reasoning, asking questions, instructing, and many more. Through play a child can
experience speaking and listening in numerous contexts and practice communicating
with other children in the style that the play calls for, such as pretending to be a
baby, or take on the persona of an animal. In doing so, children are learning that
language can be explored and manipulated and can be treated as an object of
contemplation, not just a tool for communication (Hill and Launder, 2010, p. 252).
Experimenting with different personas also functions as a way of learning the
appropriate conventions of social exchanges (Fellowes and Oakley, 2010). As well as
learning the norms of communication, play also opens up a whole new world of
language to the child. For example, when a child is pretending to cook, they are
experimenting with and using a range of new words that are specific to cooking.
Parents and teachers can help facilitate this by engaging in the play with the child
and introduce names and actions of cooking to them. Play is also beneficial for
learning abstract language such as prepositions like in or behind whilst playing
Hide and Seek (Burnell, 2009). Fellowes and Oakley (2010) suggest that language
learning can be supported in play when a parent or teacher questions or comments
on the activity, participate in the play for short periods of time modelling the
appropriate language, or expand on what the child says in correct grammatical
structure, and introduce new vocabulary specific to the activity. OConnor and
Stagnitti (2011) conducted a research project in the field of play-based learning and
found that using play and exploring it further through the Language Experience
Approach, childrens language ability significantly increased when tested. They also
found that play improved a childs social interaction and their classroom behaviour
became less disruptive. Hay (2009) wrote on the subject of delayed language
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development and how it is directly related to receiving instruction and poor
educational outcomes, and from this research we can conclude that without play-
based learning, children are not getting the exposure to the oral language
opportunities where they can learn the social etiquette that is needed in the
classroom setting. This has a knock-on effect where they are not engaged in their
learning at school and cannot reach their full literacy potential, and they are also not
able to form positive relationships with others, limiting their opportunities for social
interactions and further play situations (Hay, 2009; OConnor and Stagnitti, 2011). It
has often been said that the skills taught to children in the early years classroom
should be made relevant by linking them to real world experiences, and oral
language through play can be one effective way of bridging that divide. Jennings
(2007) had found that using play and the things in play that engaged and interested
them provided a solid platform for building oral language. The students would
actively discuss the things that they enjoyed and this lead to participating in a
purposeful writing session, leading writing to be seen as a natural progression of
communicating their interests (Jennings, 2007, p. 12).

Developing an understanding of oral language is such an important first step
for effective literate teaching, as the concepts developed in the early years can
indicate the level of success the child will have later on in literacy and consequently
other academic fields (Hay, 2009; Hill and Launder, 2010). A child will have a solid
foundation for beginning to read if they understand the correct semantics, syntax
and phonology of oral language and have a solid vocabulary (Snow, Burns & Griffin,
as cited in Hill and Launder, 2010). Developing an awareness of phonology through
songs, rhymes and alliteration is indicative of success when learning to read, as the
child can quickly learn to make links between individual words where there is a
grapheme to phoneme relationship. Furthermore, reading comprehension and
vocabulary development is dictated by the use of syntax and can be aided by correct
modelling of the grammatical features of oral language. This does not mean the child
should simply listen, but that they will learn a great deal more through spoken
interactions or otherwise fail to develop sufficient talking capacities (Winch,
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Johnston, March, Ljungdahl & Holliday, 2011). The understandings of syntax
becomes more refined as children learn to read and write, but before they do they
must discover that oral language has different conventions to written language and
that some features of spoken conversations cannot be transcribed to text and keep
its original meaning. Neuman and Dickson (as cited in Hay, 2009) found that a quality
oral language experience when young is where children are exposed to an
environment where there is focus on facial expressions, gesticulations, verbal
emphasis, a vast but targeted vocabulary, developing a background knowledge on
conversation content and being actively involved in talking with others and
comprehending what has been said. If a child comes to school with a limited oral
language background, it can be developed through routines, picture chats, the
Language Experience Approach, shared reading, singing, chanting, nursery rhymes,
and play based discussions. Teachers should quickly establish if any of their students
require further development as this has particular implications for responding to
instructions, and listening and learning inside the classroom, as mentioned earlier in
this essay.

Establishing a literacy rich environment where a child is actively engaged in
activities for play-based learning to occur and is constantly exposed to storytelling
and narrative features of stories will ensure they will have a good start to
understanding oral language and will serve as a solid foundation for learning to read
and write. Storytelling is a great way for children to gain exposure to new vocabulary
and text types, vocalisation, and fosters a passion for reading. Play-based learning
acts as a great medium for children to experience the features of language in a
variety of contexts, whilst being heavily engaged in the literacy learning process. Oral
language may be one of the most important parts of the literacy learning process,
but the great thing about it is when the child is learning, the process can be so
engaging and seem so natural that to them that it is not work, but rather seen as fun.

Word count: 1865
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Reference List
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literacy. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy , 32 (2), 148-162.
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Winer, Y. (2008). Stories For Telling. Castle Hill: Pademelon Press.