Oral Language Development

Child Holding Phone. Language development is an important part of literacy acquisition. Skills in both areas develop together as children are engaged in developmentally appropriate activities. Educators and families can insure that children reach their potential in language and literacy through a variety of experiences at home and in the classroom.

Existing Practices that Support Language Development

Environmental design and teaching strategies (adapted from Project ELIPSS, Western Illinois University) can promote language development in young children.

Practices Promoting Language Development

The classroom has a variety of learning centers (blocks, books, housekeeping).
Ample time is provided to children to play in the centers.
Children are provided ample materials for dramatic play (dress-up clothes, props).
Speech is encouraged through use of puppets and stuffed animals that can speak for children.
Children are encouraged to discuss the pictures and action in books that are read aloud.
Children are encouraged to retell books that have been read aloud.
Adults model use of new words related to children’s play.
Adults sing with children, often using children’s names in familiar songs.
New objects are added often to the Science/Discovery Center to encourage children’s talk.
Non-English speaking children are provided with language experiences in their own native language.
Children are encouraged to work together and talk about what they are doing at the computer.
Adults serve as good language models by expanding children’s language.

Sequence of Language Development

Between 12 months and 60 months children are expected to progress through a developmental sequence as they acquire language skills. Specific letters and sounds along with sentence structure and vocabulary are identified at each age.

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Developing an Awareness of Letters and Sounds Through Books

There are many children's books which play with speech sounds. These books help to draw children’s attention to sounds made by particular letters.

The following steps adapted from Yopp (1995) can be used to develop young children’s early awareness of letter sounds.

Strategies to Develop Early Awareness of Letter Sounds

Read and reread a story containing language play and an emphasis on speech sounds. Read the story aloud several times.
Encourage children to comment on the book. Ask, “Did you enjoy the book? Was it fun? What was fun about it?”
Point out the language play used in the book. Comment on the language.
Encourage children to predict sounds, words, or phrases. Most of the stories are very predictable. Encourage the children to guess which sounds, words, or phrases come next.

Books Containing Language Play

Encouraging Language in Young Children

Young children can be encouraged to use language through normal play activities, such as using picture books and puppets.

Picture Books

Picture books can be used to help children develop language. Children may be motivated to talk about the pictures and about what is happening in the story. When children repeat parts of the story they are learning “book language” - an important element to beginning reading.

	Keyword/Topic Searchable database for picturebooks http://www.lib.muohio.edu/pictbks/
	Definition, elements and recommended books: Picturing Books http://picturingbooks.imaginarylands.org/
	Recommended Reading http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61
	Picture Books recommended to motivate speech in young children

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Puppets

Puppets in any shape or form can help motivate young children to talk. Commercially available puppets may take the form of stuffed animals, creatures, or people.

Puppets can be combined with books to encourage language and literacy.

	Folkmanis Puppets http://www.folkmanis.com/
	Puppet Universe http://www.puppetuniverse.com/
	Playfulpuppets http://www.playfulpuppets.com/

Homemade puppets may be made from paper bags with the bottom of the bag as the face with eyes, nose, mouth and ears drawn or attached. Old socks also make good puppets with facial features made from contact paper scraps.

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Books and Activities for Emphasizing Speech Elements

Multicultural Principles

The principles published by the Head Start Bureau Administration for Children, Youth and Families in 1992 provide a set of guidelines for addressing multicultural issues in early childhood programs.

Staff and program resource people must reflect the language of the families being served.
Families sometimes need to be helped to understand the value of the primary language as a foundation for second language acquisition.
Staff should be trained in techniques for second language acquisition, i.e., gestures, pointing, modeling, and other ways to help children figure out the meaning without translation.
The child whose home language is other an English must be viewed as fortunate because having more than one language is an asset in today’s world.
Any process of child assessment must be conducted in the child’s primary language.
Assessments to determine whether there is a disability must be conducted in the child’s primary language.

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Activities to Support Language

Three levels of activities were designed by Project ELIPSS to encourage children’s language development. Each level is based on language use and amount of interactivity with materials required by the child.