How Play Impacts Literacy Development In Early Childhood

Scope of the literature

In the preschool years, playing provide the young children a meaningful and engaging context for learning significant literacy skills and concepts. There are several researches which emphasize that there is a great significant of the learning through play on the literacy level in the early childhood setting. According to Denise H. (2016), the starting of reading the instructions should take place in a natural environment, therefore their usage of literacy and language will soon replace the practice and skill of skill acquisition. This procedure can be very helpful for the beginners’ instruction reading which is mostly presented in the play environment of the early childhood learning. Playing can work as a suitable activity for the development which can be a significant part of the emergent literacy and it has bought a new insight in the notions of literacy development as well.

This literature review will trigger the concept of playing in the early childhood and its impact on the development of literacy. This research will impact the ongoing research on the codependence of playing and the capabilities of learning literacy at the early age. After identifying the gap in the existing literature, the research will continue to that direction.

According to Olivia N and Bernard (2006), if the children are engaged with writing and reading activities within the play environment, their learning procedure is enhanced to a great extent. Using the play blocks and Play-Doh for expressing their ideas and creating, the children can also be able to make sense ozf such experiences in their later lives. With playing, the literacy interactions can be easily fostered; therefore it can be supportive and facilitative for the development of literacy acquisition in the children. The literacy development depends both on the development of listening and speaking because these are the ones which provide the base of the emerging literacy. A recent study has indicated that the teachers experienced that most of the students who have been starting their schools at the age of four or five, are incapable of speaking audibly or being understood by other children. They are also unable of replying to the simple instructions or counting to five or identifying their own names. Therefore their literacy is hindered compared to the other students. As stated by Saracho (2004) the students who have been performing in a poor way in their early years, have also shown poor performance in their later years of school achievements. They have not been able to communicate to others which later turned into poor outcomes in their academic achievements. Many researchers have indicated that playing provides the students opportunity for discovering the world while incorporating and expanding new ideas. Playing at the early age also nurture the imagination capability of the children. Famous linguist Vygotsky said regarding the notions of playing as a strong means of the learning that, “In play a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself (Olivia N. and Bernard 2006). As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form; in play, it is as though the child were trying to jump above the level of his normal behavior

Literacy and Playing

According to Saracho (2004), in the early years, children tend to develop the linguistic competence through communication with others, which in the later years enhance their capability of developing further communication abilities. This linguistic competence helps improving their knowledge and facilitates the growth and learning. When a child engages him or herself in playing, they tend to learn how language is working; therefore they gain the understanding of interacting with other people around them. Eventually they are capable of connecting the spoken and the written languages, which in later life help them in school. Therefore, most of the researchers agree to the fact that playing is a significant factor to studying as developing literacy through playing can be very much crucial for children.

According to Banerjee, Alsalman & Shehana (2015), the early literacy and play are two interconnected concepts. As literacy can be defined as the capability of reading and writing, through playing the children voluntarily engage themselves in activities they enjoy a lot. According the social construction theory, the literacy skills can be evolved in a natural way while the children play. It should be noted, in the previous times the concept of learning has been done in a more controlled and strict manner, but it has affected the students negatively. The children used to give up what they knew about learning and entirely committed to the strict method of learning. However, the researches for the past 20 years, have indicated that there is always a positive connection between playing and learning. Play has a great part to enhance in the development of the social, emotional and cognitive development of children. These social interactions tend to encourage the children in learning form the genuine experiences. The social interactions during play do not really act as a pivot for formal instructions as they are more purposeful.

Banerjee, Alsalman & Shehana (2015) indicates that both literacy and language start developing from the very first day of life. It is also believed that developing the literacy skills can be enhanced from the language that is being spoken around the children. The children can develop their language and literacy skills through various kinds of settings, like, the printed books they see or the stories they hear from the parents or the caregivers. While playing the children also participate in the writing and reading experiences which enhance their learning and develop the skills for learning. The researchers who have been working on the relationship between play and the development of literacy, propose that the most children learn is by the performance, not by the prompt. Saracho (2004) has believed that if the children stay in a productive environment in their early years, they can be able to develop literacy skills without having any knowledge about it. The Montessori schools are mostly set according to the requirements of such young children. These schools provide them small furniture that fit their reach and size, which is also a way of giving them the opportunity of being the self-constructive learners. Maria Montessori, the famous theorist, says that the learning process of children is best done by repetition and doing things. In fact, Montessori has also believed that the teachers should structure the playing and working with the young children with ample amount of time. ”. The evaluation of children’s play by Vygotsky has implied two major things. Firstly, with playing the students develop major social and cognitive development, and secondly, if the educational factors are incorporated in the playing phase, the students can be familiar with the educational practices and enhances the scope for their own creativity and imagination.

Literacy in early age

As said by Neuman and Roskos (1990), Piaget’s theory has also indicated that the cognitive development of the children can be done through their interaction with the surroundings. A child’s interactions with people around him or her can create the environment for learning. Furthermore, play can offer a natural method of expressing ideas for the children as they tend to learn through observing others and imitating them. It is also believed by some theorists that when children are being engaged in playing, they are capable of using their memories, therefore it tend to connect their pre-literacy skills with playing. Children also tend to remember their past experiences of playing and creating new ones while they play.

The teachers have been seen to adopt many strategies for promoting the playing amongst the children. There are different characteristics of such playing activities such as using the make-believe objects, assuming the role of make believe, making up such situation, using language for communicating, interacting socially etc. These characteristics involve communication through face to face interactions which can be significant to the socio-dramatic playing. These characteristics tend to include a overall development of the cognitive, social, emotional and physical development of the children which allow them having greater competence in the later life. Olivia N. and Bernard (2006) has indicted towards the changing in the play environment also affect the literacy behavior of the children. If there are active adult participations in the children’s playing, it elaborates and enriches their potential developments. Therefore it can be said that the adult participation can felicitate the playing other than the richness of the language in the environment. SARACHO (2002) indicate the environmental interventions mostly include the social, physical and the temporal changes in the environment which can be centered towards learning. Therefore, increasing the dramatic playing time is very much significant in the preschool stage. The more the children spend time playing dramatically; they can have the interest growing with learning and engagement. Also, during this time the teachers can also support and observe the development of the students.

There are several evidences of the learning such as their oral language development, learning narrative form, learning alphabetic codes etc. According to Colliver and Fleer (2016), most of the children in such playing environment show a increasing usage of creative vocabulary and expression with more complicated sentence and syntax patterns. The children have also shown their interest in their classroom playing in narrative forms as well. In addition to this, the students can also learn the alphabetic codes from their playing. Neuman and Roskos (1990) have also indicated towards the relationship between the letters and speech sounds. Researchers have also evaluated the roles of teachers in the literacy learning of the children during play time. The adults can work as interpreter and social director where they can observe and direct the students to the right path. Therefore it should be noted that, the teachers assume different kinds of roles during the playing related to literacy which can include their roles as storytellers, monitors, promoters and the instructional guides.

Concepts related to learning literacy while playing

However, as stated by SARACHO (2002), there are particular achievement literacy gaps between the native English speakers and the English language learners. This gap does not necessarily only indicate to the lack of language proficiency, but the students also exhibit deficiency in both their native language and English. There are many beginners of English language learners who experience their early literacy in both their native language and English. Neuman and Roskos (1990) have indicated that the children who have been learning their initial stage of studying through playing, they have acquired quite a lot than their peers. However, on the other hand, the English language learners who start their learning late, mostly after their Montessori period, they take much more time to master in English. There are several English language learners who have begun their learning after the beginning of the formal education. The researches indicate that, in the later years, the development of literacy is complicated and more intricate. Therefore this literary procedure depends more on developing their listening and speaking language skills. However, these skills are best when developed in the early stages through playing. This is due to the reason that, in the early age of the children the probability of gathering learning is more for the children than compared to the older age. Thus, it is being recommended that the playful environment should be initiated in the early stage to provide an effective and efficient learning experience for the students.  During this stage, the teachers or the adult caregivers promote the language learning skills through interactive activities and strategies. Therefore the literacy interactions within the play environment can be very much helpful for the children. The previous literatures only concentrated on the learning procedure of the native English speakers.

One of the key limitations being identified in the conducting this research is the lack of in hand and primary data. This is due to the fact, that this research has been done based on the secondary research being done by several other authors. Thus, the accurate and current practical situation may have some different scenario than being stated in this research work. Eventually, the conclusion and the findings will be different in this research paper from in the practical situation. Another weakness being identified in this research is the opinions of the chosen literature. This is due to the fact that, majority of the literatures has given the opinion about the effectiveness of the play in learning rather than critically analyzing them. Thus, the conclusion is being drawn based on the singular approach from the chosen literatures.

Conclusion: 

Playing has enhanced the learning opportunity in children to a great extent. Most of the learning opportunities are offered to the children through their spontaneous playing in the early ages. Critical analysis of the effectiveness and role of learning activities in the playful environment prove that playful environment in providing the learning to the children will be more effective and helpful for both the learner and the teacher. As discussed in the above sections, initiation of the playful environment will help the teachers in providing the teaching in a more effective manner. On the other hand, children will find it more easy and interesting in having the learning experience in a playful mood. The teachers should also understand that they should have professional knowledge which can facilitate the learning process as well. Therefore the literary programs should be designed with the help of playing which can cultivate the spontaneity in children, With the context of playing, the expectations can be explored and lead to mastering the literacy skills in later life.

Based on the reviewed literatures regarding the impact of playing on the literacy learning of children, it can be indicated that a research inquiry is required. The research will focus on the learning capacity of the non-English speakers at the early age and how playing enhancing their English language learning. The researcher will do a survey for completing the research and see whether there is a codependence of playing and learning in terms of learning a second language in the early age.

Reference list and Bibliography

Banerjee, R., Alsalman1, A., & Shehana Alqafari, S. (2015). Supporting Sociodramatic Play in Preschools to Promote Language and Literacy Skills of English Language Learners. Early Childhood Educ J.

Colliver, Y. and Fleer, M., 2016. ‘I already know what I learned’: young children’s perspectives on learning through play. Early Child Development and Care, 186(10), pp.1559-1570.

Denise H. Heppner (2016) ‘Then what happened?’ Studying emergent literacy in the narrative play of preschool children, Language and Education, 30:5, 459-477, DOI: 10.1080/09500782.2016.1141933

Drifte, C., 2014. Early learning goals for children with special needs: Learning through play. Routledge.

Hao, Y. and Fleer, M., 2016. Pretend Sign Created during Collective Family Play: A Cultural-Historical Study of a Child’s Scientific Learning through Everyday Family Play Practices. International Research in Early Childhood Education, 7(2), pp.38-58.

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Jarrett, O.S., 2014. Understanding Young Children’s Learning through Play: Building Playful Pedagogies. American Journal of Play, 7(1), pp.124-127.

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Neuman, S., and Roskos, K. (1990). Play, print, and purpose: Enriching play environments for literacy development. The Reading Teacher,, Vol. 44, No. 3,(Teachers’ Choices Best New Children’s Books), 214-221.

Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek (2006) Young children’s literacy?related play, Early Child Development and Care, 176:7, 707-721, DOI: 10.1080/03004430500207021

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