Describe about the English Essay for Developing EFL Primary.
Literature, literacy, and language acquisition are interrelated aspects of language. In essence, language and literacy learning cannot be separated from literature. In other words, literature plays a fundamental role in the development and sustenance of literacy and also helps in language learning. The definition of the concept literature has undergone changes thus there is no definite definition of the term. However, literature refers to both written and non-written works of art. Similarly, the definition of literacy has also evolved over time as is now defined as the ability to read, write, speak and listen. On the other hand, language acquisition as an intrinsic characteristic of human beings is viewed as the process by which human beings develop and use language. Language acquisition is, therefore, a subconscious process that occurs in childhood (McLaughlin, 2013). The scope of this paper, therefore, will focus on three distinct but interrelated aspects. Firstly, the paper seeks to discuss the role played by literature in learning, secondly, is to offer analysis of the features of the theory of language acquisition and its relationship to learning. Thirdly, is to discuss the role played by home, culture, and context in respect to literacy learning.
The Role of Literature in Learning in the Perspective of Society
Children’s literature play a fundamental role in children’s learning within the society. Children’s literature which majorly comprises of songs and stories acts as an educational mediator. It is thus essential as it provides children with an opportunity to discover more about themselves, acquaint with the environment, provide answers to various problems and also help in their curiosity (Stone, Silliman, Wallach & Ehren, 2016). Additionally, literature shapes a learner’s imagination, present new experiences, and ideas as well as enhancing a person’s self-confidence. Stubbs (2014) also maintains that children literature is a vital element in the learning process of the primary students. He argues that children literature connects both school and out of school contexts thus sharpening the learner’s perspectives about the world as well as instilling values and creating an identity.
In addition, literature triggers interpersonal dialogue and facilitate social interaction within a society. For instance, during a storytelling session, the speaker, and the listeners are involved in a communicative exchange where the exchange of ideas and learning take place. Such sessions are said to stimulate the children’s imaginations (Abdelhalim, 2015). According to Abdelhalim (2015), stimulation of children’s imagination is perceived as a mirror and an essential approach through which children can reflect, acquire insight and gain a better understanding of the world around them. The aspects of a given piece of literary work such as characterization, role playing, themes, and plotting inform a learner’s way of thinking. It also helps in the building of personal point of view which is determined by a personal understanding of a given work of art.
The role of literature in learning in the context of society does not only aid the understanding of one’s culture but also the culture of others (Tabors & Patton, 2014). Tabors and Patton termed this as the multicultural literature learning. Usually, literary works set in other social contexts different from one’s own helps the learner’s to familiarize themselves with other races, cultures, and ethnic groups. Therefore, through literature, learner’s get to appreciate culturally diverse backgrounds. Tabor and Patton (2014) also argue that literature varies from one culture to the other hence the only way to create awareness about the aspects of other people’s culture is possible through learning. For this reason, learning literature helps in connecting with the past and the present. Children’s literature also improves a learner’s ability to read. The attractiveness and simplicity nature of children’s literature result to increased reading ability, reading rate and reading attitude (Tabors & Patton, 2014).
Features of a Language Acquisition Theory and its Relationship to Learning
One theory that explains how language is acquired and developed is Chomsky’s linguistic theory. According to Chomsky’s theory, human beings possess an innate ability to acquire language. The innate ability according to him is a device he terms as Language Acquisition Device (Berwick, Friederici, Chomsky & Bolhuis, 2013). He argues that the language acquisition device requires a little exposure to a certain amount of language data to be triggered. Therefore one aspect of language acquisition is that it is a natural process. Another feature of language acquisition postulated by Chomsky is that all children learn the language in a similar way despite their different cultural backgrounds.
Additionally, as children are involved in language learning, they tend to combine words in new ways to compose meaningful sentences that they had never heard before. Therefore, children eventually learn the rules of a language and apply them uniquely although they may be inaccurate at first (Owens Jr, 2015). Chomsky’s theory applies to all languages due to the common features that majority of language possess. For instance, all languages contain vowels, consonants, verbs and nouns thus it is easy for children to learn the language because they are hard-wired to acquire grammar (Berwick, Friederici, Chomsky & Bolhuis, 2013).
Chomsky’s theory refutes the behaviorist theory that maintains that children learn language through imitation. On the contrary, Chomsky postulates that language learning through imitation alone is impossible because of the irregularity of the language in various contexts. In essence, the innate ability to learn a language explains why a child would successfully learn two languages if adequately exposed to both. In most cases, exposure to two languages, for instance, gives a child an opportunity to learn both and even succeeds in keeping the two linguistic systems separate. It has also been observed that adults are not capable of learning a language in the same natural way that children would. Chomsky’s idea about the innateness of ability to learn a language also explains why the inability to hear or organize would not prevent a child from mastering a linguistic system whatsoever. Similarly, it also explains why a child who is mentally deficient to the extent that he/she cannot be taught arithmetic can still acquire language (McLaughlin, 2013). Language is only considered completely absent in the lower range of idiocy.
The Role Played by Home, Culture, and Context as Part of Literacy Learning
A child’s first literacy experiences are encountered at home, within the culture and the context. Studies have shown that literacy begins at birth where a lot of learning takes place in home context. Establishment of relationships characterizes literacy learning at this stage and context. The process of literacy learning at home entails social interaction, learning more about the world and enhancement of thinking capacity (Spedding, Harkins, Makin & Whiteman, 2010). Spedding and the colleagues also maintain that the process of acquiring literacy competence begins with children and their parents, relatives and close friends activities such as sharing of ideas, stories, singing and even talking together. The early literacy learned skills, behaviors, and concepts by young children are known as emergent literacy. Literacy learning is further enhanced through the frequency of formal or informal children exposure to language and literacy in the context of the home.
Culture also affects literacy learning. The popular culture that has been as a result of modernization and globalization facilitates learning literacy for children and learners (Gillen & Hall, 2013). Culturally and linguistically diverse learners become successful readers by paying attention to instructional practices that deal with language and culture. Literacy learning becomes more effective when learners engage in literacy activities that include writing and reading children’s literature. Additionally, Gillen and Hall (2013) argue that the interaction between people and their cultural environment and with other people encourages literacy learning. Therefore, depending on the socio-cultural perspectives literacy learning cannot be free of context and culture. For this reason, learners from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experiences about literacy learning are mainly influenced by their parent’s cultural beliefs related to literacy practices (Zepeda & Castro, 2013).
Various contexts under which a learner is engaged in influences a person’s literacy learning. Literacy learning skills are informed by the purposes, relationships and social context within which reading or writing takes place (Riquelme & Montero, 2013). When the context is cited as a factor influencing literacy learning it points out to five aspects. That is; the participants, activities involved, settings, domains, and resources. Participants refer to the individuals involved while activities refer to that which the participants do with a text. Settings, on the other hand, refer to the physical location of the participants and domains are the various areas such as the workplace, home or even community. Finally, resources may refer to either knowledge and cognitive skills or tools or materials such as pens, papers, computer or any other object that is useful to complete a given activity (Lederberg, Schick & Spencer, 2013).
In conclusion, language acquisition, and literacy learning are essential aspects of literature. The three approaches are also very significant for successful learning. In addition, children literature is also critical for early learning in children as it helps in the development of literacy learning. Home, culture, and context also correctively play a vital role in ensuring that children and other learners develop literacy. Therefore, the family, context and the society at large contribute significantly to successful learning. It is thus inarguable that all aspects of literacy development are closely interrelated.
References
Abdelhalim, S. M. (2015). Children Literature Based Program for Developing EFL Primary
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Berwick, R. C., Friederici, A. D., Chomsky, N., & Bolhuis, J. J. (2013). Evolution, brain, and the
nature of language. Trends in cognitive sciences, 17(2), 89-98.
Gillen, J., & Hall, N. (2013). The emergence of early childhood literacy. Handbook of Early
Childhood Literacy, ed. Nigel Hall, Joanne Larson, andjackie Marsh (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2003), 1-12.
Lederberg, A. R., Schick, B., & Spencer, P. E. (2013). Language and literacy development of
deaf and hard-of-hearing children: successes and challenges. Developmental psychology, 49(1), 15.
McLaughlin, B. (2013). Second language acquisition in childhood: Volume 2: School-age
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Owens Jr, R. E. (2015). Language development: An introduction. Pearson.
Riquelme, E., & Montero, I. (2013). Improving emotional competence through mediated
reading: Short term effects of a children’s literature program. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 20(3), 226-239.
Spedding, S., Harkins, J., Makin, L., & Whiteman, P. (2010). Investigating Children’s Early
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Stone, C. A., Silliman, E. R., Wallach, G. P., & Ehren, B. J. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of
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Stubbs, M. (2014). Language and Literacy (RLE Linguistics C: Applied Linguistics): The
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Tabors, P. O., & Patton, O. (2014). One Child, Two Languages: A Guide for Early Childhood
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