AQA A-Level English Language Child Language Acquisition

Child Language Acquisition with a Literacy focus (because the literacy is so much easier why would anyone do spoken?!)

Ferreiro & Teberosky : Environmental Print

Children develop knowledge about written language before being taught it formally, due to day-to-day experience of printed language in their local community. Children can learn without teaching, and literacy can be taught without literature.

Emergent Writing

Describes children’s early scribbles or representations of the written word.

Gross Motor Skills

Movements that require control over large groups of muscles.

Fine Motor Skills

Movements that require control over small groups of muscles.

Directionality

Writing and reading from left to right.

Tripod Grip

The way a writing utensil is typically held, using the thumb, index, and middle finger.

Goodman’s Principles of Development : The Functional Principle

The notion that writing can serve a purpose and has a function for the writer.

Goodman’s Principles of Development : The Linguistic Principle

The notion that writing has a system that is organised into words and letters and has directionality.

Goodman’s Principles of Development : The Relational Principle

Children start to connect what they write with spoken words - understanding that the written alphabet carries meaning

Clay’s Principles of Development : Recurring Principle

When a child only knows a limited number of letters, he or she might use them repeatedly to create a message. (Link to the holophrastic phase of speech)

Clay’s Principles of Development : Directional Principle

Reading and writing from let to right then using a return sweep to start again. (Link to learning to read)

Clay’s Principles of Development : Generating Principle

When a child starts to realise there are only a limited number of letters to use but these can be mixed and matched. The child begins to realise that there are patterns that can be used to convey a message.

Clay’s Principles of Development : Inventory Principle

A child begins to package knowledge together into lists of letters and words that they know. (Link to Aitchson’s Label-Package-Network)

Kroll’s Stages of Writing Development : Preparation Stage (up to 6 years old)

The child displays basic motor skills and has some principles of spelling.

Kroll’s Stages of Writing Development : Consolidation Stage (7 to 8 years old)

The child’s writing is similar to spoken language, with a more casual, colloquial register. Their writing often has unfinished sentences or strings of clauses connected with the conjunctive ‘and’.

Kroll’s Stages of Writing Development : Differentiation Stage (9 to 10 years old)

The child has an awareness of writing being separate to speech, and a stronger understanding of writing for different audiences and purposes.

Kroll’s Stages of Writing Development : Integration Stage (Mid-teens)

The child is developing a ‘personal voice’, with more controlled writing that has appropriate linguistic choices.

Rothery’s Categories for Children’s Writing : Observation / Comment

The writer makes an observation and either follows this with an evaluative comment or includes the comment within the observation.

Rothery’s Categories for Children’s Writing : Recount

Usually a chronological sequence of events, written subjectively. The structure often follows a orientation - event - reorientation sequence.

Rothery’s Categories for Children’s Writing : Report

A factual and objective description of events or things. It is usually non-chronological.

Rothery’s Categories for Children’s Writing : Narrative

A story genre where the scene is set for events to occur and be resolved. The structure follows a orientation - complication - resolution (- coda) sequence. Because of the structural complexity, few children will accomplish this structure, despite familiarity with it from books.

Britton’s Modes of Children’s Writing : Expressive

The first mode to develop because it resembles speech. Usually uses the first person perspective and the content usually reflects the preferences of the writer.

Britton’s Modes of Children’s Writing : Poetic

Develops gradually, requiring skills in crafting and shaping language - but is encouraged early on for its creativity. Phonological features such as rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration - as well as descriptive devices such as adjectives and similes - are common.

Britton’s Modes of Children’s Writing : Transactional

Develops last, once children have dissociated speech from writing. It is the style of academic essays, as it is more impersonal in style and tone - usually using the third person. Formal sentence structures and graphological features are used to signpost sections that are usually chronological.

Perera’s Alternative Framework : Chronological

Relies on verbs and linking ideas using connectives.

Perera’s Alternative Framework : Non-Chronological

Considered harder to write because they rely on logical connections between ideas. Britton suggests that children are encouraged to write these earlier on because of their creative aspect.

National Curriculum

By the end of KS1, children should be able to “proofread to check for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.” By the end of KS3, students should “write accurately, fluently, effectively, and at length” as well as “pay attention to accurate grammar, punctuation, and spelling”

Granger, Goouch, and Lambirth : Creativity and Writing

Argues that children’s participation in “creative literacy practices which encompass writing” leads to “oral and written voices that reflect affective and authentic engagement”, which in turn extends their communication capabilities.

Abbott : Chicken Metaphor

Compares children taught with a creative-based approach to ‘free-range hens’ - children will thrive with the ability to explore language. Conversely, children taught with a rules-based approach are compared to ‘battery hens’ - children will be confined by the anxiety of making mistakes and will not thrive, only survive.

Gentry’s Spelling Stages : Pre-Communicative

Children imitate writing, mainly scribbling and using pretend writing. Some letter shapes are decipherable. Random letters and symbols with no phoneme-grapheme correspondence. (Link to emergent writing)

Gentry’s Spelling Stages : Semi-Phonetic

Children link letter shapes to sounds, using this to write words. Some phoneme-grapheme correspondence. (Link to Kroll’s Preparation stage)

Gentry’s Spelling Stages : Phonetic

Children understand that all phonemes can be represented by graphemes; words become more complete. Spellings are based on the sounds of words.

Gentry’s Spelling Stages : Transactional

Children combine phonic knowledge with visual memory; an awareness of combination of letters and letter patterns. Silent letters begin to be acknowledged within words.

Gentry’s Spelling Stages : Conventional

Children can spell most words correctly, with difficult or alternative spellings learnt.

Spelling Errors : Insertion

Extra graphemes added to a word

Spelling Errors : Omission

Graphemes removed from words

Spelling Errors : Substitution

Switching one grapheme for another

Spelling Errors : Transposition

Reversing the order of correct graphemes

Spelling Errors : Phonetic Spelling

Using sound awareness to attempt the order of graphemes (usually linked with salient sounds)

Spelling Errors : Over / Under Generalisation

Applying or dismissing spelling rules

Spelling Errors : Salient Sounds

Writing only the key sounds

Chomsky : Nativism

Language is an innate fundamental part of the human genetic make-up and that language acquisition occurs naturally. Children are born with an innate ability to organize language rules, which enables children to easily learn a native language.

Chomsky : Language Acquisition Device

Humans have an inborn biological capacity for language, which predisposes them to acquire language.

Chomsky : Universal Grammar

All human languages share a deep structure rooted in a set of grammatical rules and categories, which is understood intuitively by all humans.

Chomsky : Poverty of Stimulus

The linguistic input received by young children is often insufficient for them to learn the complexities of their native language solely through imitation or reinforcement. Yet, children rapidly and consistently master their native language, pointing to inherent cognitive structures.

Skinner : Behaviourism

Children learn language by imitating and being reinforced for correct responses. Language is a result of external stimuli and reinforcement.

Skinner : Operant Conditioning

A method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behaviour. Behaviour can be reinforced by rewarding or punishing an action.

Skinner : Positive Reinforcement

A child’s action is correct, and so the guardian / teacher rewards it. The child repeats the action to regain the reward, and the action becomes habitual.

Skinner : Negative Reinforcement

A child’s action is incorrect, and so the guardian / teacher punishes or ignores it. The child avoids the action or attempts a different action, in an attempt to avoid punishment or gain a reward, and the action is not reinforced.

Piaget : Cognitive Constructivism

Children actively build understanding by exploring their environment, rather than passively absorbing information. Children’s intelligence differs from an adult’s in quality rather than in quantity. This means that children reason and observe differently to adults.

Piaget’s Stages of Development : Sensorimotor (0 to 24 months)

Infants refine motor skills and engage in sensory exploration, forming early concepts like object permanence and self-recognition through active interaction with their surroundings.

Piaget’s Stages of Development : Preoperational (2 to 7 years old)

Thinking is influenced by how things appear rather than logical reasoning. The child is egocentric; they assume that other people see the world as they do. As the stage develops, egocentrism declines; children begin to enjoy participation in other’s games, and imaginary play becomes more important.

Piaget’s Stages of Development : Concrete Operational (7 to 11 years old)

Children begin to think logically about concrete events and begin to understand the concept of conservation (although things may change in appearance, certain properties remain the same). During this stage, children can mentally reverse things, they become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel.

Piaget’s Stages of Development : Formal Operational (12+ years old)

Children gain the ability to think abstractly, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning. They can think systematically and reason about both reality and possibility. Children can deal with abstract ideas and solve hypothetical problems.

Vygotsky : Social Constructivism

Cognitive development is a socially mediated process in which children acquire cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society.

Vygotsky : Social Speech (2+ years)

The initial form of language serves as the primary means for children to engage with others, establish shared meanings, and participate in cultural activities.

Vygotsky : Private Speech (3+ years old)

Overt and audible speech directed to the self and serves an intellectual function.

Vygotsky : Inner Speech (7+ years old)

Private speech diminishes in audibility as it takes on a self-regulating function.

Vygotsky : More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)

Someone who has a higher skill level than the learner in a particular concept.

Vygotsky : Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The difference between what a child can achieve independently and what they can achieve with guidance from an MKO. This enables the child to develop skills they will later use independently, thus fostering higher mental functions, and expanding what can be achieved with an MKO.

Bruner : Social Constructivism

The fundamental principles of any subject can be taught at any age, provided the material is converted to a form (and stage) appropriate to the child.

Bruner’s Modes of Representation : Enactive Mode

Knowledge is stored primarily in the form of motor responses. Thinking is based entirely on physical actions, and infants learn by doing, rather than by internal representation. This involves encoding physical action-based information and storing it in our memory.

Bruner’s Modes of Representation : Iconic Mode

Information is stored as sensory images, usually visual ones. Thinking is also based on using other mental images, such as hearing, smell or touch.

Bruner’s Modes of Representation : Symbolic Mode

Knowledge is stored primarily as words, mathematical symbols, or other symbol systems, such as music. Symbols are flexible in that they can be manipulated, ordered, and classified, so the user isn’t constrained by a fixed representation (unlike letters & numbers).

Bruner : Spiral Curriculum

Information is structured so that complex ideas can be taught at a simplified level first, and then re-visited at more complex levels later on. The student should review particular concepts at over and over again; each time building their understanding and requiring more sophisticated cognitive strategies.

Bruner : Discovery Learning

Students should not be presented with subject matter in its final form, but rather should be required to organize it themselves - requiring them to discover relationships that exist among items of information.

Bruner : Scaffolding

The selection and design of appropriate stimulus materials and activities which the student can understand and complete. The teacher should also circulate the classroom and maintain the six core functions.

Bruner’s Six Core Functions of Scaffolding : Recruitment

Ensuring that the student is interested in the task, and understands what is required of them.

Bruner’s Six Core Functions of Scaffolding : Reducing Degrees of Freedom

Helping the student make sense of the material by eliminating irrelevant directions - thus reducing the “trial and error” aspect of learning.

Bruner’s Six Core Functions of Scaffolding : Direction Maintenance

Ensuring that the learner is on-task and interest is maintained - often by breaking the ultimate aim of the task into sub-aims which are more readily understood and achieved.

Bruner’s Six Core Functions of Scaffolding : Marking Critical Features

Highlighting relevant concepts or processes and pointing out errors.

Bruner’s Six Core Functions of Scaffolding : Frustration Control

Stopping students from “giving up” on the task.

Bruner’s Six Core Functions of Scaffolding : Demonstration

Providing models for imitation or a partial solution.

Tomasello : Usage-Based Linguistics

Learning language is not innate - grammar emerges as the speakers of a language create linguistic constructions out of recurring sequences of symbols; children pick up these patterns when listening to speech. Language learning relies on the ability to comprehend intention.