Unit 3 Seminar: Language Development for Infants and Toddlers CE320 Language Development in the Young Child Unit 3 Seminar: Language Development for Infants and Toddlers

Shelley Guess & Jackielou Camba Shout out!!!! Shelley Guess & Jackielou Camba did a TERRIFIC job of answering the discussion questions for Unit 3 **as required.** They responded early in the week to advance the discussion, used their own **original** work, and cited their references, including course materials. Way to go, ladies!!

Unit 3 Seminar In this week’s seminar, we will discuss the role of the early childhood professional in developing language in infants and toddlers. Tonight we will be discussing… Sharing books with infants Symbolic gestures with toddlers Applying sign language with infants/toddlers Home-to-School connections that foster language development

Unit Outcomes and Expectations At the end of this unit, you should be able to: Differentiate between the five aspects of language knowledge (phonetic, semantic, syntactic, morphemic, and pragmatic). Identify the interaction patterns needed to create an environment conducive to language development in infants and toddlers.

*Key Terms may be located by clicking the Readings icon each week* You will find the definitions for these words in your Key Terms this week. Prosody Reflexive vocalizations Nonreflexive vocalizations Cooing Verbal play Babbling Echolalic babbling Jargon Intonated babble Selective reinforcement Emergent literacy Direct experience Vicarious experience Referent Symbol formation Protowords Idiomorphs Holophrasic stage Fast mapping Telegraphic speech Homesign Representational/symbolic gesture *Key Terms may be located by clicking the Readings icon each week*

Field Trip Time! The link for the field trip will open up for you in the “Information” box under the chat window. Echolalic babbling is a term that we can use to describe baby’s babbling that resembles the rhythm and phonation of adult speech. When you return from watching the video (in about 6 minutes), simply type “back” in the chat box.

Caregivers’ Interactions with Baby What do you do when reading to an infant? What is the grandmother doing right when reading to the baby? How is language development impacted by caregivers’ interactions in sharing books with infants and toddlers? How can you apply this information to your own work with infants and toddlers?

What can we do to encourage emergent literacy in infants and toddlers? Make books accessible to infants and toddlers. Talk to and read to infants. Learning language begins with hearing language in infants. The brain builds structures to organize language that is heard Allow infants to explore and to hold books. Infants may chew on a cover in their exploration Use books for transitions. If going outside, a book about an outside event would be appropriate. If a new baby is coming home, then read about being a big brother or sister. Read every day; make it part of the regular routine. Label things at eye level of the child. Use magnetic letters to reinforce the relationship between letters and sounds. Pick out books with colorful pictures, rhythmic writing, and engaging stories. (Zero To Three, 2014)

Phonological Knowledge Infants learn about phonemes as well intonation in their language Phonemes = smallest linguistic units; when combined, make words Intonation = pitch and accent Infants should be exposed to animal sounds, rhyming text, songs, and environmental sounds. Emergent literacy begins in infancy. Children typically begin to pay more attention to phoneme-sound contrasts that exist in their own language and less attention to phoneme-sound contrasts found in other languages around 8-10 months. Toddlers begin to associate sounds and sound patterns with print in their environment. (Otto, 2014)

Semantic Knowledge (Otto, 2014) Infants learn shared reference (attendance of infant and adult to same object or stimulus). Adults name and label items often found in the child’s environment. Children who have been included in storybook sharing from early infancy often can predict upcoming text demonstrated by verbal and nonverbal behavior. Toddlers become aware of print on logos and labels. Toddlers will expand their concept knowledge and vocabulary. A child’s listening vocabulary will be larger than their expressive vocabulary. Talk with the child about what you are doing throughout the day and explore drawing and writing even at the earliest ages. (Otto, 2014)

Syntactic Knowledge Infants and toddlers who are involved in storybook interactions are exposed to more complex syntactic structures. An understanding of syntax can facilitate toddlers’ use of phrases and short sentences in questions that they are asked Telegraphic speech is a child’s use of two or three content words with no regard for grammar / function in the sentence. (Otto, 2014) Give an example of telegraphic speech one might hear from a toddler.

Morphemic Knowledge Infants and toddlers are exposed to grammatical morphemes such as prepositions and verb tense “Look the man is running.” “See the cat fell asleep.” “The man ran and ran.” “The tired baby closed his eyes.” (Otto, 2014)

Pragmatic Knowledge Toddlers become aware of ways that print is used to communicate intent or purpose: “Wha dat say?” Toddlers learn how to correctly hold a book and turn pages. Caregivers employ the Zone of Proximal Development to teach meaning. Toddlers’ knowledge of written language begins with making marks on paper. Toddlers learn about communicative intent when they “read” printed text (cards, brochures, books, mail). Toddlers begin to learn print awareness. (Otto, 2014)

Symbolic Gestures for Toddlers What are symbolic gestures and what are some of the benefits in using them with toddlers? Library Article (Unit 3 Readings): Motluk, A. (2004). Babies Get Hands-on with Language. New Scientist, 183(2456), 8.

“Have you ever wondered?” @ www.babysigns.com TAKE 5 – Sign Language Take 5 minutes to review “Using Symbolic Gestures with Toddlers” in Chapter 5 (pp. 148-150*) and/or investigate the online resources listed in your text below. When you return, please respond to this question: Is sign language a tool that you might consider using with an infant or toddler? Why or why not? “Have you ever wondered?” @ www.babysigns.com http://sproutingnewbeginnings.com/teach/training-videos/why-we-use-asl-in-the-classroom/

Home-School Connections How might you create positive home-school connections that will foster language development in the children in your care throughout your career? (Review p. 231 in your text)

To-Do List / Unit 3 Complete your readings Post your initial response to the Discussion Board Participate throughout the week (not just on Tuesday) Attend Seminar (Thanks for coming tonight!) Review concepts in the “Learning Activities” Complete the Unit 3 Quiz

Unit 3 References References California Department of Education. (2013). Foundation: Receptive Language. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09landevfdrl.asp Motluk, A. (2004). Babies Get Hands-On with Language. New Scientist, 183(2456), 8. Otto, B. (2014). Language Development in Early Childhood Education (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Reading Rockets. (2013). Activities to Encourage Your Toddler. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/27877/ NOTE: You should use these references in your written assignments. If you use the source, then you need an in-text citation within the body of the paper or post, too. Review my initial DB response for the correct in-text citations for each source.

Unit 4 DB ~~ A look ahead… Again this week… In the Unit 4 reading, you will learn about conflict resolution and its value in working with young children. In addition, you will read about how children learn through exploratory activities and investigative play. Based on your reading, please respond to the following: Again this week… THERE ARE FOUR (4) SEPARATE COMPONENTS TO THE UNIT 4 DISCUSSION. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!!

Unit 4 DB ~~ A look ahead… What does this mean? What should I do? Part 1: Create a scenario outlining the steps in conflict resolution and in appointing a problem solver as found in this week’s reading, “The Problem Solver Job: Peer-mediated Conflict Resolution” by Shanna Whitchurch and Jackie Sprague. Appraise each step for its value in teaching conversation skills to preschool aged children. What does this mean? What should I do? Read the article by Whitchurch & Sprague (2011). Describe a fictional (or real) classroom scenario in which a teacher identifies a conflict between two young children, appoints a problem solver, and observes the children progress through the steps of conflict resolution. Using dialogue and narration to present the scenario, identify the steps in conflict resolution within the scenario, citing the article in the text of your response (Whitchurch & Sprague, 2011) to support your statements. (A scenario is in presented in the article to illustrate what is needed.) Explain how each step of the process is valuable as it relates to developing conversational skills in preschool-aged children.

Unit 4 DB ~~ A look ahead… Part 2: Create a learning station (learning center) that promotes exploratory activities that builds language competencies for preschool children. What does this mean? What should I do? Describe a learning center for the preschool classroom (ages 3- 5) that focuses on building language competencies and includes activities that engage children in exploratory play. Review pp. 205-219 of your textbook for help. Part 3: Revise this learning station for one that promotes investigative play and tell why the change fits the definition of investigative play. Review “investigative play” on p. 311 of your textbook. Describe the adjustments you would make to the learning center from Part 2 that would include investigative play. Explain how the change(s) illustrate investigative play as described in your textbook, using in-text citations and information from the text (Otto, 2014) to support your response.

Unit 4 DB ~~ A look ahead… Part 4: Examine the advantages and disadvantages for teacher guidance in the learning stations (centers). Keep in mind that the goal is to promote language acquisition in the preschooler. Please be sure to support your answer with research and references. What does this mean? What should I do? Review Chapters 6 and 7 of your textbook. Present both positive and negative effects of teacher interaction and guidance with children during learning center activities. Focus on the effects relating to language acquisition with preschool-aged children. Use information from your textbook (Otto, 2014) to support your statements.

Unit 4 References References Brereton, A. (2009). Alana: How One Hearing Child Used Sign Language to Move from ‘Disruptive’ Student to a Classroom Expert. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(6), 461–465. doi 10.1007/s10643-008-0297-5. Otto, B. (2014). Language Development in Early Childhood Education (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Whitchurch, S., & Sprague, J. (2011). The Problem-Solver Job: Peer-Mediated Conflict Resolution. Teaching Young Children, 5(2), 8-9. NOTE: You should use these references in your written assignments. If you use the source, then you need an in-text citation within the body of the paper or post, too. Review my initial DB response for the correct in-text citations for each source.

Thank you for joining me! Remember, as your instructor, I view your success as my success. If you need anything, please email me, meet me on Google Chat, or post your question(s) on the Course Questions Discussion Board in our classroom. Have a super week. I’ll see you on the Discussion Board! The following slides will describe these.

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Unit 3 Seminar References Motluk, A. (2004). Babies Get Hands-on with Language. New Scientist, 183(2456), 8. Otto, B. (2010). Language Development in Early Childhood (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. ZerotoThree.org. (2014). Key Language Literacy Tips. Retreived from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_language_literacytips

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:o) See you on the DB! :o)