Literacy, Language & Reading comprehension

Lecture 1: Introduction

• Literacy is a complex process that, until 1890, was primarily the domain of teaching.
• Eventually, literacy became understood as a language skill.
• Literacy encompasses the ability to read and use written information, as well as write appropriately in various contexts.
• It's utilized to develop both knowledge and understanding, facilitating personal growth and effective societal function.
• Literacy includes the recognition of numbers and basic mathematical symbols.
• Literacy integrates speaking, listening, critical thinking, reading, and writing.

Language Characteristics

• Language involves the systematic and conventional use of sounds, signs, or written symbols for communication or self-expression.
• Language utilizes visual modes of communication, reading, and writing.
• Language is critical for academic success and lifelong achievement.
• Similarities exist between spoken and written language, but there are significant differences.
• World knowledge and memory skills form the bases of why writing is needed.

Understanding Complex Processes

• A skilled reader can identify more than 300,000 words.
• Involves understanding different fonts, texts, and signs.
• Requires the ability to identify narrative versus non-narrative text and to recognize misspelled or incorrect words.
• Also involves understanding multiple comprehensions.
• Inferencing makes up 80% of literacy in school, focusing on understanding what is implied rather than directly stated.
• Literacy ranges from simple to complex.

Spoken Language Domains: Phonology

• Phonology is the sound system of a language.
• Phonemes are the basic units of sound.
• Phonological awareness is being aware of the sounds
• Phonemic awareness is the understanding of sounds

Additional Language Domains

• Semantics concerns the meanings of words.
• Morphology involves grammatical morphemes.
• Syntax refers to the rules for combining words.
• Pragmatics is the use of language appropriately in different places and times.

The Matthew Effect

• Children who have poor reading skills by the end of first grade rarely catch up to their peers by the end of elementary school.
• Poor readers are often placed in special education classes and still struggle to reach the level of their peers, even with intensive help.

Language Systems

• Spoken language includes pragmatics, semantics, syntax, and phonology.
• Written language involves functions, meanings, forms, and the links between meaning and form.

Functions of Spoken and Written Language

• Instrumental language serves to satisfy needs, such as ordering at Starbucks.
• Regulatory language is used to regulate others' behavior, like telling someone to "Be quiet."
• Interactional language invites social interaction, such as inviting someone to a birthday party.
• Personal language expresses thoughts, comments, and opinions.
• Heuristic language seeks information, like asking "What time is class?"
• Imaginative language is used for creative expression, like pretending to be Elsa from "Frozen."
• Informative language provides information, such as a class list or a recipe.

Functions of Written Language

• Written language uniquely establishes ownership or identity, as seen in driver's licenses or leases.
• It communicates over long distances through texting and emails.
• It facilitates knowledge accumulation and critical analysis since written language can be recorded and reviewed multiple times.

Meanings of Words

• Language given to younger children relies on physical things they can see.
• Oral language is usually contextualized, while written language is often decontextualized.
• Literacy is commonly employed in the past tense.

Oral versus Written Language

• Oral language is contextualized and can be decontextualized through narratives or lectures.
• Written language can be contextualized in menus, labels, and signs, but it is mostly decontextualized.

Written Structure

• A grapheme is the smallest unit in a writing system.

Printed Words and Directionality

• Grasping printed words means understanding print contains meaning, not just random letters.
• Directional principles involve understanding top to bottom and left to right, and knowing how pages turn.

Sentence And Text Organization

• Sentence and stories are organized in specific ways.
• Text format depends on the type of writing, whether it's a shopping list, a birthday card, or a story.

Alphabetical Language

• English utilizes an alphabetic system.
• A grapheme is the basic unit of written language, representing a phoneme.
• The word "ghost" has 5 letters and 4 phonemes, like "fish" has 4 letters and 4 phonemes.

Alphabetic Principles

• Each phoneme in a language must be represented in the writing system.
• The correspondence between phonemes and graphemes isn't always one-to-one.
• Alphabetic principle includes a limited number of graphemes.
• It's crucial for kids to learn the Alphabetic Principle.

Meaning-Form Links

• Orthography is the set of conventions for writing.

Spoken vs Written

• Written language is more explicit compared to implicit.
• Everyone is different with unique biological contributions.
• Spoken language is nearly universal across cultures, unlike written language.
• Nonverbal language supports written language.

Differences In Language

• Durability and visual cues are physical differences.
• Situational differences include interaction & feedback, speed, and context.
• Relational aspects differentiate functional differences.
• Prosody, or tone, differs in form, conveying information and changing messages.
• Written language is more formal.
• Vocabulary includes differences in specificity and diversity.
• Grammatical differences include written language using formal structure.

Key Facets

• Redundancy and cohesiveness are key facets.
• Written language should be more specific.
• Using context is important to create the atmosphere.

Developmental Phases

• Kids can be in 2 or 3 literacy levels at the same time.
• Awareness & Exploration includes beginners and novices.

Awareness and Exploration Stages

• The process goes from Experimenters to Conventional Readers and Writers.
• Beginners (birth to 3 years) recognize specific books by their covers, pretend to read, enjoy rhyming and listening to stories, and produce letter-like forms.
• Novices (3-5 years) know letters have names and recognize environmental print.
• They also pay attention to separate sounds in words, show interest in books, connect story events to real experiences, and write scribbled messages.
• Experimenters (5 years) typically possess all their language structures.
• If by 5 years old, a child cannot identify all alphabet letters, this is an indicator.
• In the experimental stage, recognize and name all letters, understand the alphabetic principle, name book titles and authors, make story predictions, use invented spelling, and write their name and some dictated words.
• Conventional individuals (6 years) can decode regular single-syllable words.
• They recognize common irregularly spelled words by sight, predict and justify story events, monitor their comprehension, and write simple text.

Lecture 2: Foundations of Literacy

• Literacy concepts are acquired through early book and drawing experiences.
• Parental interactive book reading, story concepts, and environmental print significantly influence literacy acquisition.
• Spoken language and links to literacy are further factors.
• Literacy activities are pleasurable experiences.

Sociocultural Practices

• Literacy involves sociocultural practices like reading and participant identities.
• There are social routines for literacy activities, like book sharing routines, including the "naming game."
• Parents drive their child's literacy development through bi-directional interactions.
• Literacy materials are handled in special ways, with book handling skills differing from toy handling.
• Literacy includes symbols and communication of the meaning behind books and illustrations.
• Kids make representation drawings.

Parental Involvement In Interactive Reading

• Interactive book reading is a book-sharing experience between a child and an adult.
• Parental behaviors involve appropriate book choices for the child's level.
• Kids love rereading books where they are exposed to language, vocab, and rhythm.
• Discussions of the book happen before and after reading, to bring language to the story.
• After reading, vocab and sentence structure is pulled. Vary intonation to provide context and keep them interested.
• Use gestures and point to illustrations, especially for new words.
• Make connections between the story and real life to connect.
• Use clear vocabulary to connect the book to real life.
• Physical proximity allows children to be more engaged.
• Allow the child to hold the book.
• Ask open-ended questions instead of "yes/no" questions.
• Pause when reading to give the child time to respond
• Solicit predictions from the child about happenings in the book.
• Child needs to recall important reading elements.
• Important for them to review when not understanding.

Parental Behavior Changes

• Infant parent behaviors need attention-getting & Sustaining Strategies.
• Encourage pointing & labeling and permit book handling.
• Point, label & comment elaborating.
• Make connections to toys.
• Follow the child's lead to choose the book.
• Less focus on the "story".
• In interactions with 2-year-olds, caregivers use low cognitive demand strategies, such as cloze techniques.
• With 3-year-olds, caregivers use high-cognitive strategies like why questions.
• Elaborating is provided to expand vocab.
• Common themes are given to bring emotion to the story..
• Use prompting to connect predictions.

Story Grammar

• Story grammar is the ideal story components.
• It includes main characters, the setting, action or event, and internal response.
• Goal needs attempt that solves the problem.
• How the characters feel is the reaction.
• Awareness of story elements in the story grammar is story concept.
• Examples of the children's elements include characters, actions, responses.
• Beginners (1- to 3-years) use descriptive sequences with setting statements.
• Action Sequences includes writing the story.
• Abbreviated Episodes has the setting, action followed by resolution.
• Environmental print is real-life print found in a home including food containers, store signs, advertisements.
• Contains clues to the prints meaning,
• It is the first type of print young children recognize & understand.

Environmental Activity

• Promote cereal boxes, letter searches, sign hunts and make a book of signs.
• Cut out sounds on the cereal boxes .
• There is no environmental print so only helps develop literacy.
• It is just a way that helps.

Spoken Language

• Early phonological awareness (PA) leads to early reading achievement.
• Children with dyslexia had poor PA skills early on.
• PA predicts word recognition & decoding and most important reading development.
• Vocabulary vocabulary developments rapid from 0-3 years old.
• Vocab growth = PA growth = reading skill (to be able to say and understand words, you have to be able to identify the sounds in them).
• Knowing more words helps with reading comprehension.
• Improves skills and improves reading.
• It is bi-directional.

Grammar In Language

• The grammatical & syntactic structure helps predict that the ability to understand reading.
• Children with LI also often have reading probs.
• However it is considered the least important.
• Skill in decontextualized oral language predicts reading
• Familiarity with "literate" oral language style at home.
• Either continuity or discontinuity matters.
• As an example you know phrase such as ''goodnight" when going to bed
• A discontinuity is where "goodnight: is able to be used in a variety of areas
• At around 1 year old, there is the exploration of sound.
• At 1-2 years old, there is the use of gestures and marks to show significant actions on stage.
• With 3 year olds there is the attempt to communicate potential meaning between people.

Summary Of Concepts

• Summary has the ability to make books pleasurable through drawing routines, making strategies, language and concepts.

Lecture 3: Awareness and Exploration

• New Competencies involves intentationality, awareness of print and oral story.
• Intentionality develops around 3-4 years of age
• Novices intend for the marks they make on paper to communicate a message
• Text messages, like letters, that print shows its different from each other.
• Awareness of print recognizes EP outside the usual context.

Awareness Comprehension

• Being able to understand that the print print means.
• Majority of language is to be developed
• Be able to form questions by 3-4 years old
• By 5 have al linguistic structured and sound systems with Story Comprehension
• Being able to organize for kids to understand the text
• Organize follow sequence with cognitive skills.
• Forming a complete accurate mental representation of text
• Key agents
• Temporal and causal connection
• Vocabulary relies more on the words, than pictures
• To construct literal story meaning.
• Scripts are personal experience and linking the story.
• "Story is "grammar knowledge of the written text
• Being able to make inferences.

Knowledge And Learning

• Not being expressed is deductibles or information
• Learning Better at predictions
• Better Story elements

THOMAS Story

Is about the inferencing of Cover of Book: Thomas' SNOWSUIT

• Not being expressed, so starting the book is easier to retain the information. Pretend Reading/Retelling elements of a book with certain information. Lots of demand memory, cognitive, language and multiple skills. One that there goes and then... for a story transition. Developmental Stages (Sullivan & Barnhart, 1990): Attending pictures is not forming the stories probably can't if take images. The child is tellin the story by looking the pictures. attending.forming.stories(write stories) Attend print

Violation and Test

• Based to see if they understand
• Show comprehension and connected stories 1.Disruptor goal: add information or change the information Substitute two things A violin. Not understanding correctly the context of the word

Concepts Understandings of about how print is visually organized and read:

• Letters are symbols.
• Is more easier to read for the toddler. What are directionality concept That can go from left right line by line:
• They done have 1 and 1 concept.
• Making scribbled looking things, like attempt to look like a letter
• Not able to make a alphabet letters, Linear scribbled : wave contious line(Horitonzally arranged)

Symbolization and Language

• Symbols not similar the the world

• "Salad" is jumbled and difficult

• Average kid can create marks.

• Early knowledge is that abcd is a name.

• Assionate letters with people or objects.

• Learn easy uppercases

• Need a visual A signature requires the child to be aware of each mark on the signature. Form

• Progression- :0, 1,2,3,4,5,6-7 Making letter -Text Format Variety of style on the style and its creation

Literacy Concepts

• Letter in its writing style:

• Meaning formula.

• Not understood on novice

• Children know what to say...but hard to say what is saying.

• Also cannot write the words, The most main skilled kid

• Attention to sounds 5 years of detecting. Language play is very important. Sounds are very important with the kids

• delete sounds. C's and b's

• Blend able words such at Cat:

• Aware of initials and finals

• Aware segment

-Symbol play for reading or writing, which is an important context:

• Use with symbols to play The social interaction. Preschool Literacy.

Lecture 4: Experimenters

• Experimenters is the attitudes.
• Discovery- Attitude and awareness. Discovery of words/ relation. Ability to focus on a few and write to to Meaning-Story 2014 Attend from there. Not full mental states Not fail to resolve is a negative Aware, of literary

Reading Development And Language

1. Sounds with reading.
2. Phrases
3. Words

Alphabet Letters -Form Alphabet: Letters Individual Focus. Names manipulation.

Instructional Stretageies

• Instruction by word, in difficulty.
• Blended approch
• Chart and game by vurelikh
• How the students write is important and ignore.
• Involves examples Take what is on the card catgeory what's on each The text the name is on it...
• Texts.
• Greater is the structure Is more litecary They write and they make cursive or tell tell. This gives the story structure.: Convention Space Abltiy to all upper.

Key Elements

Toos-Writing the message Toos meaning The child more meaningful. The English test is important The test they need to taught in concept. Based letter

Benifites

Engourhced vital sounds and letters

• independent. Write the world any child. . Phonetic to mean. The sign names are to be on this. Write to the test

Assess your understanding of literacy before 1890, essential literacy skills, language functions (regulatory, etc.) and its domains. Find which aspect of literacy is most challenging. Evaluate comprehension skills.