Spoken and Written Language Systems

Language Systems

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

Functions of Spoken Language

• Instrumental: to get what one wants (e.g., ordering at Starbucks)
• Regulatory: to control others' behavior (e.g., telling someone to be quiet)
• Interactional: to initiate social interaction (e.g., inviting someone to a party)
• Personal: expressing thoughts, comments, and opinions
• Heuristic: seeking information (e.g., asking for directions)
• Imaginative: using language creatively (e.g., role-playing)
• Informative: providing information (e.g., giving directions)

Functions of Written Language

• Establishing ownership and conveying authority (e.g., drivers licenses)
• Communicating over distance (e.g., emails, texts)
• Knowledge accumulation and critical analysis (e.g., taking notes, essays)
• Everything said to children is often physical, but this isn't always the case in literacy
• Oral language is typically contextualized, while literacy is often decontextualized.

Types of Language

• Oral language is categorized as contextualized (face-to-face) or decontextualized (narration, lectures)
• Written language is categorized as contextualized (menus, labels) or decontextualized (most written forms).

Written Language Form

• Letters (graphemes) are the smallest units in a written system
• Print contains meaning and is not random letters

Directional Principles

• Top-down, left-to-right
• Page turns in a certain direction.

Text Format

• Stories and sentences have structure
• Specific ways to format text (e.g., shopping lists, birthday cards)

Differences Between Spoken and Written Language

• Explicit versus implicit processes (written language is often more explicit)
• Biological contributions (individual differences)
• Universality (spoken language is more universal than written language)
• Physical differences (durability, visual cues)
• Situational Differences (interaction, feedback, speed, context)
• Functional differences (relational vs. recording)
• Form differences (prosody, formality)

Vocabulary Differences

• Specificity (written language tends to be more specific)
• Diversity (wide range of vocabulary)

Grammatical Differences

• Written language is more formal and includes punctuation.

Redundancy & Cohesiveness

• Writing uses redundancy.
• Cohesiveness is needed for writing.
• Written language needs specificity.

Use of Context

• Understanding context is important to create atmosphere and infer meaning.

Characteristics of Meaning, Form, Form-meaning Links, and Functions

• Meaning and form are combined for meaning-making and application throughout children's development
• Ages 0 - 3: using books for pleasurable activities and gaining attention
• Ages 3 - 5: to communicate meaning in writing, assign meaning, and apply knowledge to texts
• Ages 5 - 7: to use knowledge of specialized language, and fully develop concepts of words and letters.
• Ages 6-8: to use metacognitive strategies during reading and composing, use knowledge of abstract literary elements, and develop ability to combine meaning and form.

Phonological Skills for Literacy

• Early phonological awareness predicts early reading success.
• Children with dyslexia often have poor phonological skills.
• Phonological skills relate to word recognition and decoding.
• The ability to hear and distinguish sounds within words is critical.

Stages of Pretend Reading

• Attending to pictures and labeling
• Forming oral stories about pictures
• Forming written stories about pictures
• Attending to print/words

Story Comprehension

• Understanding plot, characters, and themes.
• Using inferences and temporal/causal relationships.
• Mental representation of the text with key elements.

Environmental Print

• Real-world print found in food containers, signs, and other daily items
• Provides clues and meaning
• Recognition and understanding for children.
• Ways for parents to promote attention to print.

Parent-Child Interactive Book Reading

• Understanding how parental interaction and questioning strategies change
• Ages 2: mostly providing low cognitive strategies such as "cloze" fill ins.
• Ages 3: providing high cognitive strategies such as prompting connections and prompting predictions.
• Ages 3 and above: asking “why” questions and providing explanations along with vocabulary elaboration.

Stages of Narrative and Expository Writing Development

• Narrative writing includes storytelling.
• Expository writing is focused on factual information and explanation.
• Scribbling, drawing, and random letters to convey meaning (pre-writing).
• Simple sentences and lists (Emergent writing).
• Clear beginning, middle, and end for narratives (Developing narratives).
• More complex sentence structures in narratives (Transitional writing).
• Fluent, engaging stories with unique voices (Fluent narrative).
• Brainstorming, topic identification, and exploring basic facts (pre-writing).
• Sentence based explanations (sentence based).
• Topic sentences and little coherence (structured paragraphs)
• Writing that flows smoothly with detailed arguments (logical flow).
• Complex writing that includes various structures (Advanced expository).

Stages of Spelling Development

• Nonspelling (letters are not connected to sound).
• Emergent spelling (some letter connection to sound).
• Early alphabetic spelling (more letter/sound consistency)
• Middle alphabetic (represents the first and last consonants of a word and vowel sounds).

Explore the components of spoken language, including pragmatics, semantics, syntax, and phonology. Review the functions of spoken language, such as instrumental, regulatory, and interactional uses. Written language functions involve establishing ownership, communicating over distance, and critical analysis.