Supporting Language and Literacy in the Early Years

David K. DickinsonDavid.Dickinson@BC.Edu

Lynch School of EducationBoston College

New York State Even Start Conference

Language & Literacy and Social Development & Self-Regulation

• Language is social. It is used to:– Create and deepen relationships.– Solve problems.– Share experience and knowledge.– Play with friends.

• Language helps with self regulation:– It helps with understanding emotions.of

oneself and others.– It can provide self-control strategies.

• Strong language and literacy builds a sense of competence and efficacy.

Language Is Fostered In and Helps Build Strong Relationships

• Teachers’ ratings of closeness to children is linked to children’s rate of growth.

• More positive emotional climate is linked to more extended and intellectually challenging conversations.

• Why? – Teachers learn about children through

extended conversations.

– Children feel valued.

Question

Language is key for social/emotional development of

children. What strategies would you model with parents to

promote language in ways

that will help children grow socially and emotionally?

Question

Adults learn about children through extended conversations with them. Give examples of what you do now to encourage

conversation between you and the child. What are some new ideas

on how you will do this?

Why Such a Focus on Literacy?• Reading failure is bad for you.

– Poor employment opportunities.

– More likely to be involved in crime.

– Poorer health.

• Early difficulty has serious implications.– Less likely to have academic success.

– More likely to drop out.

• The children you serve are at increased risk of reading failure.

• Your program can have a huge impact.

Components of Early Literacy

Reading & Writing

Extended Discourse

Rich Vocabulary

PhonologicalSensitivity

PhonemicAwareness

Letter knowledge

Sound-symbolcorrespondence

Uses of Print

WorldKnowledge

Question

What new ideas did you gain that you might use to design future

intentional instruction sessions with parents to implement the

components of early

literacy?

Question

What resources would you use to help explain the different components of

early literacy to parents and how they all fit together?

Question

What are some strategies and activities staff can demonstrate for

parents, to reinforce their children’s skill development in the various components of early literacy?

Oral Language: From Conversations to Literacy

Conversations• Short turns• Check understanding• Shared experiences &

knowledge• In the same location:

– Gesture– Eye gaze

• Intonation signals how you feel, marks importance

Reading• No turns!• You monitor alone• Cannot assume

shared knowledge• Not shared location• No “voice” to signal

feeling or importance• Rely on words, syntax

(grammar), world knowledge

Occasions That Give Rise to Literacy-Supporting Language

Content that moves beyond the

immediate present: • recounting past and future events

• discussing objects that are not present

• considering ideas and language

• speculating, wondering

• pretending

Finding Time: Implications for Classrooms and Homes

• Find special times to talk– Meal times

– Waiting

– Traveling

– Book Reading

– Others …

• Protect those special times– Set up and maintain routines for talking

– Model good listening by ignoring distractions

– Draw other children into the conversation

Question

What do you do now to promote literacy supporting language with

parents?

Question

How can you help parents use

conversation that moves beyond the

immediate present?

Question

Give specific examples of how, where and when this can happen.

Why Your Efforts to

Support Language Are Vital

Vocabulary Experience VariesHart & Risley, Meaningful Differences

Home & School Study of Language & Literacy

• Visited homes & classrooms from age 3. • Audio-taped teachers and children

throughout the day. • Assessed language & literacy beginning

in kindergarten. Continued to grade 7. Dickinson & Tabors, 2001, Beginning Literacy

with Language, Paul Brookes Publishing Co. (www.brookespubishing.com)

Predicting Children’s Kindergarten Receptive Vocabulary Scores

Using Home Control and Classroom Variables from Dickinson & Tabors, Beginning Literacy with Language, Brookes Publishing

18

41

28 27

49

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

*Significant composites

Controls*

Extended TeacherDiscourse (ETD)*

Curriculum Focus(CF)*

Controls + VocabularyEnvironment (VE)*

Controls + ETD* +CC* + VE*

Correlations Between Kindergarten Predictors and Grade Seven Reading & Oral Vocabulary

from Dickinson & Tabors, Beginning Literacy with Language, Brookes Publishing

Comprehension7th Grade(n = 51)

Decoding7th Grade(n = 51)

ReceptiveVoc. (K)

.69 .58

Early Lit. (K) .62 .54

Closing Questions

As David Dickinson said, “we play an important role in the effort to

improve the language/literacy statistics of most-in-need families.”

Question 1

What is your greatest accomplishment in moving your parents towards the Even Start

Parenting education literacy goals.

Question 2

How can you accomplish the goal of helping parents realize their role

in supporting their child’s language and literacy

development?

Question 3

Based on what you learned in the video and from other research, what

are your specific next steps for parenting education?