How do children acquire lanuage?? how does this have anything to do with reading??

How do children acquire language? What might this have to do with reading?


Well, before this class (even though i was an English Major) i had no idea how children acquire language or how that might have anything to do with reading. But after reading this weeks material, my knowledge is on overload. In the wikipedia article on Language acquisition mentions that their is a Nativist theory that says "children are born with an innate propensity for language acquisition, and that this ability makes the task of learning a first language easier than it would otherwise be. These "hidden assumptions allow children to quickly figure out what is and isn't possible in the grammar of their native language, and allow them to master that grammar by the age of three"

Another theory stated in Wikipedia is "Chomsky originally theorized that children were born with a hard-wired language acquisition device (LAD) in their brains"

I thought the most interesting part of the article from alphadictionary is when they talk about how children acquire language. They state their is evidence that indicates children do absorb a massive number of sentences and phrases but rather than parrot them back, they abstract rules from them and create their own grammar which they then apply to create new utterances they have never heard before. Over the years from 2-7, when language is mastered, children constantly adjust their grammar until it matches that of the adult speaker population."

So taking in all of the reading materials i started to think about the questions for the blog. I feel children acquire language but being obsertvant, listening to grown up speak to them and how they speak around them. Many example come to mind like when your little cousin is around and you slip and curse. And for the next two months all that cousins says is that curse. Not really know what it means, but just because he heard you say it. Children are like a spunge at a young age. By listening to different conversations they are able to construct their own vocabulary.

Learning a language has alot to do with reading. If you don't understand a lanuage, pretty simply how will you read. But understanding a text and reading a text are two different things as well. I might be able to sound out something in Spanish and read it, but i have no clue what it means. REading and language go hand in hand. Language assistes you in understanding what you read and have the ability to recycle that text into your own interpreations. I feel this will be the hardest part about teaching literacy and reading. Sure, if i am teaching a second grade they sound be some readers in the group. But teaching them how to read and understand it is what i am scared of.

About the News Articles...

I hate anything that comes from wikipedia so it was really hard for me to actually grasp the material. It is almost like I can’t trust it because I could right about how to build a plan and some weirdo in say Nashville will actually believe it to be true. But I did enjoy the definition of Literacy, well the traditional definition “literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen and speak.” This definition is pretty close to what I would come up with. It was interesting how in the article from Wikipedia said that “literacy has also been used as a way to sort populations and control who has access to power.” Never would I have thought that literacy or reading is a source of power.

In the Elizabeth Jaeger article I almost wanted to cry for her. When you see teachers work so hard to try and get an idea or a new way of teaching across and just get in trouble for it, it is so sad. Even though I am not a teacher yet, I am quickly understanding NCLB. This is my second graduate course in Education and I got to research the issues myself. I feel NCLB has great intentions, I feel it is a great thing to try and get all children at the level they are supposed to be at. I feel that it needs to be done in a different way, I think a big chunk we are leaving out are like the children in Elizabeth’s article who are non-native English speakers but who still have to follow the same standards. “Teachers who know better are teaching scripts instead of children because they fear the consequences of oppositions of these policies.” This ending remark hit home with me because I feel when I begin teacher, if I do not get high results on the standardized tests there is not shot of getting 10year.

After reading these articles I am wondering how the hell will I be able to teach reading/and or literacy to my students. Will my mistakes, especially as a first time teacher, hurt my students and their ability to learn?

I wonder about getting kids to enjoy reading first. Because whoever is making these laws up needs to realize without some sort of interest or fun behind a lesson, the students have no idea what is going on.

HeLLo!

Hello class!. My name is Kelly Knapp. I am 21 years old, just graduated from St. John's U. in Queens with a BA in English. I am currently going for my M.A.T in Elementary Ed. I later want to become a reading speicalist. I am the WORST speller so please bare with me.