Analysis Of Two Children Literacy Development English Language Essay

Introduction

The first early years of life represents important changes in the children physiological, emotional and mental abilities that contributes to their cognitive and literacy development. It is important for accomplished educators to understand these changes and its impact on the children capacity to learn. Educators use this knowledge to create engaging learning environments and the instruction plans that suite each child unique needs. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how using of this knowledge helps to assess and support the children’ learning and literacy development through assessing the development of two children (A.K and A.I) and suggesting approaches to support their learning.

Instructional Context

The two students selected for literacy development examination are students of Al Shouaa KinderGarten School, KG one. Al Shoaa School locates in Al Makam area in Al-Ain city in UAE. The school is specialized only on kindergarten education for children age from two to three years old and with total staff of eighteen female teachers and four teaching assistance. The teaching subjects include English language arts, mathematics, science, art, music, physical education, Arabic, computing and Islamic studies. The total teaching time each week is thirty periods (each period is forty five mints) and the estimated hours of teaching per week is twenty hours. The total number of children on roll are 269 and 55.5 of them are boys.

The school follows SABIS approach for teaching; the approach implies teaching a body of knowledge and skills within minimal input within shortest time possible in mixed ability classes and employing interactive instructional strategies for active student participation. It also involves ranged teaching techniques that include memorization and phonics in reading and drilling in other basic subjects (especially mathematics). The teaching approach aims to create the foundation for accelerated learning, creative thinking and individual exploration and ownership of learning process.

Teachers using SABIS approach introduce the knowledge for students with “point a time” applying the three steps cycle of SABIS® Point Systemâ„¢: Teach, Practice and Check (SABIS Edcuational Services, 2010). In the class room, the teacher explains or demonstrates the point to be learned; provides example and/or gives contexts at which this point could be used then assigns a practical (written) activity to check the individual’ understanding of the point given. Students are also asked to work in small groups; this strategy allows them to get support from their colleagues and gives the teacher the opportunity to visually survey and assess the learning progress and the needs for instant and direct re-teaching. When all students demonstrate, practically and in writing, that they have a firm gasp of the “point” taught, the teacher then moves to the following learning point. Through this teaching method, teachers in Al Shoaa School ensure that students master SABIS® curriculum and the essential skills and knowledge necessary for development.

In KGI class, from which students are selected for this examination, there are total of twenty five students aged from three to four years (12 girls /11 boys). The students are all emirates national but with different social backgrounds, personalities and both cognitive and physical abilities which form the mixed-abilities environment suggested by SABIS approach for learning.

Analysis of Two Children’ Literacy Development

The two children selected for this literacy development examination are (A.K) and (A.I).( A.K) was born 11/03/2005 and he has only one older sister. (A.K’s) family live in Al Makam area, his father is policeman while his mother is a housewife. (A.K) always comes to the school with clean uniform and occasionally unkempt hair. He doesn’t forget his meal money and often brings toys and candy and share them with his classmates. (A.I), on other hand, was born in 29/05/2005 and she has three sisters and one brothers. Her father is a governmental employee while her mother is also a housewife. Aysha always comes to the school in tidy appearance and brings some of her toys and a story to read in the class. The two children were selected in the base of very close ages and the non working mothers. to represent girl and boy sample for this examination. A.K and A.I, also, demonstrate similar characteristics and abilities in term of attitude, disposition behavior, physical development, language development, social-emotional development and writing skills. The information relevant to these areas were collected through observation and reviewing the two’ children learning records; the information of both child is presented in Table 1 and Table 2.

In order to assess their learning and literacy development, A.K and A.I had been asked to complete several various formal and informal oral and written examining activities that aim to capture the relevant features of each child’s developing abilities to produce and understand oral language for varied purposes and each child’s developing abilities to memorize, read and write. The two children were also observed closely to obtain the patterns of behaviors each child displays toward the literacy activities. Summarization of these activities and outcomes are illustrated in Table 3 and 4.

Table 1. Relevant Characteristics and Abilities of A.K

Attitude work

(A.K) has settled easily in to class room routine. He is a conscientious student whose consistent work habits enable him to produce work. He is a caring child who enjoys happy relationships with other children. (A.K) Participates confidently in oral activity.

Physical Development

A.K has good co-ordination; he is always keen, attentive and willing to learn

Language Development

He can express himself well. He knows some of phonetic words taught but there are some of phonetic letter that he can’t pronounce (like (R) sound, he pronounces it (L), this in both languages of Arabic and English.

Writing skills

He has a good control pencil and he can form the letters in satisfactory manner; he also has a good ability to transcribe correctly.

Disposition Behavior

On occasions, he tends to be talkative and finds it difficult to conform to the discipline of the classroom.

Social-Emotional Development

He always interacts very well with other children and shamefacedly with adults. But he is always willing to be friendly.

Table 2. Relevant Characteristics and Abilities of A.I

Attitude work

A.I has taken some time to settle in to classroom routine. She works diligently and independently in all areas. She has shown an enthusiastic attitude towards learning. A.I is responsible and independent student who works to the best of her ability.

Physical Development

A.I has a good co-ordination; she is always keen, attentive and willing to learn.

Language Development

She can express himself well. She knows all of phonetic letter taught in Arabic and English

Writing skills

She is a hard working and responsible student who takes pride in everything especially the high standards of her written work.

Disposition Behavior

She displays exemplary behavior in class; she is always willing to please. On occasions, she tends to be talkative and finds it difficult to conform to the discipline of the classroom.

Social-Emotional Development

She always interacts very well with other children and converses freely with adults. She is sociable and friendly pupil who is always willing to help other.

Table 3.Features of Learning and Literacy developing Abilities of A.K

Area to be examined

Led by Teacher Activity

Outcome

Arabic reading

Ask student to read the Arabic pictured alphabetic sheet

Alone, he didn’t remember/read the letters taught but read some letters when he is with group

English reading

Ask student to read the English pictured alphabetic sheet.

He knew four letters with picture but he couldn’t remember the letter when presented without the picture.

Arabic spilling writing

Dictate Arabic letters on the student (ask the student to spell the letters).

Couldn’t write any letter when dictated. He was asked then to write what he remembers and he then wrote disordered 11 letters.

English spilling writing

Dictate English letters on student (ask the student to spell the letters).

He wrote numbers instead of the letters.

Draw your self

Ask student to draw and color him/her self in a blank sheet

He drew a face with eyes, mouth, nose and very long body and legs colored in orange.

Quran reserve

Ask the student to read “Surat Al Feel” by heart.

He was able only to read the first two words.

Writing name

Ask student to write his/her name in Arabic and English

He was able to write his name in English but not in Arabic.

Memory exam

Read (orally) 3-4 random numbers in front of the child give him/her one second then ask him/her to repeat the number.

Out of 10 times, he was able to remember 2/3 in three times, 3/3 in six times and 3/4 in one time.

Lessening comprehension

Read for the child the Arabic story of “Yasmeen’ Friend” then ask him/her question to test if he/she captures the story

After listening to the story, he was able to answer all the questions about the story.

Articulation exam

Ask student to name objects (and test the sounds elements)

He wasn’t able to pronounce the sound of “Q” in the Arabic word “qalam’ , he replaced with “K” saying (kalam)

Rhyme oddity

Read 3 words for the students, two words start/end with the same letter then ask the student to identify the word that starts/ends with different letter (sound) in 10 seconds.

Start letter: In 7 repeats of different 3 words each time, he was able to get 2 words start differently than the other two.

End letter: In 10 repeats of different 3 words each time, he was able to get 3 words end differently than the other two.

Name test

Ask the student to name the objects (in pictures) as soon as he /she can

He was able to name all the pictures in Arabic (total of 50) in 1 mint and 17 second

Table 4.Features of Learning and Literacy developing Abilities of A.I

Area to be examined

Led by Teacher Activity

Outcome

Arabic reading

Ask student to read the Arabic pictured alphabetic sheet

She was able to read all letters (- ÙŠ .Ø£ ) in correct sounds; she read it in 60 second

English reading

Ask student to read the English pictured alphabetic sheet.

She was able to read all letters (a-z) in correct sounds; she read it in 40 second

Arabic spilling writing

Dictate Arabic letters on the student (ask the student to spell the letters).

She has very good pencil control, she wrote 11 letters demonstrating a good ability to transcribe correctly.

English spilling writing

Dictate English letters on student (ask the student to spell the letters).

She wrote 17 letter with the ability to transcribe correctly (better than Arabic writing)

Draw your self

Ask student to draw and color him/her self in a blank sheet

She drew herself with big face with eye, nose, smile mouth, ears, legs and hair with two flowers (the style she likes); colored her face in pink.

Quran reserve

Ask the student to read “Surat Al Feel” by heart.

She was able to read it completely in addition to “Surat Al Nas”

Writing name

Ask student to write his/her name in Arabic and English

She was able to write her name in both language (Arabic and English); she used different sized letter in the English name.

Memory exam

Read (orally) 3-4 random numbers in front of the child give him/her one second then ask him/her to repeat the number.

Out of 10 times, she was able to score/remember 3/3 in 9 times and 3/4 in the last set.

Lessening comprehension

Read for the child the Arabic story of “Yasmeen’ Friend” then ask him/her question to test if he/she captures the story

She understood most of the conversations and the story and was able to answer all the questions about this story

Articulation exam

Ask student to name objects (and test the sounds elements)

She was able to name all the objects.

Rhyme oddity

Read 3 words for the students, two words start/or end with the same letter then ask the student to identify the word that starts/ends with different letter (sound).

Start letter: In 7 repeats of different 3 words each time, she was able to get 2 words start differently than the other two.

End letter: In 10 repeats of different 3 words each time, he was able to get 4 words end differently than the other two.

Name test

Ask the student to name the objects (in pictures) as soon as he /she can

He was able to name all the pictures in Arabic (total of 50) in 1 mint.

Analyzing the outcomes of A.K and A.I examination, it is obvious that both of them met most of the key indicators for the reading and writing skills that characteristic their age stage. In refer to Piaget stages, they represent the preoperational stage at which children acquire the “semiotic function” and be able to mentally represent the objects and events. Also, Piaget proposed that during this stage children are considered to be “egocentric” and more engaged in “self monologue” with no or less interacting with others (Woolfolk, 2004). In Case of A.K and K.I , both involve in good communication with other children and with adults in little variation of space and volume for emphasize when speaking. While their speech is still not fluent and this is normal in this age, A.I pronounces all letters and words much better than A.K who still mispronounces some letters in Arabic and in English. Both were able to engaged in a shared reading of familiar text (reading letters), A.K struggled a little bet reading the letter in his own or remember the English letter with the picture which makes him more visual learner than A.I. This is evident again in the Rhyme oddity, memory exam and rhyme oddity exercises. Moreover, A.K was able to provide more realistic dimensions when he drew himself in compare to A.I a who drew big head, square body and very short legs.

Both children have developed the abilities to listen and respond to stories read aloud and to make connection between sounds and letters when reading and spelling through identifying same and different letters in similar spelled words. They also begin to identify the words that are rhyme and words that start and/or end with the same initial sounds. However, when it comes to vocabulary knowledge, A.I again performs better than A.K with her knowledge and ability to use more of everyday words that include name of familiar objects, colors, shapes…and so on. Both of them also demonstrated a good ability to hold the pencil effectively to draw and scribble. They were able to create texts for specific purposes like writing their names and spelling some letters. I would refer A.I’ better performance in reading and writing stands to her social background with the fact that she comes from larger family; she interacts with other more four children with a father who works in government and most properly more available around his children than A.K’s father who is a policeman. One more thing clear is that A.I’s mother encourages her daughter literacy skills’ development by providing her with a story to read more often than A.K who never brought a book, only toys and candy. The rustle of naming test to correlated speed of reading letter ability with learning.

Supporting Literacy Development

It is important to notice that the strategies to increase literacy development should focus not only on improving reading and writing skills but also developing the critical thinking and encouraging children to communicate with the teacher and other children through various activities at which language is used in different format (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and for varied and reliable purpose that. It is also to consider the “scheme” theories and target to alter the background knowledge and connect the new knowledge to the old one (internal scheme).

In case of A.K and A.I a, both children are in need for strategy to support their phonic awareness and their ability to hear and manipulate sounds in spoken language. A.K, by his turn, needs more focus to support his ability to pronounce letters and words and to expand his knowledge of vocabulary and improves his spelling and writing skills.

Date of plan

Area to be improved

Led by Teacher Activity

Outcome

3April 2010 TO

3 May 2010

Arabic reading

We play in class room games for Arabic letter like the ring game; the ring has letter and the student chooses the letter; and a book for letter to take it home to have more review at home

Alone, he can remember/read the letters taught showing good progress than before.

3April 2010 TO

3 May 2010

English reading & writing

Have animal book with letters; also use color page for letter and worksheet to trace letter

He likes animal and so he got satisfactory progress

Every morning before class

Quran reserve

Every day in the morning read Quran by heart

He has being trying to read it by heart but he still need more time.

3April 2010 TO

3 May 2010

Writing name

I give A.K tracing card to trace Arabic name

He is able now to write his name in both language (Arabic and English in)

15April 2010 TO

3 May 2010

Result for Articulation exam

I used with A.K pictures that start with k sound like kalbe; and others start with q sound like qalbe

After using these cards, he can say the sound with help

15April 2010 TO

3 May 2010

Result for Rhyme oddity

I start reading in Arabic class the rhyme word and practice with A.K to have Auditory discrimination

I try this with all class, A.K and A.I both now can discrimination the word

Supporting Plan: A.K

As suggested by all learning development theories, social learning enhances children’s literacy skills especially in early stages. Engaging A.K in more group activities will give him the opportunity to learn from the children in his age and to practice the language and especially in symbolic and role playing activities. I would recommend A.K’s family to engage him in more social activities and get him to mix with more children outside the school. More importantly, is for his parents to communicate more with him, speaks with him and correct his pronounce each time he mispronounce a letter/word. In term of reading, writing and vocabulary development, A.K I need to use more visual and colored tools and objects to get A.K to learn and remember them. They may use visual books picture-rich stories to read for A.K and to encourage him to read and/or repeat what has been read loudly. Also, I would recommend to encourage A.K to read and re-read and write and revise written (rehearsing) with providing positive feedback (reinforcement) as suggested by behaviorism theory to foster the cognitive development and it is effective for Quran reserve. There are also tools and technologies that can be employed to help advancing the child skills like the Word Wall and the “talking” books which read text back to children so they can hear it.

Scaffolding is one more strategy I can use and encourage A.K’s family to use to support his literacy skills and to move from dependence to independence. This strategy may used with books and multimedia resources to guide A.K to connect sounds and images with printed texts.

Supporting Plan: A.I

The main area that A.I needs help at (and so dose A.K) is the phonemic awareness and the ability to manipulate sounds in the spoken language. The learning strategies should target to develop their memory and attention-span abilities to be able to capture the meaning and the sequences of sounds in the word(s). Children’ family could be recommended to engage their children in group of activities and games that are designed to teach children to hear the individual and sequences of sounds in words and set of words. Examples of these games are separating sounds “Ask for things or saying words in everyday conversations with a pause between each sound”; Nonsense at which parents read a familiar sorties for the children with re-wording the original words to change from sense to no sense and challenge the kids to detect such changes whenever they occur and more of such activities that also enhance the two-way communication. One more way is to employee the technological tools (like computer software and Web-games) to assist children ability to connect the sounds to the letters in a fun settings.