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7THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE EARLY LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
Nilufar Begibaeva
Senior Education Specialist Mercy Corps International in Uzbekistan nbegib aeva@m ercycorps.org +998 93 781 1616 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10818180
Abstract. This article explores the critical role of early literacy in development of cognitive and social skills of preschool children. It begins by elucidating the significance of early literacy skills in laying the groundwork for academic achievement and lifelong learning. It highlights the positive impact of parental engagement on children's language acquisition, vocabulary development, and emergent literacy skills. Additionally, it underscores the importance of fostering partnerships between parents, educators, and community resources to support children's literacy development comprehensively.
Keywords: early language literacy, parents engagement, community and pedagogues collaboration, cognitive and social skills.
Аннотация. В этой статье рассматривается критическая роль ранней грамотности в развитии когнитивных и социальных навыков детей дошкольного возраста. В начале статьи раскрывается значение навыков ранней грамотности в создании основы для академических достижений и обучения на протяжении всей жизни. В ней подчеркивается положительное влияние родительского участия на усвоение детьми языка, развитие словарного запаса и формирование навыков грамотности. Кроме того, подчеркивается важность развития партнерских отношений между родителями, педагогами и общественными ресурсами для всесторонней поддержки развития грамотности у детей.
Ключевые слова: ранняя языковая грамотность, участие родителей, сотрудничество сообщества и педагогов, когнитивные и социальные навыки
Annotasiya.Ushbu maqola maktabgacha yoshdagi bolalarda kognitiv va ijtimoiy ko'nikmalarni rivojlantirishda erta savodxonlikning muhim rolini o'rganadi. Maqola erta savodxonlik ko'nikmalarining akademik yutuqlar va umrbod ta'lim olish uchun poydevor qo'yishdagi ahamiyatini o'rganish bilan boshlanadi. Unda ota-onalarningishtiroki bolalarning til o'zlashtirishi, so'z boyligi va savodxonlik ko'nikmalarini rivojlantirishga ijobiy ta'sir ko'rsatadi. Shuningdek, bolalarning savodxonligini rivojlantirishni har tomonlama qo'llab-quvvatlash uchun ota-onalar, o'qituvchilar va jamoat resurslari o'rtasida hamkorlikni rivojlantirish muhimligi ta'kidlanadi.
Kalit so'zlar: erta til savodzonligi, ota-onalarning ishtiroki, jamoa va pedagoglarning hamkorligi, kognitiv va ijtimoiy qobiliyatlar.
Throughout history, the development of literacy has begun with very young children, before they even begin formal education. This early learning is fundamental to the development of essential skills - for example, the ability to understand and use language in a variety of ways and to use emergent literacy in a range of contexts. By contrast, those who do not progress beyond rudimentary early literacy skills find it difficult to talk or write about anything freely, to scrutinize issues, make decisions on the basis of knowledge and understanding or to continue learning in its
broadest sense. Over recent years, our understanding of how younger children learn to read and write has made great strides. Yet a persistent challenge for parents, educators and policy makers is discovering how to harness broad public enthusiasm for the getting of the early literacy without imposing unfounded or overly narrow views about what is 'proper' or 'acceptable' teaching and learning. A careful balance has to be struck between creating a zealous environment and according children the freedom to explore and find out about reading and writing for themselves. This introduction has outlined the key issues involved in the study of early literacy and grounded the evaluation of different models and approaches by locating them in the broader context of the ways in which the youngest in society are facilitated into literacy and learning in the culture of their present world.
There is a wealth of research attesting to the importance of early literacy to later academic achievement. In their collaborative article, "The Foundations of Literacy," Susan Neuman and David Dickinson note that "children's early experiences and interactions with literacy have been shown to have a decisive impact on their perception of reading and writing and their actual achievements in reading and writing." They stress that literacy begins at birth, when children start to discover the sounds and sights of their language, and that a rich and stimulating "literacy environment" is crucial to the development of the multiple skills early literacy encompasses. This environment, as Neuman and Dickinson and a multitude of other scholars in the field argue, can be obtained both at home and in preschool and other educational settings. The crucial period between birth and age three, during which the brain undergoes its most dramatic growth, is the most important for the development of intellectual skills. Moreover, research has shown that "those who begin kindergarten with the lowest reading readiness skills have the most to gain from educational curriculum and teacher support." Without the emergence of at least rudimentary literacy skills by kindergarten, performance in any subject matter that requires reading and writing to express knowledge - from history and science, to music and physical education - will be compromised. Thus, promoting early literacy development is crucial to later literacy and academic success. Neuman and Dickinson quote findings that suggest that children with the most exposure to literary environments at home, enhanced by interactions with caregivers, are likely to reach higher reading levels than those who have had fewer experiences. This idea that parental and caregiver involvement complements and enhances the effects of quality pre-kindergarten experiences has been echoed by the findings of numerous studies. For example, a research team led by Dearing, Kreider, and Weiss found that "children's progress in developing essential cognitive and language characteristics of emergent literacy show advantages for those children with the most elevated levels of parent involvement in language and literacy activities."
Next topic after discussing the importance of early literacy is the language acquisition process from birth through the beginning stages of formal education. This topic is divided into seven subtopics, each addressing a different area of language acquisition and each with its own unique theories, developmental trajectories and explanations. The seven subtopics are: the theoretical foundations and scientific study of language acquisition, prelinguistic development, phonetic development, vocabulary development, grammar development, and pragmatic and semantic development. By the time the students come across the last topic-applying the knowledge on each child in the classroom, they will understand the importance of teachers being knowledgeable about each individual child's level of development in relation to language acquisition. The students will also acknowledge the potentials and challenges in terms of literacy
skills that the child might face at various levels of language acquisition and why educators should never underestimate the value of early intervention strategies. Students will also learn to differentiate between phonics and whole language in terms of effective early childhood instructions in promoting literacy skills.
The role of parents and educators in developing of early language literacy is invaluable In sum, according to the views and research evidence of many renowned literacy specialists, parent involvement in literacy practices is constantly recognized as a key factor in raising the actual literacy in our children. When parents become involved in their children's efforts to acquire literacy, children's performance in reading and writing development will have a better output, families and educators will be united, and this will help increase children's literacy experiences and provide beneficial alignment between home and school literacy learning.
It is quite clear that the attitude of providing print material may help children recognize and begin to understand the purposes of symbol use. This makes known that the child will have the opportunity to develop pre-cursor skills and knowledge of using the resources and precursor strategies, and these behaviors work as a first form of guidance for beginner's literacy activities. Such research findings support the prospective mutual influence between the process of children's literacy learning and the role of parents' guidance in early childhood.
Parents and educators play a crucial role in the initial years of a child's literacy development. It is mainly through the influential context of home and early childhood and preschool programs that a child begins to explore print and other communication media and to understand the function of written language in our lives. The program of Mercy Corps that is implemented in Uzbekistan also emphasizes the importance of the home literacy environment, parameters new reading development, and the role of parents in implementing literacy-related learning activities. The findings suggest that educational practices at home and the initiation of literacy activities by parents at an early age have an impact on young children's language and early literacy development, with such development being a predictor of the future acquisition of reading and writing skills.
Many proposed frameworks for early literacy development build upon the ideas of immersing children in a print-rich environment. Such environments will support children in learning the 'codes' of written language and become increasingly familiar with the 'code' of their spoken language through meaningful and fun activities such as interactive book reading.
Well-known authorities in the early childhood field such as Barbara Taylor, Anne van Kleeck, Alan Rossmann and Vygotsky all noted the importance of children's engagement in literacy-rich play activities as a means to help young children develop the deep conceptual and skills that constitute emergent literacy. Both Taylor and Vygotsky viewed children's play as complex and involving high levels of sustained, focused engagement, and cited play as offering optimal environments for development. Van Kleeck discussed the relationships between play and literacy from cognitive and sociocultural perspectives, whereas Taylor and Rossmann explored the vital role of contextualized and meaningful interactions between children and adults in promoting cognitive and social advancement.
Such theories have clear implications for literacy development: a most effective framework will encompass a range of different aspects of these theories. On the one hand, tutors and schools have more freedom to design and deliver an ambitious and well sequenced curriculum that's age-appropriate, so that children's spoken language and early reading development go hand-in-hand.
On the other hand, the framework must also be tailored for the child, providing opportunities for direct, interactive teaching. Also, it is key that parents are encouraged to improve the home learning environment.
Another key theory that informs many early literacy frameworks is the concept of a 'code'. This is the idea that reading and writing in every language is conducted through a set of visual patterns, or symbols, which are arranged to represent spoken words. This is a slightly different interpretation of the term 'code' from 'phonics code', as a phonics code refers specifically to the letter-sound correspondences which is used to read and write words. The 'code' of written language - that is, the overarching concept - is a central idea in cognitive psychology that identifies that developing a good working knowledge of the 'code' is an essential part of becoming a competent reader and writer. The idea of different levels of the 'code' is typically discussed in relation to phonics instruction. For example, the onset and rime method and phonics-through-print awareness both refer to the development of phonological knowledge in order to support learners in understanding the 'code' of written language.
Theorists and practitioners have proposed a number of different frameworks for early literacy development. One influential theory is Vygotsky's sociocultural model, which suggests that language is a tool for social communication and learning, emphasizing the importance of social interactions in language development. In a literacy context, this means that literacy learning is essentially a social process. Instead of seeing reading and writing as solitary activities, Vygotsky proposed that emergent literacy is a process of learning from more knowledgeable others. In this way, educators and parents have a vital role in teaching and guiding children through the stages of literacy development.
REFERENCES
1. Neuman, S. B., & Dickinson, D. K. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of early literacy research.
2. Dearing, E., Wimer, C., Simpkins, S. D., Lund, T., Bouffard, S. M., Caronongan, P., ... & Weiss, H. (2009). Do neighborhood and home contexts help explain why low-income children miss opportunities to participate in activities outside of school?. Developmental psychology, 45(6), 1545.
3. Taylor, B. M., Pearson, P. D., Clark, K. F., & Walpole, S. (1999). Center for the improvement of early reading achievement: effective schools/accomplished teachers. The Reading Teacher, 53(2), 156-159.
4. Van Kleeck, A., & Schuele, C. M. (2010). Historical perspectives on literacy in early childhood.
5. Rossman, A. D. (1986). The effect of uninterrupted sustained silent reading strategies on the attainment of automaticity in reading. Northwestern University.
