Olivia Casey Assessment 2

EML302 Assessment Two Name : Olivia Casey Student Number: 11760781 Subject Code & Title : EML302 – Investigation: Literacy Assignment Title : Oral Language Analysis and Newsletter Value : 50% Date Submitted : Friday the 13 th of October 2023 Actual Word Count (report and newsletter only) : 1690 words Statement of Authenticity : I declare that the work within this assignment is my own, that it has not been submitted previously and that I acknowledge the ideas of other authors within the paper.

Oral Language Analysis Contextual Information In this Oral Language Analysis, I am writing a report about a child who I will refer to as “Mary” in the toddler room at the centre I work at, who is 2.5 years of age. Mary speaks only English both at home and at school. She attends care 4 days a week and has one older sibling who attends primary school. She has been attending this centre for just under a year. When she started at the centre the educators felt her language was ahead of her peers and they now feel her literacy development has strengthened since attending the service, and her language has also developed since her sibling started school. Her older sibling likes to come home and teach her little sister Mary about the things she learned at school. When at the service Mary enjoys singing and playing with the dolls in the home corner. The two language samples I have included in this assessment include one sample where Mary is interacting during child-initiated play with another child in the toddler room who I will refer to as “Mike”, the second sample is an analysis of an interaction between Mary and myself. Mary is often the last child to be picked up as her parents work late and when I am on the late shift at the centre we get to interact one-on-one. The interaction is Mary talking to me about her favourite things. Language Analysis Development of oral language – Mary’s language is developmentally ahead of others her age and one of her strengths has always been language and communication. The educators at her service have observed that her language development is stronger than others her age. When comparing her development to the developmental milestones Mary is reaching and exceeding her 2 – 3 year milestones according to the “ACECQA developmental milestones” (2018), pg 13. “Mary” can say her first name and she can also string sentences together. “Mary” has had an explosion of vocabulary, and she says simple sentences and phrases. She is learning new words daily and is attempting to repeat any words she hears no matter how hard the word seems to her. Looking at her social development she also plays happily with other children,

“Mike” when they pretend to make and serve ice cream and imagine that the dirt, sand and other items in the yard are ice cream and ice cream toppings. The Heuristic Function is used when children want to learn and find out new things, children go through the “Why?” stage and that is a great example of them displaying the Heuristic function. Mary used Heuristic functions during our conversation when “Mary” questions the giraffe's name, when she asks questions like this, she is attempting to expand her knowledge of the things around her. Interactional language functions are used by children to interact with the people around them, when a child interact with their peers, educators, family or anyone else they are most likely displaying the Interactional language function. “Mary” used this function throughout our entire conversation, for example when we spoke about her favourite colours. During this conversation “Mary” also displays the use of Personal language functions. Personal language functions are used when children express their identity and talk about themselves, when “Mary” talks to me about her favourite colours and even tells me that her mummy is picking her up she is using personal language functions. Informative language is when children communicate information to those around them or attempt to explain and describe something. This was also used when “Mary” was telling me about her favourite colours and that her mummy was picking her up that day, children can use multiple language functions at any specific moment to try and better communicate with those around them. Critique of adult participation in the language exchange When adults and infants communicate the adults normally have a specific role in the conversation. As mentioned by ‘Lisa Bayne’ in her “Educator Scaffolds” article some techniques educators and adults can use include repetition, expansion, extensions, vertical structuring, fill-ins, parallel talk, and self-talk. During my conversation with “Mary” I tried to use as many of these techniques as I could to encourage her language and continue the conversation. I used repetition when I repeated that there were only two girls left in the centre e.g. Appendix 2 – line 6. I also used expansion and extension when I extended upon “Mary’s” sentences and added correct grammar to what she had said and repeated it back to her. E.g. Appendix 2 – Line 2. In using these techniques, I encouraged a meaningful and stimulating conversation. “Educators encourage rich environments for talking by engaging in sustained shared thinking, questioning and actively listening to children. They repeat, expand,

extend, fill in, vertically structure and offer self or parallel talk to scaffold each child’s learning” (L. Bayne, personal communication, February 25, 2023). Although I used techniques to encourage language development and communication there are many things I could have done better. As an educator, I like to think that I am learning every day alongside the children. The importance of high-quality adult-child interactions in enhancing children’s language and literacy cannot be overemphasised. Studies have shown that high-quality book reading experiences, cognitively challenging conversation, and educator use of a wide vocabulary are important for children’s language and literacy outcomes (Machado, 2013). Because it is so important for educators to provide children with high-quality experiences and positive environments to encourage their development, looking at my own input in the language analysis me that there are things I can do better. Next time I would like to use more of the techniques to further expand and encourage “Mary’s” language and communication skills. In particular, I would like to use more repetition in my conversations but repeat and expand on what the children are saying, I found myself repeating word for word what the child was saying instead of expanding it and adding correct grammar and things like that. I would like to attempt this so that the children hear the correct way to say words and sentences. E.g. if a child says “making sawberry cream” I would repeat back “yum, you’re making strawberry ice cream” and encourage them to try and say it again. Conclusion The relationships and partnerships between parents and educators are one of the most important things that can impact a child’s development, especially in the early years. Some children are more likely to engage and communicate with their teachers and educators if they see their parents doing so, it’d like they are waiting for their parents to say it’s okay to interact with this person. I’ve also seen the opposite of this happen and if a parent doesn’t get along with an educator or just doesn’t talk to them then the child is also standoffish with that educator. As educators, we acknowledge that parents are children’s first and most influential exposure to language. Parents are the first to talk, read and sing to their children, we as educators are just there to expand upon that exposure to language and encourage and provide more ways for parents to communicate with their children while supporting their language development. Alongside parents, a child’s family members can also influence

References acecqa. (2018). Developmental milestones and the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standards. In ACECQA . https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018- 02/DevelopmentalMilestonesEYLFandNQS.pdf Bayne, L. (2019). Educator Scaffolds . Fellowes, J., & Oakley, G. (2014). Language, literacy and early childhood education V2 (2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria Oxford University Press. Fellowes, J., & Oakley, G. (2020). Language, literacy and early childhood education (3rd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria Oxford University Press. Thwaite, A. (2019). Halliday’s View of Child Language Learning: Has it been Misinterpreted? Australian Journal of Teacher Education , 44 (5), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v44n5.3

Newsletter Oral language development Encouraging Language WHEN ASKING YOUR CHILDREN A QUESTION OR REQUESTING SPECIFIC WORDS FROM THEM LIKE PLEASE OR THANKYOU, GIVE THEM TIME TO THINK ABOUT AND ATTEMPT WHAT YOU’VE WHEN YOUR CHILD COMMUNICATES WITH YOU, REPEAT AND EXPAND UPON WHAT THEY SAY. DOING THIS IT ALLOWS YOUR CHILD TO HEAR THE CORRECT GRAMMAR AND LAYOUT OF ]

Line 6: Mike “No pink.” Line 7: Mary “Here, Chocolate.” Line 8: Mike “Yes.” “Cream!” Line 9: Mary “Ice Cream, Ice Cream!” Line 10: Mike “Prinkles?” Line 11: Mary “No, I get some.” “Sand or dirt.” Line 12: Mike “Both!” Line 13: Mary “mix gether.” Line 14: Mike “Need spoons.” Line 15: Mary “Got it!” “Need friends to get ice cream.” Line 16: Mike “Itch, Cream?” Line 17: Mitch “Yum, Strawberry?” Line 18: Mary “Here, pink ice cream” Sample Two Fiel d Tenor Mode Mary and I were talking about her being the last child at the centre and we also talked about animals, letters and colours Mary and Olivia (educator) Information shared during a casual conversation, child lead interaction Transcription Line 1: Mary “I’m the last one.” Line 2: Olivia (educator) “Yes, you are the last one, everyone else has gone home, it will be your turn soon.” Line 3: Mary “My mummy is picking me up.” “There is two girls. One. Two.” Line 4: Olivia “Yes, two girls and Matthew.” Line 5: Mary “he a boy.” Line 6: Olivia “Yes Daniel is a boy.”

Line 7: Mary “Two teachers and one kid.” “And look a giraffe.” Line 8: Olivia “Yes, I bought that giraffe from home today for you and my other friends to play with, do you like it?” Line 9: Mary “Yes, what his name?” Line 10: Olivia “Gerald the giraffe.” Line 11: Mary “Gerald giraffe, G - G start with G.” Line 12: Olivia “Yes! You are so clever, what else starts with G?” Line 13: Mary “G – G -green” Line 14: Olivia “Yes!” Line 15: Mary “Green not my favourite.” Line 16: Olivia “What is your favourite colour?” Line 17: Mary “Purple.” “And orange.” Line 18: Olivia “Orange like your hair, and mine.” Line 19: Mary “Yes, we are the same!”