Children's Language

by Lindfors, Judith Wells

• ISBN13: 9780807748862
• ISBN10: 0807748862
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-06-27
• Publisher: Teachers College Pr

Summary

The more teachers understand about how children learn to talk, the more they can help children become avid, joyful readers and writers. Drawing on a large body of research and her own volunteer work at a family shelter, Lindfors concisely identifies several important commonalities across oral and written language. Taking the compelling perspective that it’s all language, she traces children’s emergent literacy from infancy through the early school years. The book incorporates abundant examples from a diverse range of children engaged in authentic literacy experiences. Lindfors describes a set of language principles that teachers can build on as they help young students learn to read and write using the oral language processes they already know. The book contains a new, more positive language acquisition perspective” on children’s linguistic and literary capacities, fascinating and insightfully framed quotes, writings, and drawings from children, a 24-page Guide for Instructors and Teacher Study Groups, available for download at www.teacherscollegepress.com, and an Appendix containing an interview with shelter staff from SafePlace and offering basic information on how to identify children who are living in situations of violence and what teachers can do about it

Author Biography

Judith Wells Lindfors is Professor Emerita at The University of Texas at Austin.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction	p. 1
What Is Language?	p. 1
The Kindergarten Child's Language Competence	p. 2
Continuities from Oral into Written Language	p. 4
Language Acquisition: A Continuous Process	p. 8
Connecting Oral and Written Language	p. 14
Authenticity	p. 17
Ricky's Encounter with Inauthentic Text	p. 17
Responding to Authentic (and Inauthentic) Texts	p. 18
The Social Thrust of Early Writing	p. 24
Copying: Communication or Exercise?	p. 26
The Authenticity of Writing Workshop	p. 30
Connecting Reading and Writing, Text and Talk	p. 31
Writing to Connect with Others: The Case of Maria	p. 31
Meaning-Orientation	p. 34
Meaning-Orientation Versus Code Orientation to Print: Deshawna and Annette	p. 34
Meaning-Orientation in Oral Language	p. 35
Four Questionable Notions About Oral and Written Language	p. 37
Early School Literacy Experience	p. 45
Shared Reading Experience	p. 48
Read-Aloud	p. 49
Connecting Meaning-Orientation and Authenticity	p. 51
Looking Ahead	p. 51
Collaboration	p. 52
Collaboration in Early Literacy	p. 52
Collaboration in Writing: Dictation	p. 54
Collaboration in Reading: Predictable Books	p. 59
The Importance of Familiar Texts in Learning to Read	p. 62
Apprenticeship	p. 65
Kenny's Story	p. 65
Kenny's Apprenticeship	p. 68
Approximation in Oral and Written Language Acquisition	p. 69
Kenny's Index	p. 71
Providing Demonstrations and Invitations for the Literacy Apprentice	p. 74
Megan in a Magic Moment	p. 76
Individuality	p. 78
A Lesson from Trixie	p. 78
What Is "Voice"?	p. 81
Voice in Early Writing of Books	p. 82
Voice in Early Writing in Reading Response Journals	p. 83
Use of Illustrations in Early Reading and Writing	p. 84
Voice in Early Reading: Book Choice and Response	p. 86
Jay and Mindy: First Encounters With Books	p. 93
The Uniqueness of Every Child	p. 95
Joy in a Literate Community	p. 96
Appendix	p. 101
Further Reading	p. 109
References	p. 111
Index	p. 115
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.