Young Children's Oral Language, Reading and Writing

Abstract

Abstract This study describes four-year-olds' oral language and related literacy performances from a socio-linguistic perspective. As participant observers in a Head Start setting, the researchers documented the role and functions that oral language of pre-kindergarten children played in classroom exchanges, writing episodes and print-awareness tasks according to Halliday's framework. Four children were selected with each child representing a different stage of development in the use of Halliday's seven language functions. Audio- and videotapes were made of the talk of these children in varied classroom activities and a writing center. The language of these subjects was then related to their understanding and ability in literacy tasks. In addition, parental interviews were conducted to complete an in-depth description of the language and literacy performance of each child. The descriptive data analyses support the hypothesis that children who are adept in orally using and combining Halliday's seven functi...