Introduction
As per the socialization theory that was propagated by Bandura, an individual is born a blank slate, and the person they become is a product of the information they absorb through the process of socialization. In light of this, early childhood development professionals are integral in determining the ultimate character of a child. Early Literacy Learning professionals are responsible for perhaps one of the most essential aspect of a person's life. This is primarily because they are in charge of nurturing communication skills through equipping the learner with competent language skills. The magnitude of this task has necessitated a keen eye on what strategies are used in achieving the agenda. This paper shall review the possible strategies for fostering listening, speaking, reading, and writing at the four primary instructional phases of a child's development and education. Each of the strategies is expected to foster the development of the four aspects of literacy learning and communication.
The Pre-Emergent Stage
This is the primary stage of literacy learning. The stage marks a point where the learner starts to grasp the concept of books and print. They can identify words and picture at this point, and they are curious to learn more. They are fascinated by the words, and they are bound to be practicing with the recital of alphabets and numbers. At this point, learning is primarily fun although there is limited understanding of what intrigues them. The best strategy at this phase is through loud group recitation. This shall entail the instructor preparing pictorial representations with matching wordings. The instructor then points at the pictures and calls out the words with the learners repeating after him/her. The purpose is to create a visual association between the images and the words for recall (Ziegenfuss, Odhiambo & Keyes, 2014, P. 60). The recitation seeks to foster speaking and reading. To cultivate a culture of writing the learners can subsequently be asked to draw and write the names corresponding to the pictures. The purpose of the recitals led by the instructor is because at this point the learner possesses a zero or negligible ability to communicate in English.
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The Emergent Stage
At this level a learner has a clear understanding of the alphabet, can formulate simple phrases and is capable of identifying nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs with little or no linguistic support. They are beginning to recognize the different types of texts, and their curiosity is peaked, and the learner is often caught indulging in self-education out of anticipation as learning is proving fun. The best strategy at this level is to ask direct questions often requiring a yes or no answer. This is aimed at ensuring that each of the learners participates. This approach encourages listening, speaking and reading. In the case that the questions are written as in an exam format, it nurtures reading and writing (Coronado, Gelrud & Rodriguez, 2017).
The Basic Stage
At this level, the learner has acquired the ability to formulate simple sentences correctly both written and spoken and thus more emphasis at this level is on understanding. At this point, the learner is self-motivated in reading and is practicing their spoken English through conversation. The best strategy at this point for teaching is through granting the learner access to more reading material that they are meant to review and then present a summary. This approach is aimed at nurturing reading, understanding, and expression through writing or speaking. At this point, the teacher has laid the groundwork and can steadily guide the learner with increased freedom on the learner's part.
The Intermediate Stage
At this stage, the learner has transitioned from learning to read and write and is now reading to learn. Writing is often grammatical and with proper sentence structure and the learner's reading is more relaxed, full of expressions, and complete with pauses at the right locations. As such, seeing that the learner is well developed over the stages, the best approach to learning would be engaging the learners in a debate. The purpose of the exercise will be to nurture listening as the respondent has to answer based on what the counterpart has spoken, cultivate speaking and reading as after researching what is to be said the speaker will present their argument in speech form (Cohen, 2014). Writing is mandatory as it is the medium by which the learner will document their thoughts.
References
Ziegenfuss, R. G., Odhiambo, E., & Keyes, C. (2014). How Can We Help Students Who Are English Language Learners Succeed?. Current Issues in Middle Level Education, 19(1), 58-62. Coronado, C., Gelrud, K., & Rodriguez, S. P. (2017). Developing ELL Students' Fluency Through Direct Instruction and Repeated Readings using Reader's Theater (Doctoral Dissertation). Cohen, A. D. (2014). Strategies in learning and using a second language. Routledge.
