Language development is one of the most important developmental stages as it enables children to interact with other people within their environment. Through the acquisition of language skills, children can establish themselves in society as they can understand and share their emotions. For most parents, language development and learning are left for teachers, which makes it difficult for kids to comprehend because of the time limitations they face. However, introducing children to the learning process improves their language comprehension greatly. The article under analysis examines the role parents play in promoting their children’s language acquisition. Introducing children to learning activities like storytelling helps them gain key language skills. Good parent-child interactions also create good avenues for children to enhance their language skills. In this case, children remember the vocabulary used by their caregivers and use it as the basis for their language development. Learning materials like toys and books also help children grasp key pre-formal school language skills, which are essential in the later stages of development.
Keywords: learning, language development, children
Article Review
Summary
In their article, Parent's role in fostering young children's learning and language development, Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez (2009) examine the role played by parents in promoting their children's language development and learning cues. The authors begin their article by outlining how children undergo various developmental changes before entering the formal language system. Interactions between children and parents result in variations in developmental abilities among children from different backgrounds. The authors then state the subject of their study, which is based on Bruner and Vygotsky's developmental study, which helped that children with better cognitive, environmental, and sensitive experiences at home are better placed at school than their counterparts. Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez's study focused on understanding the parenting aspects that influence learning and language development. The study also aimed to determine the factors that help parents in the provision of supportive environments for their children (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). After examining recent research studies, the authors established that participation in home routines, caregiver engagement, and provision of learning materials enhances children's are the key parenting aspects influencing success for learning development. The article also lists income, parent's age, race, and education as some of the most influential factors in children's pre-formal learning development.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Main Idea
The main idea is that parents have an essential influence on their young children's language development and learning abilities. In this case, the authors show how parent interactions with their children could promote good developmental outcomes like learning and language. They show how children are influenced by the onset of formal language in their early stages of development. Through formal language, children can learn their cultures and establish shared experiences and meanings with other members of their societies (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). Additionally, good language understanding enables children to grasp important materials and interactions for school learning at an early age. In this case, children with good parent-impacted learning and language acquisition are more likely to adapt better at school. Children from varying backgrounds have different skill levels during school entry, which influence their entire participation in the education system. For instance, the subsequent cognitive development, academic performance, language growth, and literacy development stages are greatly influenced by the entry levels (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). In this case, children with delays during entry are more likely to encounter challenges like grade retention, inability to complete their high school education and placement to special education. It is, therefore, crucial for parents to impact the right developmental knowledge in their children before introduction into the formal learning process.
Findings
The article focused on addressing two fundamental issues: the aspects of parenting that influence learning and language development at the early stage and the factors that contribute to a supportive environment for children's development. The two issues of consideration were geared towards understanding how parents contribute to the effective learning and language development of their children. Three aspects were established to be the main contributors to early childhood learning and language development (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). First, participation in learning activities at an early age is one of the main parenting aspects that produce effective learning and language development outcomes. In this case, parents who introduce their children to activities like storytelling, shared book reading, and alphabetic education establish a good basis for them. With such an education foundation, the children are more likely to enter the formal education system with advanced learning and language skills, making it easier for them to grasp their teachers' lessons with ease.
Consistently involving children in routine activities like storytelling helps them gain emergent literacy abilities, learning growth, and language growth. These activities provide young learners with familiar structures for the interpretation of language and behaviors among their colleagues. Consequently, this makes it easier for them to grasp key learning skills. With the routine activities, children can also anticipate temporal sequences of occurrences as thus helping in their development (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). Exposure to routine activities like shared books also equips children with decision-making abilities as they can easily draw inferences from any experiences they encounter. After entering the formal learning process, such children are more likely to comprehend what their teachers say to make inferences and real-life examples. Participation in routine activities also expands the learners' conceptual knowledge and vocabulary base. For instance, the book reading exercise presents an array of ideas from which children can derive examples when learning new experiences in school. In particular, the book reading exercise helps children develop their phonemic skills and general vocabulary. Finally, such activities also invoke positive attitudes on education, thus making it easier for them to adapt to the school environment.
The second concept that contributes to positive children's language and learning development is the quality of caregiver-parent interactions. In this case, communication between children and caregivers is an important factor influencing their language and learning development. Here, children exposed to diverse environmental elements are more likely to gain good learning and language skills. Quality interactions are defined by the ability of parents to expose children to adult speech and information-rich in environmental events and objects (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). Contingent response to children's explanatory and verbal initiatives is critical for parents to enhance their children's learning and language development. In this case, the use of questions of verbal descriptions helps parents and children establish viable interactions for good development.
The final parenting aspect influencing learning and language development is their ability to provide learning materials like toys and books to their children. Through learning materials, children and their caregivers can interact in exchange for actions and objects. Children can learn communication skills and a wide range of topics with such movements and illustrations depending on the available toys (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). For instance, children with vehicle toys are more likely to understand various driving elements. In contrast, those with kitchen utensils' toys are more likely to understand cooking or healthy eating topics. Toys also provide intrinsic motivation to learning, thus making it easier for such children to adapt to the formal learning process. Furthermore, children's ability to grasp expressive vocabularies depends heavily on their prior exposure to toys or other reading materials.
The article also established a host of factors that predict positive children parenting. Such factors include race, a parent's age, income, and education, and they determine if parents can offer effective parenting for pre-school learning and language acquisition. For instance, teen mothers are less likely to show involvement and verbal interactions with their children than older mothers. In terms of education, more educated mothers are more likely to engage in reading exercises with their children than their counterparts (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). Children from low-income families are less likely to be exposed to early learning due to the unavailability of learning materials like storybooks or toys. The article also established that African American or Hispanic parents are also less likely to introduce their children to early reading. Children's features like birth order and gender also determine the type of parenting they receive. In this case, the article outlines that girls have more privileges than boys.
Finally, the authors also expressed the need for educators, practitioners, and policymakers to apply learning environments to create better learning spaces for children. For instance, policymakers must formulate the right policies that eliminate the barriers to good parent-child interaction, resulting in poor learning and language development outcomes (Tamis-LeMonda & Rodriquez, 2009). Educators must also encourage parents to continue exposing their children to support material for positive developmental outcomes.
Reflection
The article was important for me in understanding all the factors that influence children's language acquisition. Completing this task has enabled me to understand how children's language acquisition is determined by a host of factors rather than the school environment alone. In essence, the article educated me that the best approach to positive language development is introducing children to education at an early age. In this case, parents must initiate the learning process before their children join the formal schooling system to understand the taught content. The article has also enabled me to understand the importance of children's learning environment in their development. In this case creation of a positive environment helps in the establishment of positive language outcomes. The right environment could include learning materials like toys and reading books, which expose children to good language understanding.
The article has also taught me the importance of child-caregiver interaction in enhancing language development. Exposure to adult communication helps children build a wide vocabulary base. Reading this excerpt helped me remember how my niece learned language within a short period due to the presence of adults in the house. With adult interactions and exposure to toys and reading materials, my niece understood language with ease. I think the main reason for the rapid acquisition was exposure to various vocabularies borrowed from adult communication and the toy and reading material interactions. With this information, I can influence the language development outcomes of my class by incorporating the right strategies like environment and materials.
This information is highly important, not only for educators but also for parents and policymakers. With the information in this article, parents can understand how to ensure effective language development among their children. In this case, children can avoid issues like grade retention by introducing their children to the learning process at an early age. After reading this content, parents can ensure the adoption of the right strategies for all their children, including toys, shared books, and exposure to adult communication for vocabulary borrowing. The information in the article is also important for teachers who must understand the causes for varying children's language development. Here, educators must understand the variation in language development as a basis for them to create effective learning tools for their learners. For instance, they can put more emphasis on children who are behind in language development. Additionally, they can recommend a host of home remedies like shared reading for their parents to improve their learning outcomes.
The article is also fundamental in the implementation of the right classroom practices for improvements in learning outcomes. The information will help me in adopting an effective classroom environment to enhance my learners' abilities. In this case, I must ensure that my classroom has the right materials that promote good learning. For instance, when dealing with preschoolers, I must include visual elements with common themes aimed at helping children develop various vocabularies. The information in the article is also crucial in the creation of the right interactions with learners. As learned from the article, good learner-caregiver interactions enhance positive learning outcomes. In this case, I must ensure that I communicate effectively with learners to create good interactions for learning. Learners are more likely to understand expressional and observational cues, hence the need for upholding good conduct for students to emulate. According to the article, children listen to adult communications to grasp vocabularies that are essential to them. Similarly, classroom interactions with other learners are more likely to create a good basis for them to share vocabularies and skills. Therefore, I must ensure effective interactions between learners in the classroom to improve their learning outcomes. The article has also taught me how to help underprivileged students. In this case, identifying struggling learners demands the adoption of the right corrective skills like giving them assignments to discuss with their parents for improvements in their learning outcomes.
Reference
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. & Rodriquez, E. T. (2009). Parents’ role in fostering young children’s learning and language development. New York University. http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/sites/default/files/dossiers-complets/en/language-development-and-literacy.pdf
