Literacy and language

This unit explores young children’s language and literacy learning in early childhood. You will develop an understanding of how to support children's communicative intentions, confidence and capacity in literacy as a foundational skill for successful learning. This will include examining how adult interactions can support young children’s communication and language development, the influence of family and community contexts on children’s language development, and practices to support reading and writing acquisition processes. You will examine strengths-based models and strategies to support language development for diverse communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families and children who speak languages other than, or in addition to English. You will examine how to use literature to support multicultural education. The use of digital technologies as a tool to support language and literacy learning will also be taught and discussed. The unit will introduce you to evidenced-based pedagogies to build rich language and literacy programmes across diverse early childhood contexts that support the continuity of children’s literacy learning from birth to 5 years of age.