English in the early years

This unit develops your understanding of young children’s language and literacy learning. It considers the diversity of children’s literacy learning experiences at home, in the community and in early childhood learning settings. You are required to appreciate the importance of respecting cultural and linguistic diversity, and how this can provide a foundation for fostering effective literacy teaching and learning. Adult interactions will be analysed to support young children’s communication and language development, alongside teaching practices to support oral language, reading and writing acquisition processes. This includes examining the role of phonological and phonemic awareness, vocabulary and comprehension and the relationship between oral language and early literacy. The unit links theory and practice using authentic examples and case studies, and requires you to draw upon your lived experiences to develop pedagogical understandings. Contemporary research literature will also be explored in order to deepen your knowledge of English and literacy development and teaching theories to assist you to design and implement evidence-based language and literacy programs across diverse early childhood contexts, to support the continuity of children’s literacy learning from birth to 5 years of age.