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Cradling Literacy: Supporting Young English Language Learners

Cradling Literacy: Supporting Young English Language Learners. Eva K. Thorp and Sylvia Y. S á nchez Graduate School of Education, George Mason University ethorp@gmu.edu ssanche2@gmu.edu March 20, 2007. Session Objectives.

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Cradling Literacy: Supporting Young English Language Learners

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  1. Cradling Literacy: Supporting Young English Language Learners Eva K. Thorp and Sylvia Y. Sánchez Graduate School of Education, George Mason University ethorp@gmu.edussanche2@gmu.edu March 20, 2007

  2. Session Objectives • Explore the power of language in the lives of linguistically diverse infants and toddlers and their families; • Learn about the stages of second language acquisition and how they apply to infants and toddlers acquiring a first language; • Develop an understanding of culturally and linguistically responsive strategies for infants and toddlers and their families.

  3. General Demographics • In 1990, 32 million people (14%) over the age of five spoke a home language other than English • In 2000, 47 million (18%) of U. S. population • In 2000, 15% of all public school PK children were identified as ELLs National Center for Education Statistics • 480 languages represented in PK-3rd grade, 80% of children speak Spanish Kindler, 2002

  4. Latino Children, Birth to Age 5 • In decade and a half, Latinos increased from 3.5 to 38.8 million • In 2000, 3.7 million Latino children (0-5) • By 2050, 8.6 million Current Population Survey (CPS), March 2002 • In 2000, 17% of the children served under Part C were Hispanic NEC*TAC • South experienced tremendous growth for children 0-4, No Carolina (417%), Arkansas (392%), Georgia (342%), Tennessee (339%) National Council of La Raza, N.D.

  5. Language and Very Young Children The home language plays a significant role in supporting infants and toddlers through the two major developmental tasks they are faced with during this period in their life: • to develop a strong emotional relationship with the significant people in their lives; and • to develop the knowledge, skills, and world view to help them make meaning of their environment.

  6. Language Loss • What did this young woman lose? • If this had occurred in infancy, how would her loss relate to the two major developmental tasks of infancy? • What societal messages might contribute to language loss in the infants and toddlers your work with?

  7. When Infants and Toddlers Experience Linguistic Discontinuity They might: • Appear unresponsive and/or disorganized • Exhibit excessive shyness • Appear resistant or defiant • Refuse to interact and communicate • Be mistakenly identified as having a language or behavior problem

  8. Keep in Mind • Language is strongly linked to emotion, affect, and identity • Providing linguistic and cultural continuity advances language and cognitive development, as well as emergent literacy. • Language loss and discontinuity occur when young children and their families get the message that their home language is not an acceptable means of communication. • If providers cannot provide linguistic continuity, they can still support language and literacy development by encouraging infant-family interactions through the use of the home language.

  9. How Does a Child Acquire English? Stages of second language acquisition in older children: • Home language use • Observation of new language • Telegraphic and formulaic language • Productive use of the new language Conversational fluency may take two years Academic proficiency takes five to nine years

  10. L2 in Young Children Under 3 • Very young children are language learners, not just English language learners • For most children and families, no choice to grow up bilingually or monolingually • Young children are surrounded by English on television, in schools, in the community • Families continue to be told not to speak their home language, and English acquisition is occurring at a faster pace than ever in history

  11. Supporting Language Development • Support family-child relationships in the home language through meaningful play embedded in daily routines. • Be a willing communicative partner with child and family. Focus on efforts to communicate. • Encourage families to share their stories with their children and with you. • Encourage families to continue using home language.

  12. Child in Crib Video Clip Think about the two major developmental tasks for infants and toddlers: building emotionally secure relationships and learning about their new world • Family member was using their strong emotional bond to scaffold the cognitive foundation. • Home language was the tool used to mediate the relationship and to help the baby learn about his new world.

  13. Willing Communication PartnerMirror Video Clip • How is she a good communication partner? Notice that her focus was not on using English words, but on reading the child’s cues. • How could she now turn this over to the baby’s non-English speaking parent?

  14. Power of Family Stories Video Clip • to a great extent we are the stories we tell, and our memories of personal experiences are what give us a history and a sense of who we are--past, present, and future. ~Susan Engel (1994). The stories children tell. • From their families, young children gain a feeling of belonging, a sense of personal history, the joy of shared meaning, and the security of knowing who they are and where they come from. ~Sánchez, 1999

  15. Stories and Young Children • …to a great extent we are the stories we tell, and our memories of personal experiences are what give us a history and a sense of who we are--past, present, and future. ~Susan Engel (1994). The stories children tell.

  16. Encourage Families to Use Home Language • There is no evidence that acquiring more English is helped by the loss of the home language • On the contrary, building the first language helps the acquisition of a second one • Attachment is a primary development goal and family –child interaction is essential for babies to meet that goal

  17. Key Points to Remember • For children who lose their home language, the effect can be devastating as their socio-emotional foundation is weakened and their cultural identity becomes brittle • Language is not taught—it is acquired within the context of responsive relationships with the significant people in children’s lives • Language is central in the process of relationship building between families and babies • Language is the primary means used by families to socialize young children as members of a cultural community

  18. Resources • Head Start: English Language Learners Focus Group Report http://www.headstartinfo.org/publications/english_learners/appa.htm • Im, J., Osborn, C., Sánchez, S. Y., & Thorp, E. K. (2007). Cradling literacy: Building early language and literacy in young children birth to five. Washington, DC: Zero to Three Press. • Sánchez, S. Y. (1999). Issues of language and culture impacting the early care of young Latino children. http://nccic.org/pubs/sanchez99.html (English version) http://www.nccic.org/ccb/issue24sp.html (en espaňol/Spanish version • Sánchez, S. Y. Is it wrong to speak to my babies in their home language? http://www.headstartinfo.org/English_lang_learners_tkit/Home.htm

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