Emergent Language in 3

Emergent Language in
3-5 Year Olds
Sandra Doran, Ed.D.
Associate Superintendent of Education
Florida Conference of SDA
A child speaking is an esthetic event.
Through learning to talk, children learn how
to do well in society. And as they learn, they
create beauty.
--Robert Hopper and Rita Narremore, Children’s Speech:
A Practical Introduction to Communication Development.
Pre-school children
are beginning to attend to the sounds
of the language.
Pre-school children enjoy using language
to develop their imaginations.
Preschool children use language to
figure out their world.
Fostering language development
in young children
 Phonology:
The Sounds of our Language
 Language-Rich
of words.
Environment: The beauty
How do children learn a language?
Phonemic Awareness in Young Children
Marilyn Jager Adams
Sounds Abound
Hugh Catts, Tina Vartiainen
Environmental Sounds
Rhyming
Eletelephony
Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! No! I mean an elephone
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)
Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephee—
I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephong!
Word Parts
Categorization Tasks
Blending Tasks
Syllable splitting task
Types of Language in the Classroom
#1. Talking to control behavior.
 Both
teacher and child know that they
already know the answers.
 The teacher is steering the child through a
match game, checking to see if she knows
the answers.
#2. Talking to manipulate towards a
pedagogical end.
 Any
kind of classroom talk that is
unnatural, that is directed toward
pedagogical ends and not toward
communication with children, is dishonest.
 “Teacher Talk.”
 “Pedagogical Register.” Higher pitch,
exaggerated enunciation and intonational
pattern.
#3. Talking out of genuine interest.
 The
language is not contrived by the
teacher to make her point.
 It is allowed to range, as natural
conversation often does, from topic to
topic as attention shifts focus.
 Functionally rich talk.
 Children interact with each other as well
as the teacher.
Promote a language-rich
classroom.
 Show
children their talk is valued.
 Give children things to talk about.
 Give children opportunities to talk in a
variety of ways.
 Give children many times during the day to
talk.
 Give children words to use in their talk.
Listen to kids! They have a lot to teach us.

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