Understanding Language, Systems of Language, and Language Variation

S&H 1

The chapter discusses the importance of young readers’ vocabulary knowledge. They cannot comprehend a text if they do not know the meaning of 98% of the words in the text, even if they can decode them all. I feel like this would be especially important for younger readers, since they have the extra cognitive hurdle to overcome when they have to decode most of the words without automaticity. More developed readers can often focus on word part knowledge or context clues because decoding and word identification have become automatic for them.

The vocabulary knowledge described above appears to be referring to vocabulary breadth. Children need to have a general sense of 98% of the vocabulary meanings to comprehend a text. Vocabulary depth seems to be more likely to need  teachers’ and caregivers’ explicit instruction, modeling, and scaffolding to develop, although it can also be fostered through exposure to some degree. Teachers should support students’ vocabulary breadth to foster general reading comprehension, but they should also help students gain vocabulary depth, since depth requires more than mere exposure. One thing the book does not discuss much is how to help students develop the skills that they need to acquire vocabulary depth on their own. I would like to discuss this more if anyone has any experiences or insights.

It is important that we do not “[leave] word learning until children encounter words in text on their own” because it is ineffective (17). This reminds me of the Marzano Building Academic Vocabulary program we have in my district. It’s a six-step process that involves introducing the word through actions, images, etc., and students are then exposed to it in various contexts and work together to develop various aspects of vocabulary depth. I think this is a useful approach to address the issue of leaving vocabulary instruction to the initial reading of the text.

K 2

This chapter begins by discussing the necessity for a text to form a “unified whole” in order to communicate meaningfully (22). This connects to the S&H chapter’s emphasis on the importance of vocabulary breadth and depth for comprehension. Semantics are one of the subsystems of language that make up a text, and if a child cannot comprehend the words and their relationships on a semantic level, they cannot construct meaning from the text.

The physical properties of a text must be “identified and explained,” and the “relationship of each property to all of the others must be explained” in order for comprehension to occur. This is important for all texts, but I think it’s especially important for two types of texts: 1.) Nonfiction texts such as articles and textbooks, which require synthesizing print, pictures, and graphs/charts. 2.) Other multimodal texts, such as digital texts, which require synthesizing information from each mode present in the text.

This chapter effectively elaborates on what the S&H chapter said about what it means to “know” a word. In addition to recognizing the concept behind a word, children must know “how it is expressed in oral and written language” (42).  For instance, an ELL might know a concept, but not the English label for it, or a young child may know the meaning of a word when it is expressed orally, but he/she could not write or recognize it in its written form.

K 4

I firmly believe that schools have a strong influence on whether or not people perceive language variation in such a way that reinforces social inequities. I have strived in my work with adolescents to avoid language like “correct grammar” or “proper usage.” My students have meaningful discussions about what it means to have grammatical conventions that adhere closely to the language used more by certain groups than others. We talk about the balance between learning how to “code switch” to advance societally/academically and speaking up when people disregard the validity of nonmainstream dialects. These are deep conversations that teenagers are capable of participating in, understanding, and handling maturely. My concern, however, is how to address these issues with elementary students. The issues are just as relevant, but I’d be afraid that those sorts of discussions are less likely or possible. I have a question below about this issue.

This chapter discusses the fact that “rules that govern the language are human constructions” (91). This reminds me of one of the linguistics classes I took during undergrad. We discussed the difference between “descriptive grammar” and “prescriptive grammar.” Descriptive grammar looks for patterns in people’s speech or writing and seeks to describe those patterns. Prescriptive grammar seeks to use those observations as rules that users of a language must follow. We teachers often abide by a prescriptive perspective, and as an English teacher, I know that I must help students learn and practice the grammatical rules of standard English. I think that we often, however, fail to take into account a descriptive perspective. I think that if we did so, we would be able to help our students develop skills related to examining syntax and semantic relationships, which would in turn improve both their close reading skills and their writing quality. I’d love to see what that looks like in an elementary reading or writing lesson!

Questions

• The S&H chapter mentions that vocabulary “is central across the range of social and academic domains” (2). Would you argue that vocabulary is the most foundational aspect of literacy, or would it be something else?
• The S&H chapter describes the connection between decoding skills and vocabulary skills as helping children memorize the connection between the sound and the meaning of words. Based on this, as well as your own knowledge and experience, how important do you think it is for young children to read aloud? Would there be a situation in which they would benefit from reading silently?
• Many teachers help students who speak dialects that are not academically valued by helping them “code switch.” Do you think this sufficiently helps them succeed academically and socially? Why or why not?
• The pragmatic system of language “governs what forms of language are appropriate in particular contexts” (27). Teachers have a big impact on the pragmatics of the language that children are expected to use—how can teachers working with young children best approach this responsibility?
• Can teachers help foster all aspects of word knowledge simultaneously? Should they? For example, oral expression, written expression, word identification, conceptual knowledge, etc.
• Figure 2.4 on page 49 of Dimensions of Literacy outlines the relationships among texts and systems of language. Do you think there is a particular order in which these should be addressed with emergent and beginning readers?
• How can teachers working with young children avoid reinforcing the idea that nonstandard dialects are “wrong” or “improper”?
• Before reading chapter 4, did you perceive standard English as a dialect? How did the chapter change your perspective, if at all?