Assignment on Child Development (pdf)

CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Case Study 2: Second Language Acquisition and Reading
Morteza, a quiet and shy boy of 13 is struggling with his ability to read and write in
English, which is his additional language chosen in the secondary level. Morteza is from a
different cultural and linguistic background who is finding it difficult to the Australian culture.
Although he had English as an Additional Language in his first school for two years, he struggles
to speak fluently.
All the students who move to a new country to pursue education face the common
problem of adjusting to that country’s culture and the school curriculum. The theorist Stephen
Krashen (2013) in his theory of Second language acquisition has suggested that in countries
where English is the first language, it becomes difficult for students to fit into the environment
easily. In terms of linguistic, students with English as their second language tend to struggle
while communicating in either written form or verbally. The reason for this is their association
with their first language and the environment where they grow up where English is rarely
spoken. In academic field, the students with EAL/D find it difficult to complete class projects
that are in English (Alford & Jetnikoff, 2016). Learning English further becomes difficult for
foreign students due to the cultural constraints they face. The students might not be able to get
along with other students easily as their culture does not permit to open up easily.
English is learnt either through listening or by reading, as some experts believe. Students
who are born in Australia but belong to a family that does not have any roots in English might
also encounter problems while learning ht language (McDevitt et al. 2013). A great example can
be given of the Indigenous students who are born and brought up in Australia but who have little
acquaintance with the mainstream language. They might come across similar problems as that of

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Morteza who was born in Australia but hails from the Aboriginal community where English is
not the first language (Tharp & O’Donnell, 2016). However, those students who have good
listening skills and grow up in an environment where majority speaks in English would have
little difficulty in speaking the language.
Morteza’s teacher realized her student’s shy and reserved nature and hence she refrained
from asking him direct questions. She decided to allow him sufficient space and time to get
along with the classroom environment. Further, the teacher placed Morteza with students who
were good in English speaking in order to allow him learn with peers. He was often found to be
daydreaming in the class, which his teacher chose to ignore because she realized that he is
exhausted from the attempts to learn the language. These strategies employed by the teacher are
crucial to let foreign language students learn English naturally and competently. In addition, the
strategy to place English language competent students with Morteza reduced the burden on the
teacher in the class as those students’ also modeled appropriate language and behavior. However,
as teachers it is important to understand that all students do not react or respond in the same way
as Morteza did. Allowing him to daydream and stay quiet in the classroom for long might
develop a sense of neglect in him and he might not respond at all.
In order to be more proficient, the teacher can make use of Information and
Communication Technologies in the classroom that could assist her convey the messages more
profoundly. Use of ICTs in the classroom especially for EAL students have proved highly
effective in the recent years because of the ease with which teachers could communicate with
students like Morteza. ICT could encourage students to produce error-free assignments with the
help of auto correct option (Uluyol & Şahin, 2016). Teachers could use visual timetables to

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familiarize students with the curriculum with the help of simulated games; teachers could
develop the language learning skills of students in a fun way.
Apart from that, the teacher could learn more about the learning desires of Morteza and
get to know the things he likes or has interest in. this would allow the teacher to enable him learn
the language in his own way. Use of genuine learning texts of English further enhances the
chances for Morteza to learn quickly. Authentic texts with pictures allow beginners to
incorporate any novel information easily.
As the first step, teachers should give time for students like Morteza to open up and
interact with others the strategy used by Morteza’s teacher is really effective because she did not
force him to answer anything or adjust with the classroom atmosphere. She allowed enough time
for Morteza to develop. In the Australian Curriculum, students with EAL/D are provided definite
support to acquire English language skills needed for efficient communication and admittance to
the Curriculum (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2018). The Curriculum enables teachers to provide
personalized instructions to EAL/D students. Teachers need to identify the level of language
proficiency of the student with the use of the Learning Progression. In addition to ACARA, the
Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) also provides abundant resources to
the teachers to assist EAL/D students. The resources like Lest We Forget, PETAA Book Extras,
Project 40: Video Essays and many more are given to teachers for teaching effectively
(Petaa.edu.au, 2018).
Case Study 3: Concrete Materials in a Problem-solving Task

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The Year 4 students, Jake, Eliza, Remy and Molly had a task on Math to solve which
they took from a Math website. The problem required the four students to make a pyramid –
square based – with the help of 140 oranges.
The group was able to form the pyramid when the teacher presented them with concrete
materials. When the teacher demonstrated the process of finding the solution by using pyramid
blocks, the students easily understood the steps. This strategy used by the teacher refers to the
theory of cognitive development introduced by Piaget. According to Piaget, children pass
through four stages of cognitive development – the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage,
concrete operations and formal operations stage. The sensorimotor stage involves children from
birth to two years, preoperational stage is for children of two to seven years, concrete operational
for seven to eleven years and formal operational for adolescence and adulthood. The group of
students who were involved in solving the Math problem belonged to the third stage that is
concrete operational. At this stage, children develop the ability to de-center their thoughts and
take into account each perceptible characteristic of things around them. They also develop the
capability to arrange things in a systematic manner by classifying the nature of the object. The
four students also demonstrated these capabilities. While Remy was able to observe the pattern
of the square-based pyramid blocks shown by the teacher, Eliza noted the differences in numbers
in each square. Light (2017) argued that Piaget’s theory is apt for teachers to use in the
classroom because children especially at the age of seven to eleven years “learn best from
concrete activity”. The students learned about squares with the help of a concrete activity of
putting oranges in square-based pyramid.
The teacher played a crucial role in solving the Math problem assigned to the group.
When the students were struggling to find the way to start making the block, the teacher helped

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them by asking questions as the number of oranges that should be at the top of the pyramid and
in the next layers. In another instance, when molly was noting down the number of blocks that
covered each square, the teacher asked her to observe if there are any patterns being formed by
the numbers. This prompted the students to observe the pattern and found that they had made a
pattern of squares. The teacher also assisted the students in analyzing the pyramid towards the
end by asking them to remember the problem they have to solve from the beginning.
This strategy of asking questions and demonstrating with concrete materials at different
stages of the problem-solving task by the teacher refers to the process known as scaffolding.
Jerome Bruner was the first to use the term in the context of education in the 1960s (Bruner,
2018). Scaffolding has since become an effective way for teachers to ensure efficient teaching.
Within the Australian education system, the method became increasingly popular with more and
more educators employing it in areas involving early childhood education and educational
psychology amongst others (Edutopia.org, 2018).
The four students of Year 4 had the task of solving a Math problem that they achieved
with some assistance from their teacher. The students, belonging to the age group of 10 to 11
years, were competent enough to identify the patterns and ultimately solved the problem. The use
of concrete material like the square-based pyramid box of solid shapes by the teacher greatly
helped the students visualize their problem clearly (Education.vic.gov.au, 2018). The teacher
made use of his knowledge of the ability of children at this age. He made good use of Piaget’s
theory of cognitive development.
In the given case, another interesting fact about children’s learning ability comes out –
group work. It has been observed on multiple occasions that children learn better, when they

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collaborate in a group. Understanding Vygotsky’s theory on learning and development would
provide a better explanation. According to Vygotsky, children learn through “socially organized
instruction”. Collaborative learning and reciprocal teaching are key elements of learning as
stated by the theorist. Here also, one can observe the students collaborate with each other and
divide their roles according to their strengths and interests that helped them achieve the desired
result. Vygotsky also talked about each student’s zone of proximal development (ZPD).
According to the theorist, each child goes through the stages of proximal development that
includes assistance, growing independence, automation of response and de-automatisation. The
ZPD is the phase between actual level of development and potential level (Wass & Golding,
2014). Children within this zone have the potential to solve any task with some assistance and
encouragement from the teachers. In this case, the ZPD applies to the students, as they were able
to accomplish their objective with some help from their teacher.
Case Study 4: Jo, Teaching about Morals and Values
Jo is a teacher at an Australian school who aimed to develop certain values and morals
for the students after some problems occurring in the playground. Jo along with other teachers
felt that the students must be able to identify and realize the values of morality. in the academic
setting, it is important to ensure that students are not only developed in educational but entirely.
The students went through certain stages of moral development where they went from
showing animosity against their peers to collaborating with them to raise funds. Moral
development has different stages through which individuals pass at different stages in life (Lind,
2017). Lawrence Kohlberg was the first theorist to develop a concrete model of moral
development. According to Kohlberg, three levels of moral development are there that include

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pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional. The preconventional level of morality
hosts two complex stages – obedience-punishment and instrumental-orientation. The second
level has two stages as well – good-boy nice-girl orientation and law and order orientation.
Finally, the third level of postconventional includes stages of social contract orientation and
universal ethical principles orientation.
In case of Jo’s students, they initially were in the first stage of the preconventional level
where their moral judgment was limited to direct consequences of the action. Children mostly
fall under this stage because they do not possess the ability to think beyond direct consequences.
After the interventions by Jo and other teachers, the students developed certain moral values and
practiced the values by organizing a fundraising program for a humanitarian organization.
During this process, the students attained the sixth stage of the third level that is
postconventional morality. At this stage, students developed the capacity to understand that
moral reasoning is abstract and is depended on the application of universal ethical principles.
The students demonstrated moral development quite rapidly once they were intervened to
by the teachers after the trouble at playground. They possessed qualities that first put them in the
first stage of the conventional level of Kohlberg’s moral development model. In order to pass
this stage, the students needed to be competent emotionally to control their anger. Further, the
age at which the students are in, is characterized by certain factors that compels them to indulge
in anti-moral activities. It is important for teachers to understand their psychology. Erik
Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development would be a great ground for educators to
understand children’s psychology.

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Jo’s students mostly belong to the age group of 12 to 14 years and hence they fall in the
fourth and fifth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development (Knight, 2017). In the fourth stage,
the child faces the challenges of being superior and competent. In the fifth stage, the child is in
his teens and hence value peer relationships and struggles with identity. When the students
engaged in fight at the playground, they were trying hard to fit into the challenges of the stage –
acquire superior role, be competent and so on. After the initial stages passed and their attention
was diverted to the fundraising program, the students tried hard to make friends with those other
than their group. It must also be noted from the case that forming gangs and being a part of the
gang is very crucial for students at this age.
Addressing the moral values and development of students in the primary level is a
daunting task for educators (Howard, 2016). The reason is that the children at this stage are the
most sensitive and vulnerable. Jo and the other teachers employed a good strategy to make the
students realize the moral values and help them develop morally. Bronfenbrenner devised a
theory that views child’s development as having complicated layers that forms the child’s
environment. The theory known now as the bioecological systems theory maintains that a child
develops within his or her primary environment that involves a system of relationships. The
microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem form a child’s biological environment
that comprises his or her relationships. Any disturbance in one layer causes other layers to
change. Therefore, it is important for an educator to understand this and apply the teaching
methods accordingly. The school and the teachers form the mesosystem and thus, it is crucial
that the educators teach positive behaviors to the children. In this way, they can n=ensure that
there is no disturbance in the children’s environment. Further, moral values could be

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incorporated in the general curriculum along with practical teaching so that children learn these
values clearly and apply in their own life.

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References:
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Language or Dialect (EAL/D) learners: A case study of four teachers of senior
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Australiancurriculum.edu.au. (2018). Students for whom EAL/D. Retrieved from
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Bruner, J. (2018). Jerome Bruner and Constructivism. Learning Theories for Early Years
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Education.vic.gov.au. (2018). Languages Teaching Resources. Retrieved from
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Edutopia.org. (2018). 6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students | Edutopia. Retrieved
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Light, P. (2017). Social interaction and cognitive development: a review of post-Piagetian
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