Contemporary Approaches for Teaching Communication and Literacy in Early Childhood Education

This report analyzes the contemporary approaches required to teach communication to children in their early years and the pros and cons of inclusive education in a diversified classroom. It also discusses the importance of diverse learners on the optimal language learning of all children.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

1
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Introduction
Physical, environmental and social dimension are involved as a child learns to talk.
Language acquisition and literacy in a multilingual classroom can be challenging for both the
students and the educators. Good communication is important for successful learning and
educators all around the world had been adopting several learning approaches for facilitating
literacy and communication in a multilingual and diversified classroom.
This report has criticized and analyzed the contemporary approaches required to teach
communication to children in their early years. It has also pointed out the pros and cons of
inclusive education in a diversified classroom.
Contemporary approaches for teaching communication, language and literacy to the
diverse learners in an early childhood setting
The number of multilingual students are on the rise and these students bring a fund of the
linguistic and cultural knowledge in to the schools and involve with literacy in a variety of ways.
Hence, these classrooms have become rich sites of demographic, linguistic, cultural and literate
learning. While the population in the schools have started to diversify, the ways children are
being taught have become regulated, standardized and monitored (Machado, 2017). These
standardization is often in compliance with the dominant culture or the language. In spite of the
challenges, the emerging community of the scholars have developed several instructional
approaches, whose objective is to support the home heritage, culture and language practices
(translanguaging, biliteracy and culturally sustaining pedagogy).

2
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Some of the general recommendations that has been provided by Fellowes and Oakley,
(2011),to enhance communication skills among the diverse learners includes – frequent talking
with the babies, cuddling of babies and using hands on parenting, Using high pitched vowel rich
singsong speech styles the most of the adults undertake while interacting with the babies
(Machado, 2012).
Games can be make out of an infant’s smile, sounds and the movements if the infant is
unresponsive. The vocal play of the infant should not be interrupted.
Early childhood classrooms might have diverse learners with varied range of disabilities
like stuttering and cluttering children. In such cases teachers will have to be patient enough and
listen to whatever the child is speaking. Children can come with selective mutism, where a child
an speak, but they choose not to. In such case helps can be taken from the counselors. The avid
talkers and the shouters should be engaged in quite play activities. Teachers can often change
these types of behaviors by the discussion of the “inside voices (used in classroom) and the
“outside” voices (to be used in classrooms) (Machado, 2012). In case of interacting with children
having disabilities literacy can be provided by using specific media and tools, creating visual
aids that clearly depicts or clarify the instructional intents, such as using posters of different signs
with drawings, use cues like flashing lights or music for gaining attention, if necessary
(Machado, 2012).
In play based approaches, educators can engage in word play, chimes, rhymes and fun-to-
say short expressions. A toddler can be encouraged to make sounds by providing with
noisemaking toys. Children are engaged in different types of play, through which they explore,
think, create, imagine, take decisions, solve problems and interact with each other (Fellowes &

3
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Oakley, 2011). Exploratory play are often carried out collaboratively and in pairs that enhances
greater varieties of language skills. It facilitates effective mix of culture and traditions.
In order to communicate with the students coming from different cultures, a varieties of
instructional designs can be used. In order to consider the culture and the language skills of the
students, a comparable learning opportunities can be given to the people. Visual aids like use of
pictures and artefacts should be used while teaching and communicating with children with
different language and different culture. Classroom activities like storytelling activities, where
children might reflect upon their own culture. Here, the students can inform about their families
and communities and cultural features (beliefs, practices and traditions, communication styles ad
and languages) (Fellowes & Oakley, 2011).. Let the students understand about the classroom
rules, about talking, verbal participation in the lessons (Fellowes & Oakley, 2011).
Inclusive teaching strategies required to support young children’s cultural languages
Multicultural education can be referred to as an approach for to education that aims to
include all the students, promoting learning of other cultures and teach them with healthy social
skills, in a multicultural setting (Norton, 2013).
An aboriginal child in an urban early childhood setting might face difficulties in while
communicating with the teachers or while acquiring health literacy. In order to avoid such cases
an early childhood educator should develop a rich understanding of and respect for the aboriginal
cultures. The educators should recognize that many aboriginal languages and dialects are spoken
and taught across the county (Ewing, Callow & Rushton, 2016). It is necessary to understand that
many of the contemporary aboriginal children might speak aboriginal English, which is another
dialect of English. Wonderful aboriginal books are present that will help the young students to

4
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
explore the contemporary aboriginal culture and language including the aboriginal English, since
they provide some engaging illustrations and stories. This approach is significant as it helps to
make clear connections with the linguistic and the cultural heritage (Raban-Bisby, 2012). The
connection with the text is the initial step for encouraging the emergent readers and their
communities to overcome the obstacles to literacy and address the problems posed in becoming
literate.
The newly migrated pupil faces a lot of difficulties in understanding the school
instructions. Teachers should try their best to smoothen the transition of pupil to the mainstream
education. The multilingualism program and the bilingual programs should give a plenty of
opportunities for free play and structured and planed activities helping the children in interaction
with the adults and other children (Eisenchlas, Schalley & Guillemin, 2015). Planned
opportunities should be given for encouraging sound awareness, listening to the sounds.
Differentiation, imitation of the sounds and the rhymes, activities to develop the phonetic skills
and fluent expression containing storytelling, finishing sentences, description and analogies in
the first and second languages. It has been stated that students who had lost their first language
in an early childhood setting during the elementary years’ experience less success in school. This
method can be referred to as subtractive bilingualism. Hence, teachers should thrive to develop
cognitive Academic Language proficiency (CALP) (Ewing, Callow & Rushton, 2016).
In an inclusive classroom, educators have to encounter children with developmental
delays or having the problem in multiple areas including though, communication and behavior.
The primary goals of inclusive education for these children is to foster normal development,
promotion of learning and elimination of problem behaviors including family stress (Ewing,
Callow & Rushton, 2016). Effective inclusive programs for such children focus on the functional

5
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
activities that are required to be successful in the real world, some chronologically age
appropriate activities and instruction both in schools and home. In case the child has speech
problems, both the educationists and speech therapist are needed to address the problem of the
child. Rutar, (2014) have focused on integrated approach to support children with language
disorders. In that case, the early childhood integrated approach should include parental education
and support, early stimulation, nutritional assessment (Dockrell et al., 2017). Some of the
common teaching and learning strategies for people with developmental delays is to encourage
and accept every forms of communication as learners having speech and language difficulties
often lack confidence and shy about speaking in public, hence it is necessary to avoid asking
them mispronounced words (Dockrell et al., 2017). An educator should be careful about their
own communication styles. Instructions needs to be given one at a time like using visual cues
and gestures for supporting them. Such children in need should possess active listening skills.
Phonemes are termed as the building blocks for language. The learners with language delays
who face difficulties in recognizing and decoding phonemes by multisensory activities like
clapping and trudging out the syllables in new vocabulary or color coding the various groups of
phonemes. In case a learner cannot explain or tell stories in a sequential order, they can be asked
to tell he synopsis in bullet points. Again pictures, objects and photos should be used for
remembering new vocabulary.
Importance of diverse learners on the optimal language learning of all children
Diversity has an important effect on the performance of the students. Diversity in an early
childhood classroom is important as the students are being exposed to diversify more and more.
Students learn about the struggles and perspectives of the other groups. Children having issue
with pronunciation due to this inclination in traditional language might learn accurate

6
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
pronunciation from his/her peers (Udvari-Solner & Kluth, 2017). Children are likely to ask
several questions that can be helpful for personal growth. A diversified classroom fosters a sense
of awareness as empathy in children. Again, it is easier to stay in the own bubble of thoughts and
perspectives. A child starts to become respectful to other cultures from early years. They are
more spontaneous in accepting the new cultures and are more tolerant to others in diverse
situations. Acceptance of other cultures allows children to know, explore and love their own
individual diversity. Regardless of the diversity in an early childhood setting. It prepares
children to face diversity that they would face in high schools ad workplace and workplace.
Udvari-Solner and Kluth, (2017) on the other hand have criticized the presence of diversity in a
classroom. It has been found that children in early childhood setting might not have enough
maturity to accept their friends who might be of some different ethnic background. Prejudices at
home can have harmful impact on diverse classrooms. Norton, (2013) have stated, that in the
name of diversified learning, children might lose their own cultural identity. One of the greatest
problem that has been faced with diversity in classroom is segregation. Student of the same
culture might form groups and it hampers the collaborative learning. Again, a teacher might find
it difficult to give instructions to the students in different languages that can affect the pace of
learning. It has been argued that children with learning disabilities in an inclusive classroom can
affect the normal pace of learning which can delay the course completion and learning in other
children. The education of the children with special needs are also hampered. It has been found
that teachers face real challenges in providing learning instructions to the new students, if they
are in linguistics.
In conclusion, it can be said that teachers play a huge role in developing literacy and
communication skills among diversified learners. Integrated activities, family cooperation and

7
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
adoption of appropriate instructional designs can be helpful in imparting communication skills
among the students.

8
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
References
Dockrell, J. E., Howell, P., Leung, D., & Fugard, A. J. (2017, July). children with speech
language and communication needs in england: challenges for Practice. In Frontiers in
Education (Vol. 2, p. 35). Frontiers.
Eisenchlas, S. A., Schalley, A. C., & Guillemin, D. (2015). Multilingualism and literacy:
attitudes and policies. International Journal of Multilingualism, 12(2), 151-161.
Ewing, R., Callow, J. & Rushton, K. (2016). Language and Literacy Development in Early
Childhood. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
Fellowes, J., & Oakley, G. (2011). Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education. Oxford
University Press.
Machado, E. (2017). Fostering and sustaining diverse literacy practices in the early childhood
classroom: Reviewing the literature in three areas. Literacy Research: Theory, Method,
and Practice, 66(1), 309-324.
Machado, J. M. (2012). Early childhood experiences in language arts: Early literacy. Cengage
Learning.
Norton, B. (2013). Identity, literacy, and the multilingual classroom. In The multilingual turn
(pp. 113-132). Routledge.
Raban-Bisby, B. (2012). Foundations of Early Literacy: A Balanced Approach to Language,
Listening and Literacy Skill in the Early Years. Teaching Solutions.

9
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
Rutar, S. (2014). Multilingual learning and teaching as a principle of inclusive practice. Journal
of Contemporary Educational Studies/Sodobna Pedagogika, 65(1).
Udvari-Solner, A., & Kluth, P. (2017). Joyful Learning: Active and Collaborative Strategies for
Inclusive Classrooms. Corwin Press.