Assessment Task 1: Report on Literacy Learning for Aboriginal Children

This report delves into the complexities of literacy learning for Aboriginal children, highlighting the significant challenges they face, including lower literacy levels compared to the national average, cultural and linguistic differences, and the impact of socioeconomic factors. The report examines government initiatives aimed at improving literacy outcomes, such as funding programs, teacher training, and community engagement. It explores various approaches to literacy instruction, including phonics and whole language, analyzing their advantages and disadvantages. The importance of a balanced approach, integrating systematic phonics with other reading strategies, is emphasized. The report also stresses the crucial role of family involvement, cultural sensitivity, and tailored teaching methods in fostering literacy development among Aboriginal children, aiming to provide educators with insights into effective practices and strategies to support their learning journey.

Running head: COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
Assessment task 1
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
Research Task 1
The concept of literacy learning has been formulated with the aim of providing students
with a better understanding of all the processes that are involved while learning reading, writing,
and spelling, the origin of different difficulties, and all approaches that are taken for intervention.
The national quality standards framed by the Australian government focus on importance of
literacy for all aboriginal children and take efforts to make amendments to the existing teaching
practices for meeting needs of such children (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality
Authority, 2013). Literacy is considered as the greatest challenge for Aboriginal children because
their average literacy levels are much lower than other Australian students. The government
assessments provide evidence for low aboriginal literacy levels, when compared to the national
average, which in turn creates adverse effects on their future opportunity (Australian
Government Department of Education and Training for the Council of Australian Governments,
2009). It becomes difficult for educators to manage aboriginal students with weak literacy at
secondary school levels. This results in a significant increase in number of Aboriginal school
dropout, in remote locations (English: The Australian Curriculum, 2018). One major complexity
encountered is the prevalence of a different spoken language, or dialect other than English in
Aboriginal homes. Most children belonging to literate families spend several hours in parent-
child interaction, before they begin their school years. This is commonly absent among
Aboriginal children coming from families that hold strong traditions, or have little scope of
parent-child reading. This makes those children less prepared for the literacy learning programs.
Differences in their cultural practice are another major disadvantage. Ability levels of every
student enrolled in a class also create major problems in reading, learning, and understanding a
curriculum (Klieve & Fluckiger, 2015). Moreover, according to research evidences, families play

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an essential role in early literacy development among children. However, major disjuncture is
found in the literacy experiences of children belonging to Aboriginal background, during their
formal schooling years.
Hence, quality teaching becomes at most important in this context. Efforts have been
taken by the government to promote positive literacy outcomes among the children by
formulating several programs, such as, the Budget Based Funded program that contributes to the
operational costs of more than 300 child care, and early education regions across the country
(Programs for Indigenous families, 2018). These government programs work towards increasing
the number of qualified teaching staff, strengthening the administrative capacity of education
services, and upgrading or replacing the buildings, where education is being provided. The
educators and assessors also focus on raising awareness about the Aboriginal communities by
acknowledging traditional owners of the reasons and local elders. This helps them to demonstrate
dignity and respect towards the community, and all children are able to understand about the
cultural and social heritage (Maher & Bellen, 2015). Scaffolding the children and providing them
sufficient support for performing high level task also enhances aboriginal literacy learning (Hill,
Colbung & Glover, 2011). Teaching them to read and write stories is also crucial in their
development years and is the central part of their culture (Australian Government, Department of
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2013). Shared book reading is another
approach that can be implemented by parents as well, where a story gets repeated until all
children demonstrate a sound understanding. Praising and acknowledging all children for the
little tasks they perform, addressing them by their names, and helping them recognise each word
in a story or sentence or other major skills that are applied to overcome these complexities
(Flückiger, Diamond & Jones, 2012). In addition, phonemic awareness and teaching phonics to

3COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
Aboriginal children until they are able to recognise all verbs in a sentence also improve their
literacy skills (Nicholas, Gary, Tess, Georgie & Jonathan, 2011). Furthermore, evidences suggest
that efforts must be taken to foster parent engagement with their children in preschool in years,
which in turn will enhance the literacy progress of aboriginal children (Flückiger, Diamond &
Jones, 2012). Therefore, literacy learning encompasses specific literacy skills, attitude and
knowledge drawn by all students for meeting the demands of their educational curriculum,
regardless of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

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References
Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority. (2013). Guide to the national quality
standard. Retrieved from http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-
Resources-Kit/NQF-Resource-03-Guide-to-NQS.pdf
Australian Government Department of Education and Training for the Council of Australian
Governments. (2009). Belonging, being & becoming: The early years learning
framework for Australia. Retrieved
from https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2015/
belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf
Australian Government, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
(n.d.) Developmental milestones and the early years learning framework and the national
quality standards. Retrieved from https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-
02/DevelopmentalMilestonesEYLFandNQS.pdf
English: The Australian Curriculum. (2018). Australiancurriculum.edu.au. Retrieved 22 March
2018, from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/senior-secondary-curriculum/
english/english/?unit=Unit+1&unit=Unit+2&unit=Unit+3&unit=Unit+4
Flückiger, B., Diamond, P., & Jones, W. (2012). Yarning space: Leading literacy learning
through family-school partnerships. Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, 37(3), 53-
59. https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=736066505352023;res=IELHS
S

5COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
Hill, S., Colbung, M., & Glover, A. (2011). My favourite book! Young Aboriginal children's
book choices. Australasian Journal Of Early Childhood, 36(1), 77-84. Retrieved from-
https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/39417933/AusJECV36N1_077_1_.p
df?
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aetHLcRx%2BWAVRF4zdINUv26Z2oY%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B
%20filename%3DMy_favourite_book_Young_Aboriginal_child.pdf
Klieve, H. & Fluckiger, B. (2015). Towards an evidence base: Exploring the impact of
community-based literacy programs in remote Indigenous communities. Australasian
Journal of Early Childhood, 40(2), 89-98. Retrieved from-
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=302771280390223;res=IELAPA
Maher, M., & Bellen, L. (2015). Smoothing Children's Transition into Formal Schooling:
Addressing Complexities in an Early Literacy Initiative in Remote Aboriginal
Communities, Northern Territory, Australia. Early Childhood Education Journal, 43(1),
9-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-013-0630-5
Nicholas, M., Gary, R., Tess, L., Georgie, N., & Jonathan R., C. (2011). Defining and assessing
the school readiness of Indigenous Australian children. Australasian Journal Of Early
Childhood, 36(1), 69-
76. https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=950524743942916;res=IELHS
S
Programs for Indigenous families. (2018). Mychild.gov.au. Retrieved 22 March 2018, from
https://www.mychild.gov.au/families-carers/indigenous

6COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
Research Task 2
Phonics referred to the systematic teaching of sounds that are confirmed by individual letter
or groups of letter. Use of phonics is an essential part of literacy skills and help children identify
sounds for writing or reading words (Australian Government Department of Education and
Training for the Council of Australian Governments, 2009). The importance of phonics in
teaching reading and writing can be attributed to the fact that most of the information gets
conveyed by letters that concerned sound. Potential advantages of phonics include the following:
1. Provides confidence to the children while studying shapes and sounds of alphabets,
which help them identify the letters on page while reading.
2. Helps children breakdown audible words into shorter words or sounds
3. Builds their confidence while reading unfamiliar or difficult words (Campbell, 2015)
4. Helps children spell new words while writing (NSW Department of Education, 2018)
However, there are measured disadvantages as well:
1. All words cannot be spelt phonetically
2. Children may get frustrated while reading non phonetic words such as, ‘Wednesday’,
‘ocean’ or ‘ said’
3. The method does not focus on comprehension of words
4. Explicit phonics instruction result in a cognitive footprint, that creates problem while
reading new words (Block & Duke, 2015)
5. It may result in severe mispronunciation
Whole language approach encompasses the literacy philosophy, which lays emphasis on the
fact that children should always focus on strategy instruction and meaning (Vaish, 2014). It treats

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language as a meaning making system. Major advantages of whole language approach are given
below:
1. It offers children a better understanding of the words or sentences that are being read
2. A creative approach gets applied to reading
3. There are no rules or list of sounds that should be learnt (Hornsby & Wilson, 2014)
4. All children are exposed to good literature that enhances their reading experience
5. Children observe real reading behaviour and successfully imitate them
However, this approach also has certain disadvantages as follows:
1. Children who are taught this approach without the use of phonetics find it difficult to
learn spelling words
2. Several words get misinterpreted
3. Children fail to learn the process of sounding unknown words
4. They often cannot comprehend basics of English language
5. Children display limited ability in memorizing word sequences
Recently several educators have resolve the conflict over phonics and whole language and
have identified the fact that in spite of all differences that exist between them, both of these
approaches are an effective part of teaching how to read and write. This balanced approach will
help in creating a constructive view of learning and will retain the detractors (English: The
Australian Curriculum, 2018). This approach will integrate systematic phonics instruction with
other reading instructions that will guide oral reading, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary
development. It will act as a best practice model that will teach students to read and write during
all stages of their education. Therefore, advocates of such balance programs should supplement

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all schools reading program with materials that are able to reflect the experiential interest, and
background of all student (Topsfield, 2018).
It will empower all teachers and educators to address and respond to individual literacy needs
of children, while relating to developmental levels of their learning skills. This can be facilitated
by helping children learn to recognise words, creating phonological awareness, developing word
reading strategies, focusing on meaningful reading (fluency, comprehension and vocabulary)
(Bingham & Hall‐Kenyon, 2013). Emphasizing on written communication, such as, spelling,
handwriting, and meaningful writing are also integrated in this approach. Integrating reading
aloud sessions, shared read, independent and oral reading from text can also facilitate adoption of
this approach (Coyne, Pisha, Dalton, Zeph & Smith, 2012). Thus, educators should therefore use
a blended approach that seeks to incorporate the good principles of both the approaches, without
acknowledging the potential drawbacks inherent to each method.

9COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
References
Australian Government Department of Education and Training for the Council of Australian
Governments. (2009). Belonging, being & becoming: The early years learning
framework for Australia. Retrieved
from https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2015/
belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf
Bingham, G. E., & Hall‐Kenyon, K. M. (2013). Examining teachers' beliefs about and
implementation of a balanced literacy framework. Journal of Research in Reading, 36(1),
14-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9817.2010.01483.x
Block, M. K., & Duke, N. K. (2015). Letter names can cause confusion and other things to know
about letter-sound relationships. YC: Young Children, 70(1), 84-91. Retrieved from
http://www.uwosh.edu/coehs/teachered/fort/documents/print-resources/letter-knowledge-
article-copy-2.pdf
Campbell, S. (2015) Feeling the pressure: Early childhood educators’ reported views about
learning and teaching phonics in Australian prior-to–school settings. Australian Journal
of Language and Literacy, 38(1), 12-26. Retrieved from:
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=916193012905898;res=IELAPA
Coyne, P., Pisha, B., Dalton, B., Zeph, L. A., & Smith, N. C. (2012). Literacy by design: A
universal design for learning approach for students with significant intellectual
disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 33(3), 162-172.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932510381651

10COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
English: The Australian Curriculum. (2018). Australiancurriculum.edu.au. Retrieved 22 March
2018, from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/senior-secondary-curriculum/
english/english/?unit=Unit+1&unit=Unit+2&unit=Unit+3&unit=Unit+4
Hornsby, D. & Wilson, L. (2014). Early literacy is more than phonics. Practically Primary, 19(3),
12-15. Retrieved from:
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=624941039634635;res=IELHSS
New phonics resource to improve reading skills - NSW Department of Education.
(2018). Dec.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 22 March 2018, from
http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/about-us/news-at-det/media-releases1/new-phonics-resource-
to-improve-reading-skills
Topsfield, J. (2018). Teacher reaps reward of truce in 'reading wars'. The Age. Retrieved 22
March 2018, from https://www.theage.com.au/education/teacher-reaps-reward-of-truce-
in-reading-wars-20100825-13s7k.html
Vaish, V. (2014). Whole language versus code-based skills and interactional patterns in
Singapore’s early literacy program. Cambridge Journal of Education, 44(2), 199-
215. Retrieved from: https://repository.nie.edu.sg/bitstream/10497/18205/1/CJE-44-2-
199.pdf