Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Student Section 
u1620638 
Module Code 
IE9H8 
PGCE Early Years  
Module Title
Early Years Subject Studies  
Explain and critically evaluate how talk and the role of the adult can impact on children’s progress and 
development across one or both age phases you have worked with in one area of Development Matters 
– Communication and Language
Improvement Targets for this Submission 
Student Number 
Course 
Assignment Title 

Please indicate your targets in the left‐hand column, focussed on formative feedback from your most recent submission (paste from the “Advice and Targets for 
Future Work” field of your last piece of work)
...
 If this is your first assignment you may leave this blank, or create appropriate targets for yourself
...
 
 I have explored key concepts as suggested by the 
Engage with suggested material
...
 
 Keep the assignment title in mind at all times
...
 
support understanding, organisation and structure
...
  
considering the reader
...


 

Advice and Targets for Future Work 
 
   
   
   
Second Marker / Moderator’s Comments (if applicable) 
 

First Marker 
Second Marker 

 
 

 
 

Date 
Date 

1 
 

 
 

  u1620638 

Explain and critically evaluate how talk
and the role of the adult can impact on
children’s progress and development
across one or both age phases you have
worked with in one area of Development
Matters - Communication and Language
...

“‘If they can’t say it, they can’t write it’ has become
something of a cliché which nevertheless captures the
nature of the interdependencies of
speaking, listening, reading and writing
...
According to the government’s EYFS framework, these prime areas are
‘particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for
building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive’ (DfE, 2014)
...

Communication and language development within EYFS involves experiencing a rich
language environment, developing confidence, expressing themselves, and practicing
speaking and listening (DfE, 2014: 8)
...
These ELG’s include an ability to
listen and attend, follow instruction, ask questions, express themselves effectively,
using tenses and creating their own narrative in their play (Early Education, 2012)
...
However, this was
brought into question by the case of Genie, who was deprived of social interaction and
language, who did not develop communication and language skills (Rymer, 1994)
...
Despite the commonly held view
that children acquire these skills effortlessly, some children are slow to develop and
continue to struggle within schooling, with the Early Years being critical for the
subsequent achievement of these skills (Roulstone et al
...

Many studies researched the optimum conditions for the development of
Communication and Language skills
...
This study suggested that language development
stems from conversation and interactions with others, demonstrating the importance
of a communication rich environment, as suggested by the Early Years Framework
(Wells, 1982; DfE, 2014)
...
These
conditions strongly influenced the creation of the EY framework and are still very
influential even today (DfE, 2014)
...
This review offered various recommendations, including
modifications to teacher training programmes, ensuring thorough exploration of
barriers to learning, an extension of the EYFS – by an additional year, and encourages
 
 

4 
 

  u1620638 

positive learning attitudes and sufficient communication and language skills for primary
education (Alexander, 2010)
...

Talk within the classroom refers to dialogue: where two or more people listen to each
other, share ideas and consider different viewpoints (Fisher, 2009)
...
This type of talk involves
2 groups; an inner and outer group – the inner group talk about a set topic, whilst the
outer group observe their talk, evaluating it (National Literacy Trust, 2012)
...
The relationship between
these types of talk and the role of adults – practitioners and parents - in promoting
pupil progress of Communication and Language, within the Early Years and Key Stage
One
...
Dialogic and exploratory talk are to be explored
because they are deemed by the National Literacy Trust (2012) as the most commonly
used kinds of talk within a primary school classroom
...
This is where the teacher asks a
question (initiation), the learner responds and the teacher gives feedback on this
response (Sinclair and Coulthard, 1975)
...

Child: Four
...

IRF limits pupil progress due to its descriptive nature, not allowing for critical thinking,
with negotiation skills not being explored (Jones, 2009)
...
Equally, Alexander’s (2006) work on
talk found that children need to talk and experiencing a rich language environment is
vital in order to think for themselves and to learn – “talk is arguably the true foundation
of learning” (p
...

A type of classroom talk that allows for deeper thinking, unlike IRF, is dialogic
talk
...

This requires many different elements, including interactions and questioning which
encourage and challenge thinking, the use of justification when answering these
thought-challenging questions with informed feedback (Alexander, 2006)
...
Therefore, dialogic
teaching is collective, reciprocal, supportive, cumulative and purposeful (Alexander,
2006)
...
Dialogic talk enables
 
 

6 
 

  u1620638 

children to become better adults, with proficient problem solving skills, enhanced
team-working abilities, able to voice thoughts effectively, achieve more academically,
and develop criticality skills (Fisher, 2009)
...
, 2002: 8)
...
Exploratory talk is not for others, but
a process of working something out; it is unrehearsed and characterised by false
starts, backtracking, pauses and interruptions (Mercer, 2009)
...
,
2005; Mercer and Littleton, 2007)
...
This type of talk has a big place within understanding the
world and science, however, it is also applicable to Communication and Language
...
, 2005)
...

Constructivism suggests that learning takes place when new information is added to
an individual’s current structure of knowledge, understanding and skills (Pritchard,
2014)
...
Piaget’s developmental stages provide an insight
into intellectual growth, suggesting that only at 11 years old is a child capable of
thinking hypothetically and abstractly, working within the formal operations
developmental stage (Pritchard, 2014)
...
Assimilation involves constructing new knowledge
onto existing knowledge known as the knowledge bank, with accommodation being
the process of altering the knowledge bank to support the contradictory new
knowledge, ensuring understanding of this new information in relation to prior
knowledge (Piaget, 1936)
...
Talk can challenge one’s
own thoughts or knowledge bank, thus leading to instability or disequilibrium, with
further thought and processing or accommodation required in order to come to terms
with new knowledge and take this on board or reject it
...
This learning theory
gives high priority to language in intellectual development, with the use of dialogue
being considered shared and developed (Pritchard, 2014)
...
The MKO helps the learner move through the Zone of Proximal
Development – the difference between what the learner can do independently and
what they can achieve with guidance, enabling them to gain new knowledge
(Vygotsky, 1978)
...
This is usually
through dialogue that furthers the learners thinking (Vygotsky, 1978)
...

Dialogic and exploratory talk will be critically discussed in relation to the role of the
adult – teacher and parent – in promoting pupil progress, focusing on the development
of communication and language skills, drawing from the writers own teaching practice
and further research
...
In this example, the child, in a nursery setting, had built something
with wooden blocks and the curriculum theme of the time was the book Stickman by
Donaldson and Scheffler (2008)
...

Teacher: Where is your road going?
Child: It is going to… stickman’s house!
Teacher: Oh! So, who travels on the road?
Child: Stickman!
Teacher (confused tone): Just stickman travels on the road?
Child: No! Stick Lady Love too, and Santa and the cat
...
Using SST, the child demonstrates an ability to retell a story, which
features within both Communication and Language, and Literacy at 30-50 months
(Early Education, 2012)
...
The role of SST was
evaluated on a European scale by the EPPE project (Sylva et al
...
Dialogic talk
is the pre-requisite for pupil progress within the Early Years, suggesting the
importance of scaffolded learning within EYFS (Sylva et al
...
This project also
found that pro-active parents use SST within the home, promoting further development
and improving their communication and language skills, with practice (Sylva et al
...

However, the writer has also experienced unsuccessful SST within her classroom,
during free flow play
...

Despite the best efforts of a teacher, within the EYFS, a child may not wish to enter
dialogue with their teacher and continue playing
...
This shows that the use of SST is not always appropriate within the Early Years,
but as shown above can be effective when the children are receptive
...
Despite this filed attempt, SST “is the bedrock for the development of
communication and language” (Brodie, 2014)
...
Alexander (2006) has suggested that vocalising a sentence
before transcribing it can help with the writing process – what to write (composition)
and how to write it (transcription) aspects (DfEE, 2001)
...

Child: Miss, I don’t know what to write
...

Teacher: Do you remember what troublemaker was?
Child: Er… it was his name
...

Teacher: Well done! His name was Troublemaker
...

The use of talk here is enabling meaning to flow through the child and onto the paper,
with a phonetically correct sentence (Stewart, 1999)
...
Parents that
use dialogic talk within the home can facilitate communication and language
development, providing the optimum conditions for such development, further
promoting pupil progress (Blom-Hoffman et al
...

Alternatively, the writer has also observed exploratory talk used, particularly
within her Key Stage 1 science lessons, regarding the senses
...
The transcript is as follows:
Child A and B are blindfolded and fed some lemon
...

Child B: That was horrible
...

Child B: Okay… well, I thought it was really… sour
Child A: I… thought… it was… sweet
Child B: Erm… I suppose it could be sweet… should we try some more?
Child A and B try some more of the lemon
...
it is sweet and… sour
Child B: I agree… shall we write that down?
Here the children used their communication and language skills to work as a team,
deciphering the taste of a lemon without any scaffold from the practitioner, with there
being little to no role of the adult in this type of talk at this age, once they have the
communication and language skills to participate in it (Mercer, 2009)
...

However, it uses the children’s pre-existing communication and language skills,
allowing them to practice, but not develop these skills, with these skills needing to be
already acquired to take part in such talk (Grugeon et al
...
This demonstrates
the importance of modelling, encouraging talk and the use of Cambourne’s (1988)
conditions within the Early Years to enable such conversations later in their learning
journey
...

Differently, children within the Early Years have not developed the communication and
language skills to have a dialogue similar to those in Key Stage One Science, instead,
we must explore their actions alongside their talk (Patterson, 2016)
...
The children here are playing in the outdoor provision with
construction blocks, at a school in a deprived area, with poor communication and
language attainment
...

Child C: Puts a brick on top of the thin tower, the tower falls
...

Teacher: Why did your tower fall down do you think?
Child C: The top was too… heavy
Teacher: How could you make your tower stronger?
 
 

13 
 

  u1620638 

Child B picks up the blocks, putting 2 down side by side
...

Child A: That will work
...

The children clearly worked collaboratively and solved the problem of the falling down
tower, but not in a typically exploratory talk way
...
This suggests the importance
of ‘show, don’t tell’ within the EYFS and within special education, where language
development may be hindered (Devine, 2017)
...
The importance of parental talk is that it
changes with the needs of the children, extending that continuous learning (Chang
and Wells, 1987)
...
Dialogic talk is
particularly successful at promoting pupil progress during the Early Years, with the use
of Sustained Shared Thinking
...
Dialogue within
the classroom generally, allows for children to practice these skills, through
Cambourne’s (1988) conditions
...
This
is a step in the right direction, moving away from learning by rote and towards
 
 

14 
 

  u1620638 

exploration and learning for one’s self
...
Mercer and Littleton (2007) suggest that in fact, Vygotsky was right in his social
constructivist view that language and social interaction shape intellectual
development
...
Then banish
quiet classrooms and let the kids talk!” (Harrison, 2015; 8)
...
(2006) Towards Dialogic Teaching: Rethinking classroom talk
...

Alexander, R
...
Oxon: Routledge
...
, O’Neil-Pirozzi, T
...
(2006) “Read together, talk together:
the acceptability of teaching parents to use dialogic reading strategies via videotaped
instruction
...

Brodie, K
...
[online] Available from:
http://eyfs
...

Cambourne, B
...
New York: Ashton Scholastic
...
& Wells, G
...
[online]
available from: http://files
...
ed
...
pdf (Accessed 23 February
2017)
...
(1964) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
...

Department for Education (2014) Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation
Stage
...

Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) (2001) The National Literacy
Strategy: Developing Early Writing
...

Devine, A
...
[online] available from:
http://www
...
com/images/uploads/article/SEN-show-dont-tell
...

 
 

15 
 

  u1620638 

Donaldson, J
...
(2008) Stickman
...

Early Education (2012) Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage
...

Fisher, R
...
Oxon:
Routledge
...
& Hubbard, L
...
In: Arthur, J
...
& Wray, D
...
Learning to Teach in Primary School
...

Grugeon, E
...
, Smith, C
...
(2005) Teaching speaking and
listening in the primary school
...

Harrison, C
...
’ Education Review, 19(2), 67-77
...
& Mercer, N
...
In: Alexander, R
...
The Cambridge Review Research Surveys
...

Jones, S
...
[online] Birmingham: University of
Birmingham
...
birmingham
...
uk/Documents/collegeartslaw/cels/essays/csdp/JonesSD
...

Mercer, N
...
(2007) Dialogue and Development of Children’s Thinking
...

Mercer, N
...

London: Sage Publications LTD
...
[online] Available
from:
http://www
...
org
...

pdf (Accessed 24 January 2017)
Patterson, E
...
’ [online] International Journal
of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education
...
tandfonline
...
1080/03004279
...
1243141?needAccess=t
rue (Accessed 22 February 2017)
...
(1936) Origins of intelligence in the Child
...

Rose, J
...
’ Nottingham:
Department for Education and Skills
...
(2009) ‘Identifying and teaching children and young people with dyslexia and
literacy difficulties
...


 
 

16 
 

  u1620638 

Roulstone, S
...
, Rush, R
...
& Peters, T
...
Bristol: Department for
Education
...
(1990) Starting with Quality
...

Rymer, R
...
New York: Harper Collins
...
& Coulthard, M
...
London: Oxford University Press
...
, Sylva, K
...
, Gilden, R
...
(2002) Researching
Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years
...

Stewart, J
...

Boston: McGraw-Hill
...
, Malhuish, E
...
, Siraj-Blatchford, I
...
(2003) The
Effective Provision of Pre-school Education Project
...

Vygotsky, L
...
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
...
(1982) Learning through Interaction: the study of language development
...

Wells, G
...
In:
Barbarin, O
...
& Marie-Winn, D
...
The Handbook of Child Development
and Early Education
...

Woods, A
...
London: Routledge

---