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Modelling
Teachers being the good language models is one of the strategies that can be adopted to target vocabulary (Victoria State Government, 2017, MOE, 2013).
MOE further encourage teachers to use simple sentences, speaking slowly and pausing in between sentences to help facilitate children understanding of the language especially now that many children come from diverse language and background.
Extend and expand
Teachers can then gradually extend and expand on what children say to help them build the vocabulary such as below:
Child: “I am wearing a t-shirt”
Teacher : “I can see that you are wearing a yellow, long-sleeve t-shirt”.
Using sophisticated vocabulary
Children in the preschool classroom love to interact with their peers naturally, specifically in a playful and meaningful context. Teachers should therefore take this opportunity to introduce and use sophisticated vocabulary that are unfamiliar to the children but could be seen and heard again and again. Furthermore, these children will reach a point where they are ready to learn more diverse and sophisticated words (Rowe, 2012) to add to their many common words learnt through everyday activities.
eg substituting the word "furious" from the word "mad" and explaining its meaning simply.
The resource below offers some techniques on how to introduce new vocabularies in the classrooms as supported by (Rowe, 2012).

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Effective Vocabulary Instruction Is Explicit

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Effective Vocabulary Instruction Is Explicit

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Spencer, Goldstein, & Kaminski (2012) explained that when an explicit teaching takes place in a classroom, it simply means that the teacher design and deliver information intentionally. Furthermore, explicit teaching of vocabulary embedded in story book not only play an important role in low-income families (Whitehurst, et al., 1994) but also an appropriate practice in an inclusive settings (Gormley & Ruhl, 2005)

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Smith (1973) indicated that children have an intuitive inclination to reading and they required only a literate environment to develop their reading. However, it was later discovered by Liberman (1997) that learning to read involve processes which differs from learning to speak.

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This resource offers the umbrella term and relates to the aspect of phonological awareness, which is supported by several reviews of scientifically based research studies have high-lighted the importance of phonological awareness and phonemic awareness (Hill, 2012 ).

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Difference between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness 

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Difference between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness 

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This resource offers the differences and importance and relates phonological awareness and phonemic awareness, which is supported by Curriculum Planning & Development Division - English Language Syllabus 2010 that phonemic awareness is an important predictor of literacy achievement in the early years. It refers to the ability to notice and manipulate the sequence of phonemes in spoken words, that is the sounds of language, Children have acquired phonemic awareness when they can recognise and produce rhymes, divide words into syllabus, change beginning sounds, blend sounds together and segment words into individual sounds (Ministry of Education , 2008 ).

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Phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics

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The resource offers awareness of words and word spaces in oral language and relates to code breaker concept, which is supported by Luke and Freebody's four resources model. The role of a code breaker requires to understand the nature of relationship between spoken words and written symbols, and the contents of that relationship (Underwood , Yoo, & Pearson , 2007).

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The resource offers the awareness of the syllabus in words and relates to code beaker concept, which is supported by Luke and Freebody's four resources model. It refers to the ability decode the symbols of written, spoken, and visual text  (Simandan, 2012).

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This resource offers the awareness of rhyme and relates to meaning maker concept, which is supported by Luke and Freebody's four resources model. Research suggest that knowledge of the rhyme in traditional nursery rhymes is related to the development of more abstract phonological skills and emergent reading abilities (Hill, 2012 ).

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This resource offers to development awareness of alliteration and relates to meaning maker concept, which is supported by Luke and Freebody's four resource model. Where children will relate their previous experiences with similar word group.

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The following assessment task are usually used with children aged from 4-6 years old.

This resource offers phonemic assessment task and relates to finding out whether children are aware of sounds in words and then for planning teaching that relates to what children need to learn.

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How to pronounce each individual phoneme

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How to pronounce each individual phoneme

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This resource offers a guide to pronounce each individual phoneme. A research relates that children who have particular difficulty in phoneme segmentation tasks have considerable difficulty in learning to read, although researches diff in the their views of the precise nature of casual relation between these abilities (Walley, Smith , & Jusczyk, 1986).

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Teaching reading and viewing: Learning foci 

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Teaching reading and viewing: Learning foci 

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There were various theories, research and findings on the teaching of reading but the meta-analysis known as the National Reading Panel report by the National Reading Panel (2000) had identified the ‘Five pillars of reading’ illustrated by the diagram below:-

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This resource explains further the various phases of reading primarily pre-reading, initial reading and fluent reading which were supported by  (Chall, 1983; Ehri, 1995)

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Nurturing Early Learning Framework to reading.JPG

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The video below illustrated simply why reading play a critical role in a child's development that was further emphasized by Binder (1996) that states :
"Failure to read presents a major hurdle to educational progress”

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The Importance of Reading to Young Children

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For the purpose of this assignment, we will focus on Phonemic awareness and vocabulary.

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This resource offers a simple definition of vocabulary and its various aspects which made this Literacy Teaching toolkit provided by the Victoria State Government (Victoria State Government, 2017) a good reference to explain the chosen concept.

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Factors that affect children's vocabulary 

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Factors that affect children's vocabulary 

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Environmental factors
Children with post secondary degree parents will know approximately 20,000 words vis-a- vis with those with less-educated parents knowing approximately only 5,000 words (Hart & Risley, 2003) -through conversations during mealtimes, outings or playing together
Reading quality literature
Parents or caregivers who introduced and read quality literature facilitate children’s vocabulary growth
-“authors use rich vocabulary to paint vivid pictures in readers’ minds”
Watching educational television programs and videos with an adult
Educational programs will bring children to places they have never seen or been before
-new words are repeated throughout the whole program eg learning about the animal’s natural habitat
Extension of the vocabulary growth while in school
Teachers intentionally use a rich vocabulary to raise children’s curiosity
-“procrastinate” to get the children on task instead of asking them “to get busy”.
(DeVries, 2012)

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Open-ended questions to promote vocabulary acquisition

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Open-ended questions to promote vocabulary acquisition

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However often than not teachers tend to ask close-ended questions during these conversations and those questions that elicit only one-word responses (Early, et al., 2010). As such teachers should be encouraged to use open ended questions (Wasik, Bond, & Hindman, 2006), no right or wrong answers kind of questions that will encourage children to share ideas and opinions freely that require them to use more than one word responses (Whorrall & Cabell, 2016).
This resource below offers evident on how teachers limit their question mostly on close-ended questions as opposed to a more open-ended ones as stated by Whorrall & Cabell (2016).

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Preschool teachers ask children too many simple questions

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Asking these more sophisticated and difficult questions means that children are more likely to give wrong or inappropriate answers, she said. But that's okay.

"There should be teachable moments where teachers can help their students learn something new. You have a conversation that is conceptually challenging for the child, because that is going to push their development forward," Justice said.

Some experts recommend that 60 to 70 percent of shared reading conversations should be easy, but 30 to 40 percent should challenge children to learn new concepts.

The fact that 85 percent of children's responses in this study were correct suggests that they are not being challenged enough, Justice said.

Story time should include lots of questions, including ones that allow children to stretch their language and thinking abilities, she said.

For example, when parents or teachers are reading a new book they could ask the child "How do you think this book will end?"

"You can see how a question like that is going to evoke a complex response," Justice said.

"With some practice and reflection, we can change how we talk with children during shared reading and help them develop stronger language and reading skills."

Co-authors on the study were Richa Deshmukh and Tricia Zucker of the Children's Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Sherine Tambyraja, of Ohio State; Jill Pentimonti of the American Institutes for Research; and Ryan Bowles of Michigan State University.

The study was supported by grants from the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education.

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Preschool teachers ask children too many simple questions

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - When preschool teachers read books in their classrooms, the questions they ask play a key role in how much children learn, research has shown. But a new study that involved observing teachers during class story times found that they asked few questions - and those that they did ask were usually too simple.

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In this SBA approach, a Big Book is adopted where the children will be able to see the print and pictures to make sense of the world, and to link between spoken and written words which encompasses the Pre-reading and Initial Reading stage respectively. Subsequently, this will lead to more efficient reading or Fluent Reading Stage where the children will focus more on the understanding and the meaning of the text, syntax building or arranging words to form sentences or even link to other words. Over time, such strategies will help build their vocabulary to greater heights.
Engaging conversations

Teachers could also support new vocabulary acquisition through purposeful interactions with topics, activities and books that interest them (Neumann, 2013).
This resource obtained from the
Literacy Teaching toolkit provided by the Victoria State Government provide a good source of book titles to help teachers choose in accordance to their children's developmental milestone to enhance their vocabulary acquisition.

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Reading the same book over and over again 

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Reading the same book over and over again 

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Furthermore, it is recommended for teachers to read the children their favourite book over and over again. Teachers will not only help the children to acquire new vocabulary but also understand the story better and gain new information. Such an approach can also be extended at home and the resource below provide more information for parents to recognize the benefits of reading the same book numerous times to help further enhance their children's literacy and vocabulary as emphasized by MOE (2013).

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Do you have a child who wants to read the same bedtime story over and over again? You know that book, the one you know by heart, page by page, word for word. When you first got the book you loved it. But now you cringe every time you see it because you just wish they would choose another book!

While we all love a bit of variety, it is actually common for kids to want to read the same book over and over, and it can actually set them up for academic success!

Yes... reading the same book over and over makes kids smarter!

According to a research, reading storybooks repetitively to your children means they are more likely to acquire new vocabulary, even if it drives parents crazy.

We all know the importance of reading for young children. In fact, there are many famous quotes about reading that highlight the advantages.

But when children read that same book over and over again, there are further benefits.

Think about it, practice makes perfect right? So reading the same story book over and over means kids are learning more and more and practicing their reading skills.

Recommended: Top Story Books for Kids

Reading the same books helps comprehension

Reading a book for the first time your child may not understand fully what the story is about. They may be more interested in the pictures initially as it is all new. When you read the book again and again, kids start to really understand and comprehend the story line as they become more interested. They start to memorise the story and really learn about what is happening.

Seeing the same words helps word recognition

Most children don't start to learn to read until they are around 5-6 years old. However younger children can start to recognise letters and words when they have a book read to them over and over again. This means you are helping to set down a great foundation for learning to read. And that is a good thing.

Reading helps children learn language patterns

Language is complicated, especially English! When you read to kids, they start to learn how each word makes a phrase or sentence. They start to learn how to put their own words together which helps a child's overall language development.

Reading the same story book over and over helps phonetic awareness

The best way to teach a child to read is with phonics. Learning to read with phonics means learning the sounds each letter makes and then putting them together.

When you read a story book with your child over and over, pointing out the letters as you sound out a word can help them to recognise new letters and how you put them together to make a word.

Repetition and memorisation

When children see and hear the same words over and over they will start to memorise the book. This trains their brains. Repeating the words and pointing to them as you read them helps children to match what they are hearing with what they see.

The more books the better, but repetitive reading can be just as good

Over all, the study conducted showed that it doesn't always matter how many books a child has but the quality of the reading with those books. You can have a library full of books, but reading that same book over and over with your child can possibly make more of an impact.

So next time your child brings you one of their favourite story books for the gazillionth time and asks you to read it to them, remember that reading that book over and over is helping to train their brains, and get smarter!
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Bilingual Kidspot is a website offering practical advice for parents seeking to raise bilingual or multilingual children; with inspiration, support and strategies based on experience as a parent, and as a teacher of a foreign language to children.

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Reading The Same Book Over and Over Again Makes Kids Smarter

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Do you have a child who wants to read the same bedtime story over and over again? You know that book, the one you know by heart, page by page, word for word. When you first got the book you loved it.

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3 steps for explicit vocabulary instruction

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3 steps for explicit vocabulary instruction

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The resource below provide guidance for teachers during explicit vocabulary teaching to minimized any challenges faced as explained by Spencer, Goldstein, & Kaminski (2012).

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3 steps for explicit vocabulary instructions

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Examples on how to identify words to teach

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Examples on how to identify words to teach

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Framework for Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

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Framework for Explicit Vocabulary Instruction

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Fill in the Missing Rhyme!: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness

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Fill in the Missing Rhyme!: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness

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Fill in the Missing Rhyme!: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness

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Tips on Academic Vocabulary Instruction in Kindergarten

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Tips on Academic Vocabulary Instruction in Kindergarten

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This resource provide more tips on how explicit vocabulary instructions can be carried out among young children as emphasized by Spencer, Goldstein, & Kaminski (2012)

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Academic Vocabulary Instruction in Kindergarten

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Linking to Singapore's Nurturing Early Learners - Language and Literacy guide 

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Linking to Singapore's Nurturing Early Learners - Language and Literacy guide 

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This resource offers the understanding of phonological awareness and how children being with an awareness of large units of sounds - words, syllables onsets and rimes and progress to smaller units of sounds - phoneme. It is also supports that in order to help children learn to read, children first need to understand that spoken language consist of sounds that can be broken down into smaller and smaller parts - into words, into syllables within words and finally into individual sounds in words (Ministry of Education, Republic of Singapore, 2013).

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Relationship between meanings in vocabulary and  comprehension 

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Relationship between meanings in vocabulary and  comprehension 

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A well-developed meaning vocabulary is a fundamental condition of a fluent reader as it provide a critical link between decoding and comprehension (Joshi, 2005).
Biemiller & Slonim (2000) further confirmed that students with poor vocabulary have difficulty catching up with average readers.

Joshi (2005) stressed that students’ vocabulary is determined by the number of words they are exposed in their early years. Research by Hart & Rinsley (1995) further confirmed that children with higher socio-economic status (SES) are exposed to approximately 30,000 words, thus command better vocabulary that was much more encouraging, supportive and explaining  as compared to lower SES families with 10,000 words.

In addition , children with better vocabulary knowledge are able to define words in more general and abstract terms  like “conceal”, “darken” defining an “eclipse” versus “solar eclipse” or “lunar eclipse” from children with poor vocabulary (Joshi, 2005).

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Challenges faced by children in the process of acquiring vocabulary

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Challenges faced by children in the process of acquiring vocabulary

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1) Many children have challenges in word meaning or semantics and turn to words they already know eg “vanilla” paper instead of “manila paper” (Jolongo & Sobolak, 2011)

2) Create words that make more sense than the one that they heard eg “pasture” to “grassture” (Jolongo & Sobolak, 2011)

3) Superficial understanding of a word though they know the word
-apply to multiple meaning words eg confused with the “nails” on their fingers with statement from someone like “You nailed it!” (Jolongo & Sobolak, 2011)

4) Children are unable to connect the word with experience and knowledge as most words meanings vary depending on the linguistic contexts in which they can be found (Pearson, Hiebert, & Kamil, 2007)

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Word meanings, speaking and writing receptive words and parents collaboration are success factors in learning vocabulary.

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Word meanings, speaking and writing receptive words and parents collaboration are success factors in learning vocabulary.

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Regardless of what strategies is applied, students have to emphasize and focus on word meanings. Once the words are more meaningful, those words are easily learnt and retained as compared to only memorizing them.
In addition, teachers have to constantly encourage children to use receptive words (words that are heard or being read to) when speaking and writing regularly to solidify the words in their memory and help them expand their vocabularies extensively (Joshi, 2005).
In addition, parents involvement are necessary to help facilitate children’s language development. Parents as partners thus play a crucial role especially in children with disabilities through milieu teaching or teaching in their natural development such as during play or family activity like shopping to help enhance their vocabulary bank (Hancock & Kaiser, 2002).

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Planning phoneme awareness activities in class 

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Planning phoneme awareness activities in class 

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Identify the precise phoneme awareness task on which you wish to focus and select developmentally appropriate activities for engaging children (Ellis ).

A natural and spontaneous way of providing children with exposure to phonemes is to focus on literature deals playfully with speech sounds through rhymes. Simple rhyme patterns are easily recalled after repeated exposure in class and children will get an idea of creating new rhymes amongst themselves (Ellis ).

For early practice, help them recognize the target phoneme at the beginning of words. For this, you might have them pick out illustrations of words beginning with the phoneme from a bulletin board. Later have them search for the phoneme elsewhere in the word. Have them choose between words related in meaning to practice the switch from meaning to sound. For example, you might ask them to listen for the sound /s/, the "flat tire" sound in words related in meaning: "Do you hear /s/ in mice or rat? In duck or goose? In nest or cave?" (Murray).

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Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory explains how everything in a child and in the child's environment impacts on how a child grows and develops. The microsystem and mesosystem plays a part in the video featured below where the most direct interactions and everyday experience and the connection between these different context. Examples of this are the relationship between family experiences and early childhood experiences. For example, the concepts that are learnt at home and in school are the same (Nolan & Bridie, 2015).

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Understanding theories of language can form a foundation for your own views and beliefs on how you think children develop their language and communication skills.

Lev Vygotsky identified four stages of speech development where phonemic awareness can be identified ii:
1. Primitive speech stage (Birth to 2 years old - children begins to learn to speak, mainly imitating words and naming objects.)
2 Naïve psychological stage (2 to 4 years - children begin to realize that words are symbols for objects where they form curiosity as to what objects are called)
3. Egocentric speech stage.(4 to 7 years - Children often talk aloud to themselves as they perform task - create rhymes or solve problems in this stage of development (State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training , 2006).

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Summary of our chosen concept in Reading and Viewing, focusing in Phonemic awareness and vocabulary.

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Summary of our chosen concept in Reading and Viewing, focusing in Phonemic awareness and vocabulary.