Jennifer Snell
Word Learning with Emergent Learners Understanding the expanse and volume of words that children are expected to read and recall meanings of can be overwhelming. Research by Juel and Minden-Cupp (2000) explains that by the end of eighth grade, if children successfully “negotiate all the texts normally encountered” they will confront “over 80,000 different words” (p. 461). Therefore, giving children opportunities to build a strong foundation of word learning (using oral contexts to deduce word meaning) and word knowledge (ability to correctly apply words), guide students to continue developing word awareness on their own (Silverman & Hartranft, 2015). Building of word knowledge begins with a child’s first encounter with oral language and continues as he/she learns to read and write. Many children’s first encounter with learning words is with parents and siblings through natural participation in meaningful dialogue, through shared reading experiences, and simply by talking with other children in group play settings. Home literacy activities such as reading with children, taking trips to the library, parental modeling of literacy engagement through reading, and time spent talking having conversations with young children lay the foreground for further development of literacy education in preschool (Dickinson and McCabe, 2001). Through these everyday experiences, children continue to develop word consciousness and word awareness expertise in four oral language modes: 1) phonology (producing and manipulating sounds to create words), 2) syntax (using words in sentences to help create meaning), 3) semantics (understanding word meanings), and 4) pragmatics (using the words in conversation). Children who are four and five years of age have the ability to acquire knowledge of word meanings and add “approximately 2,000 words to their vocabularies each year” (Tompkins, 2015, p. 41). Having a strong foundation of word knowledge lays the pathway for future success in reading and writing. Research completed by Tracey and Morrow (2017) tells us that children who enter school with proficient levels of word awareness and knowledge tend to excel in emergent and beginning reading and writing tasks. On the other hand, children who do not enter school with this same background of word knowledge can suffer in emergent and beginning literacy development. Theoretical Perspectives for Word Development and Learning One theoretical perspective that supports the importance of early word learning is the Literacy Processing Theory (Clay, 2001). Marie M. Clay is well known for her work in literacy development. As a clinical child psychologist, she has studied literacy development in children and has developed literacy theories such as Emergent Literacy Theory (1966 as cited in Doyle, 2013) and Literacy Processing Theory (2001). Tracey and Morrow (2017) explain that Emergent Literacy Theory deals with early word awareness and word learning within literacy development and provides instructional guidance to promote early literacy growth. Emergent Literacy Theory explains that literacy development is ongoing and unlike other theories, word learning begins with early experiences of both being talked to and read to (Tracey & Morrow, 2017). 24
