Deck 13: Enhancing Childrens Learning and Development Through Language and Emergent Literacy

Question 1

Emergent literacy is defined as the ongoing process of learning to read and write.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Research conducted by Fred Genesse demonstrates that young children lack the capacity to learn two languages at once.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

When John's infant daughter points at a ball and says, "bah,"
John responds by saying, "Yes, that's a ball."
He then picks up another ball and says, "Ball, this is a ball too."
John is using scaffolding to facilitate language development in his daughter.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

If two-year-old Stacy's language development is like that of the average two-year-old, Stacy's conversations will most often contain words that have to do with her daily experiences and that name actions and things.

Question 5

In terms of communication styles, the United States is best described as a high-context culture.

Question 6

Jack and Patty are a married couple having a heated discussion. While Patty states her point of view, Jack listens intently with the purpose of screening out anything that is irrelevant to their conversation. He really wants to register and receive what his wife is saying. Jack's level of listening is at Level 2.

Question 7

Twelve-year-old Lindsay has one way of talking to her friends, another way of talking to her teachers, and yet another way to speak with her parents. Linguists use the term registers to describe Lindsay's different ways of talking depending on the context.

Question 8

The International Reading Association encourages the use of formal pre-reading programs in early childhood education programs.

Question 9

Three-year-old Pai can recognize and sound out all of the letters of the alphabet. This is the first sign of Pai's emergent literacy.

Question 10

In the early years of learning to be a writer, mechanics should be emphasized over fluency.

Question 11

Tiffany Sanchez is employed at a child care center where she is the caregiver for children ages 1 to 2. Sanchez can expect that most of the conversations with the children under her care will be about the present or the immediate past or future.

Question 12

To encourage literacy development among babies and toddlers, it is important to put printed labels on objects in the early childhood learning environment.

Question 13

The difference between a reading-readiness approach versus an emergent literacy approach is that the former emphasizes structured lessons on separate literacy skills and correctness, while the latter uses a variety of materials that encourages experimentation and exploration of all aspects of literacy without any emphasis on correctness.

Question 14

In her lecture on child development, your psychology professor says, "Language is caught, not taught." What does your professor mean when she says this?

A) Language is both active and receptive.
B) Language learning is dependent on cognition.
C) In language development, comprehension comes before usage.
D) One does not need formal lessons to learn language.

Question 15

Other factors being equal, which child is LEAST likely to benefit from a language immersion program in the United States?

A) an English-speaking child who is in a Spanish language immersion program focused on learning Spanish as quickly as possible
B) a Spanish-speaking child who is in an English language immersion program focused on learning English as quickly as possible
C) a Spanish-speaking child who is in an English language immersion program whose goal is bilingual education
D) an English-speaking child who is in a Spanish language immersion program whose goal is bilingual education

Question 16

Generalizing from the observations of Lilian Katz, which of the following is likely to the topic of adult-child conversation in Reggio Emilia schools in Italy?

A) observations and feelings regarding specific projects of interest to students and teacher
B) discussions of students' performance
C) observations and critiques of students' classroom conduct
D) discussions regarding classroom routines and rules

Question 17

Regarding the facilitation of language development in infants and toddlers, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Since young infants cannot use verbal language, adults can best facilitate language development by using non-verbal interactions.
B) Babies learn conversational turn-taking through non-verbal interactions, then through vocalizations, and eventually through verbalizations.
C) Adults can use labeling, repetition, and expanding to help facilitate language development in infants and toddlers.
D) Language development is enhanced through infant mimicking of adults, as well as through adult mimicking of infants.

Question 18

Regarding cross-cultural studies of mothers' communication styles with infants, which of the following is FALSE?

A) Compared to European American mothers, Japanese mothers tend to use more indirect communication.
B) Compared to Japanese mothers, European American mothers are more likely to put their thoughts and feelings into words.
C) Japanese mothers are less empathetic with their infants than European American mothers.
D) Compared to Japanese mothers, European American mothers are more likely to use direct communication to stimulate their babies.

Question 19

Ralph McGinley is a preschool teacher for four-year-old children. In order to best facilitate the children's language development, Ralph should do all but which of the following?

A) gently correct their grammatical errors and mistakes
B) take a project approach to curriculum and engage students in conversations about projects
C) model good listening skills
D) allow and encourage all sorts of conversations

Question 20

Compared to people from low-context cultures, people from high-context cultures are more likely to

A) place a high value on being verbally articulate.
B) pay close attention to body language, feelings, and relationships in communication.
C) aim for good, clear communications through verbal means.
D) place emphasis on encouraging and teaching children to talk.

Question 21

Level 1 listening is best described as

A) true listening.
B) listening just enough to loosely connect with the other person.
C) simply hearing.
D) wholehearted, open listening.

Question 22

Which level of listening is most similar to the way children engage in parallel play?

A) Level 1
B) Level 2
C) Level 3
D) Level 4

Question 23

Two caregivers, Max and Angela, are having a conversation about the curriculum. Angela is sharing her ideas and Max is listening, looking at Angela with his hands on the table. He occasionally nods in agreement but refrains from speaking until Angela is finished talking. Which of the following best describes Max's mode of listening?

A) Level 1
B) Level 2
C) Level 3
D) Level 4

Question 24

All but which of the following language differences are expected between eight-year-old Monty and his five-year-old sister Louise?

A) Monty will have a larger vocabulary because he has had more exposure to reading and writing.
B) Monty will use more humor than Louise. He will also be more argumentative.
C) Monty, unlike Louise, will able to put adult criticisms and advice into perspective.
D) Monty's conversations will run deeper and go on longer than Louise's conversations.

Question 25

To promote emergent literacy in infants and toddlers, all but which of the following are recommended?

A) talking to them with simple language
B) sharing cardboard books with infants
C) reading to toddlers while holding them on one's lap
D) modeling of reading and writing behavior

Question 26

Of the following preschool programs, which best represents an emergent-literacy approach to literacy development?

A) Program A teaches children skills to prepare them for reading. Children practice exercises that build hand strength and focus on learning to write from left to right.
B) Program B's circle time focuses on structured phonics activities like identifying initial letter sounds of words.
C) Program C encourages children to play at writing and encourages children to talk to each other and to the adults.
D) Program D gives children stickers and other incentives for completing phonics worksheets. Teachers correct the worksheets and send them home so that parents can work on the areas where their children are deficient.

Question 27

All but which of the following literacy skills do most children learn, without any formal lessons, by the age of five?

A) recognition of environmental print (e.g. brand names, signs, logos)
B) connection of written words (symbols) with sounds
C) understanding of the value and functions of print
D) the conventional spelling of 20-30 words

Question 28

The majority of five- and six-year-olds can do all but which of the following?

A) explore, experiment, and play with language in creative ways
B) print their names and some other words
C) proficiently use invented spelling
D) produce short pieces of persuasive writing

Question 29

School age children generally develop writing skills in which sequence?

A) expressive writing, story writing, expository writing
B) expressive writing, expository writing, story writing
C) story writing, expository writing, expressive writing
D) expository writing, story writing, expressive writing

Question 30

Kitty Ritz's story from the text that shares her experiences with Family Reading Day demonstrates which point about emergent literacy?

A) Writing and drawing tools should be available to children on a daily basis in order to encourage exploration of literacy.
B) Emergent-literacy approaches are more holistic and integrated than reading-readiness approaches.
C) Adults have a big influence on the process of developing literacy skills.
D) Children come to recognize themselves as readers through a process.

Question 31

The ongoing process of becoming able to read and write is called

A) reading readiness.
B) home language development.
C) language immersion.
D) emergent literacy.

Question 32

According to the NAEYC/IRA Position Statement on Learning to Read and Write, the most important period for literacy development is _________.

A) birth to 4 years of age
B) birth to 8 years of age
C) 2 to 6 years of age
D) 4 to 8 years of age

Question 33

Explain some strategies for facilitating language development in each of the following age groups: infants/toddlers; two-year-olds; preschoolers.

Question 34

Describe the four levels of listening.

Question 35

Define emergent literacy. Contrast the reading-readiness approach to literacy versus the emergent-literacy approach.