Phonological Awareness And Reading

IntroductionThe process of language acquisition is not a one step procedure. In contrast, it is a gradual process occurring over a prolonged period of time. No doctor, paediatrician, psychologist or linguist has been able to give an exact prediction of when a child will start learning a given language. This is because there are so many factors that come into play during a child's development. However, these experts have given rough estimates to indicate when the transition should begin. The estimates are based on psychological, sociological, environmental, intellectual, economic and biological factors. The process of phonological awareness is quite intriguing because researchers have claimed that the rate of learning at that time is the highest compared to any other point in a human being's life. (Ariés, 1962)Learning to read is also another crucial milestone during a child's developmental stages. Like language acquisition, this process also has its share of complexities. There are a number of factors that affect how and when a child begins reading. All the above details will be looked at below. (Boushel, 2000)The process of language acquisition and factors affecting itChildren start being aware of language as a medium of communication during their seventy seventh week or slightly after one year. Most children at this point realize that the people surrounding them are telling them something. They normally relate words to objects and when something is repeated over and over then chances are that children will learn those words faster. This is the reason why most children's first words revolve around the people they spend most of their time with. (Boushel, 2000)After children start understanding the meaning of words, then they may start speaking. But this is normally characterized by simple words that may have only two vowels such as ‘mama' or ‘nana'. Parents should realise that not all children will say things that make sense as soon as they start speaking. Proper articulation will come with lots of practice and placing the child around the right people. Most children may start uttering comprehensible words at the age of two and a half. They may start making complete sentences right around that time. At the age of three, children can start communicating effectively and this is why most of them begin making proper use of their school time.All the above stages refer to majority of the cases, but to every rule there is an exception. These stages simply give a rough idea of what happens in reality. Some children may learn languages very fast while others may be painstakingly slow. There are plenty of factors that could cause these changes. (Ariés, 1962)One of these factors is a child's sex. Research has shown that the girl child is faster at acquiring a language than a boy child. This is something that is inherent in their genes and such a difference can even be displayed among a set of twins if those twins have different sexes. This phenomenon continues being exhibited in their future lives and explains why women are usually better at languages than men. (Boushel, 2000)A child's environmental setting critically affects the speed at which that child will develop their language skills. First of all, children need to be located at a permanent residential area. If a child is constantly subjected to different environments at the age when they are supposed to start speaking, then they are most likely going to get confused and will retreat. This situation is even worsened when people in those separate areas speak different languages. Such children will not be able to relate a particular object to a word because they keep getting different signals for it. In relation to this, a permanent home gives a child a sense of stability and comfort. This allows them to express themselves freely through languages. There are some severe cases that exist; children start speaking at the age of four. Such children will most likely have undergone terrible circumstances that manifest themselves in the form of poor language development. (Ariés, 1962)Children should also be surrounded by people. It is very common to find that children who take long to start speaking are habitually left in isolation. Such children lack models or examples who they can take after. A home filled with other older children is very conducive for development of a child's skills and accelerates this process.On the other hand, some children are just naturally endowed with the ability to learn languages faster than others. This is part of their natural biological make up. Just the way some children learn to walk faster than others, the same may occur to the development and awareness of a language. (Boushel, 2000)Perhaps the most important contribution will come from children's parents. Parental goals and expectations affect the rate at which a child will pass through certain developmental stages like learning how to speak. It has been found that mothers from Anglo Celtic backgrounds have very high expectations for their children's developments. They expect their children to make eye contact, start crawling at an early age and this was what happened. A research done on this subject compared two very different cultures i.e. an African American mother and an Anglo American mother. The latter expected her child to learn some developmental tasks at an earlier age than the former parent. This eventually affected the way their children turned out since those parents made efforts towards achievement of their developmental goals. (Boushel, 2000)The process of reading and how it can be enhancedReading is a crucial part of any child's development. This aspect of children's development has drawn a lot of attention because it occurs at a point when the child has acquired a reasonable capability to remember things. This is quite interesting because it allows both the parent and child to learn from one another. Parents could enhance or initiate children's reading capability. This can be achieved through the following actions;Developing communication between parent and childGiving appropriate care to the child Parents should get more involved in their children's activitiesParents should create an atmosphere of mutual respectBy communicating well with one's child, one is able to dispel any inadequacies that the child may have about reading. When a child is given proper care, they are psychologically stable since they feel loved and protected. Such children will not have other issues that distract them from focusing in the classroom as they try to learn how to read. When parents involve themselves in their children's lives, they can detect any missing element and positive steps could be taken to rectify those missing elements. Besides this, parents can determine how early a child will start reading by acting as teachers themselves. Lastly, parents should realise that children have the ability to know what is wrong and right once it has been clearly taught to them. Parents should not try to impose their will all the time. They should allow children to make small decisions too so that children can have confidence in themselves. This confidence will then trickle down to their reading capabilities. Parents should remember that learning starts from the bottom side up. They should start with simple words when training their children and then work their way up to other longer words. (Ariés, 1962)Some children have a generally higher intelligence level than others. (Boushel, 2000) This means that such children will be fast in the classroom; they are likely to do tasks faster than others in class and this will also affect the way they read or how fast they learn to do so.Teachers can enhance or deter the reading process among children. Children who consider their teachers as harsh disciplinarians are most likely going to learn how to read at a slower rate than those who feel comfortable with their teachers. It is therefore crucial for teachers to create an atmosphere that is conducive to the development of a child's reading ability. Teachers can do this by making the reading process fun, they could attach colourful images to words or they could compose songs that simplify the reading process. They should not expect too much for children who are just starting the reading process, instead they should take them one step at a time.A child's cultural environment will critically affect the reading process. Some children come from homes that have numerous recourses to facilitate the reading process. It is very likely that such children will learn how to read faster than others. Besides, some cultures do not consider reading as a very important issue, consequently, children from such cultures will learn how to read at a later stage of their live.ConclusionExperts have given estimates about what age children are most likely to develop phonological awareness and to develop their reading abilities. But there are numerous exceptions to these predictions because of the following reasons; gender, culture, parental influences, availability of people around the child, frequent environmental changes, children's own natural ability and access to resources. (Ariés, 1962)Reference:Ariés, P. (1962): Centuries of Childhood. Harmondsworth: Penguin PublishersBoushel, M. (2000): Childrearing across cultures. In M. Boushel, M. Fawcett, & J. Selwyn (Eds.): Focus on early childhood: Principles and realities; Blackwell Science. Oxford: