Emergent Language and Literacy Skills in Early Childhood

Abstract

Studies have emphasized the importance of the first years of life for successful long-term language and literacy development. It is thus crucial we focus on designing appropriate and effective early learning environments with a clear literacy interaction plan that engages learners in their success and helps them advocate for the language skills they need and do not yet have. This chapter will show early natural language and literacy acquisition in children ages 2 to 4 years in a context where youngsters are exposed to a rich verbal, emotional, and experiential environment where thinking is valuable, visible, and actively promoted as a vehicle to language and literacy, and global competency frameworks are leaving the best tools in their backpack for life.