Language acquisition is an aspect that comes about every day yet it is a mystic achievement of childhood. An important element learned is that language is acquired by means of knowledge and cognition of the semantic, syntactic, phonological, pragmatic and morphemic aspects of written as well as oral language. For instance, the children will respond to the languages that they hear in their environment. Children do in fact react to being in settings where oral and written language are employed and therefore gain ways on understanding how to use them as time progresses. How children come to learn how to speak and have language proficiencies is outlined through the collaboration of nature and nurture. I have learned that child development comes with maturation, in addition to, the various stages of development. I have also learned and come to the understanding that infants and toddlers have readiness, potential and inquisitiveness. They also have interest in association, in building their own learning and in growing with everything their environment hands them (Otto, 2014). I have also learned that during their infancy period, the brains of toddlers are programmed to learn and understand language. This encompasses both hemispheres of the brain. I have learned that the process of the infants learning language takes into account nonverbal communication, dispensation of sounds into messages that are meaningful as well as learning to imitate and replicate such sounds to generate spoken language. In general, this has reinforced my knowledge base and also in the provision of more prospects for the growth of the toddlers. This experience will have a significant impact on me and my community as I will be able to communicate these new ideas and notions to the toddlers and students. In addition, it helps me understand the importance of the relationship between the caregiver and infant that improve language development (Otto, 2014).

Hour of Silence Reflection

Being non-vocal for the one hour was not an easy task, I faced numerous challenges but at the same time it was comprehensively eye opening. In the hour of silence, I came to learn that is quite challenging for the other individuals to read or completely understand what I was trying to say or relay to them. I have come to understand that speaking or uttering out words that we wish to convey are significantly important in communication and these are elements that I had taken for granted until this moment. One important aspect that I have come to understand in this experience is the importance of verbal communication. This is because non-verbal communication more often than not co-exists with non-vocal cues in order to reinforce the message in a clear manner and also make a lasting impression. Without speaking, it was difficult for the other individuals to fully comprehend my statements and therefore easily misunderstood what I was trying to relay. For instance, it was quite hard to ask a person for a particular book or open a certain page. I came to the realization that in order to be understood, I had to write down almost everything.

In addition, I have come to have a whole new admiration and understanding as well as expanded my understanding of those who cannot speak. This experience had given me the realization as to how difficult it becomes for the people who are dumb to relay what they want to pass through to other individuals. In addition, I have come to understand the importance of non-verbal cues and how difficult it is for these individuals to learn each and every one of them. I now understand the challenges the mute go through in making certain that the other party fully comprehends what they are trying to communicate.

Module 2

Reflection for Chapters 6 & 7

Preschool kids do not yet have the ability to have internal dialogue with themselves. Rather what they speak about directly mirrors what is in their thoughts and thereafter think aloud. I have learned that one of the ways in which they develop language is through phenomes or sounds. The other way is through semantics and also developing their syntactic knowledge. I have therefore come to understand that the semantic together with syntactic skills will have an impact on how effective the children will utilize the context of what they are reading (Beaty, 2012). On the other hand, phonological skills have an influence on their utilization of the association between sounds and letters. This knowledge base will be of great significance to me as I understand that the semantic level of knowledge of the preschoolers...

In addition, I have learned that in this setting, written language is imperative as the children slowly begin to comprehend that letters can be linked with certain sounds and also with certain words (Otto, 2014).
In the development of language of preschoolers, the responsiveness, patience, warmth and also fitting extent of structure and control of the teaching behavior of the caregiver or parent play a significant role. I have learned that linguistic scaffolding is imperative and suitable for the interaction with preschool children. However, this is dissimilar from that which is employed with infants and toddlers. Some of the ways in which this can be done is through the restatement and expansion of their statements and also making remarks and asking exploratory questions to instigate them to add to their stories and carry on providing details (Epstein, 2007). In addition, I have learned that as a teacher, my guided activities will be determined by the extent of understanding of the children and also the length and occurrence of their attention spans.

Book Analysis of "I went Walking"

To begin with, I Went Walking is a simple and amusing read aloud picture book whose story line follows a crazy haired boy's wander through the landscape. The question frequently posed is "What did you see?" and has a reply that is patterned. Together with the preamble picture illustrating part of a barn yard animal, the book quickly appeals and entreaties children into the story. The book encompasses a repetitive rhyme that will be largely cherished and esteemed by the young individuals. The young boy perceives a black cat, followed by a brown horse and thereafter a red cow and so forth, and before he recognizes it, he is being followed by the whole zoo (Williams, 2000). Regardless of the fact that the text is not distinctively imaginative, it is the illustrations that bring the appeal. To be more precise, the illustrations made by Julie Vivas in the book breathe life into the parade in attractive and sprightly watercolors. For instance, when the pink pig looks at the small boy, he sprays off his mud-covered body with a hosepipe. In addition, the big fonts, the constant repetition of the words "I went walking" and "What did you see?" together with the pleasant art are what make the tale to be such a splendid story time book. In addition, there is a pictorial predicting game fashioned by the introduction of every animal only to some extent in the beginning (Williams, 2000). Bits and pieces of the animals are presented on one page and shown on the following page. In analyzing this particular book, it can be seen that kids will enjoy and have fun pinpointing the different animals, the different colors and also reciting the catchy text. Another element that makes the book a success is the fact that the story is succinct and therefore does not bore kinds who usually have a low span of attention (Williams, 2000).

Module 3

Reflection for Chapters 8, 9, 10 & 11

In reflection, one of the most important aspects I have learned is that it is not a must for the acquisition of speech sounds by the student to necessarily go in tandem toe to toe with the developmental charts. Nonetheless, any articulation problems that influence the speech articulacy of the child ought to be observed and taken note of (Otto, 2014). For children at the kindergarten stage, acquiring semantic knowledge takes into account learning new vocabulary. Language development, both oral and written, for children at the kindergarten stage can be enhanced through a number of different ways (Otto, 2014). Some of these ways can include cultivating instructional conversations, employing a range of questioning approaches and also linguistic scaffolding to increase the level of participation by the children in discussions in the class (Otto, 2014).

For children in the primary years, this is the period when their phonological knowledge is all the more impacted by their experiences with reading and writing. I have learnt that it is apparent that with more time being spent in school and in having all the more concentration on formal instruction, the language setting of the children in primary fundamentally transforms compared to those of preschool and kindergarten. I have also learnt that at this phase, they have more full delineations and comparisons when talking about particular objects. In addition, the various elements of written language are impacted by the contexts…