Language and Literacy Experiences

Language and literacy are important aspects to learning because they are part of communication. Understanding what is being taught, communicating what one wants a pupil to learn, this takes skill in language and literacy. For example, if a person wishes to understand the plot of a book, a teacher must communicate in a way that is easy to absorb. That teacher can create charts piecing together narrative plot points with specific literary terms and so forth. Journal entries are one way to combine the use of language and literacy by promoting expression and self-reflection.
From my own fieldwork experience, I was able to identify some issues some English Language Learners had regarding understanding new vocabulary. By seeing their journal entries and having them identify issues in certain areas, it was easier to facilitate communication and understanding to then help the student improve. If a student had trouble remembering a word, would then read the entry detailing this issue, and help the student by having him write an essay about that word so he remembers what that word signifies and how it can be used within the context of the English language.
English Language Learning can be difficult in the sense that it is easy to learn and hard to master. Students may have a difficult time maintaining proper grammar but may have expanded vocabulary. In my own experiences with students, they often are taught to remember a lot of words, but not necessarily what these words mean and how they exist within English grammar. This is a problem because the student doesn’t fully learn English, rather learns the easiest form of English, keeping the student from truly understanding and mastering the language.
Because of so many teachers adhering to traditional teaching methods like reading and writing assignments (book reports and essays), there’s not much in terms of innovation and creativity. I feel people can learn better and become more engaged when learning takes on various forms. The easiest is visual. Aside from providing colorful cards or handouts with vocabulary words on it and a picture, one can string along other ways of connecting images with words. For example, Venn diagrams are used for mathematics and logic, but they can also be used for learning new vocabulary.
If say, a teacher wants to teach students about fruit and vegetables, they can make Venn diagrams on the similarities between some fruits and vegetables and what often may be considered a vegetable that is a fruit. A tomato is red, and people think of it as a vegetable. The teacher can ask students why they would think of it as a vegetable and even write an essay on that. These practices help increase literacy and language and make it worthwhile and engaging. Students I taught this too felt they had an easier time remembering the new vocabulary because they could connect experiences with it.
Language and literacy are integral to learning. Some believe the tools are already in place to teach students language and literacy adequately. The reality is, traditional teaching methods are not always helpful. There is still much left for improvement. By adding different layers of learning and representation, it allows for students to make an even deeper connection to the learning material. This keeps them highly engaged and aware of the various aspects of language. Vocabulary and grammar are both needed to truly learn a language. To engage students in both aspects can be difficult, but necessary for students to learn and grow.