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Language Rationale
Chelsea Crosby Bunn
Lander University
Language Rationale
Language is an innately human mechanism which sets us apart from all other
species. Because of language, we are able to express our thoughts and feelings in the
form of the spoken or written word. The process of acquiring language is a natural one
in which very young children begin to assign meaning to familiar figures, such as Mom,
Dad or dog. Barbara Ervin explains:
[Language acquisition] starts with meanings. First, some understanding
of what people are saying is necessary. Once children begin to
understand what people are saying, they can begin to decode the
meanings of some words. When some minimal set of words can be
comprehended, then work can begin on the phonological system. (Ervin,
23)
Babies need endless amounts of auditory stimulation in the form of spoken
words. Eventually, they begin to coo, babble and, finally, form words.
In addition to gathering information about the spoken word, the child is
also acquiring an interest in written symbols very early in life. He must develop
an understanding of the relationship between written text and meaning. In
order to develop this understanding, the child should be read to, and be able to
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the concrete to the abstract. The child gets much hands on experience with the
individual sounds, and gradually moves into sound blending, word building, (all
the while, practicing writing) and finally, the abstract: reading.
The first formal introduction to the written symbol is with the sandpaper
letters. Dr. Montessori explains in The Discovery of the Child, When a letter is
given to a child and its sound pronounced, the child fixes and image of it in his
mind with the help of his visual and his tactile muscular senses
(Montessori,1967). After the sandpaper letters and cornmeal tray, the child
practices writing with a writing instrument for the first time in the language area,
with the metal insets. This exercise also helps to train the pincer grasp, but in a
more practical context: the child is using a pencil to make intentional marks on
paper. Dr Montessori speaks of the importance of writing in Creative
Development in the Child: When such a hand comes to the work of writing it
can follow the will of the individual. When the child knows the letters,
everything becomes easy (Montessori, 1998). When the child is proficient in
writing, he is able to move on to more abstract tasks, like reading.
Once the child is familiar with all the sounds, and building words with the
movable alphabet, they are able to begin reading. The child can build phrases
and read simple books and classroom labels. For the proficient reader, maybe
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in his last year in the primary classroom, materials are available which help him
to conceptualize new things in language, such as phonograms, consonant and
vowel digraphs, non-phonetic sounds, and functions of words.
The purpose of teaching language is ultimately to train an individual to
communicate with others. Joy Turner points out in How Do You Teach Reading,
[communication] does not exclude listening, speaking, singing, or even
communicating through pictures and body language. Its the making contact
thats important: language is a primary human tool for achieving relationship
(Turner, 1995). Without language, we would not be able to collaborate with
others, and thus, never achieve anything on a grand scale; and, is that not the
purpose of education in general? We are to educate individuals so that they
may work together and make the world a better place; in this way, an
educational curriculum without a strong emphasis in language is not serving the
greater good. Empowering children to speak and write with intelligence,
confidence and clarity is one of the most important things we can do as
teachers; the Montessori language curriculum facilitates this effort.
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References
Ervin, Barbara. Language Rationale. Greenwood, SC: Lander University
Montessori, M. (1967). The discovery of the child. New York, NY: The Random House
Publishing Group.
Montessori, M. (1998). Creative development in the child: The Montessor approach,
Vol. 2. (R. Ramachandran, Trans.) Chennai, India: Kalakshetra Press. (Original
work dictated 1939)
Turner, J. How Do You Teach Reading? Montessori LIFE. (1995): 25-29. Print.