465-301 CDS31 Language, Literacy & Numeracy

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Prerequisites

465-201 CDS21 Social & Emotional Development, 465-202 CDS22 Socialisation and Identity and 465-203 CDS23 Play & Development or equivalent.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

A study of child language, symbolic and literacy development and the role of language in early literacy and numeracy. The interactional processes that facilitate this development will be emphasised. Explanations of language development will be explored with reference to theories such as Learning Theory, Nativist Theory, Social Interactional Theories and their more recent modifications. A study of alternative views of the development of number awareness and numeracy competence with reference to different curriculum approaches to numeracy. The relationship between the development of meta-cognitive/meta-linguistic competence and literacy/numeracy competence will be explored. Topics to be covered include: the child's developing phonological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and orthographic awareness; the role of the family in literacy development; the development of representational abilities and inter-generational literacy.

Assessment

Written assignments totalling 2000 words and a 2-hour examination.

Prescribed Texts

• Garton A & Pratt C, Learning to Be Literate; The Development of Spoken and Written Language (2nd ed). Oxford: Basil Blackwell 1997.