ABSTRACT
Communication skills develop in children from birth. Babies hear and recognise their parent’s voice before they can clearly focus and interaction is vital for children’s survival, so we need to support their innate skills for literacy for them to flourish. This chapter is about learning to nurture children in the classroom and develop their communication skills through literacy. It will examine the procedures used in school to teach children to become literate and explore some of the key factors that can affect their learning of English. Most schools use the recommended documents as appropriate for the age-range:
■ Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (DfEE/QCA 2000);
5 C H A P T E R
Language is a crucial element in our life. We need to be skilled communicators to play our rightful role in society, at home and in the workplace. We need communication skills to live in harmony with our fellow beings; we need language to love, to dream and have a sense of well-being. Any person unable to communicate successfully in all of the interrelated language activities of speaking, listening, reading and writing suffers emotionally and socially (Crystal 1987). Therefore, it is imperative to teach children to communicate with others to give them a sense of power and to enable them to take command of their life academically as well as socially. A literate person is a powerful person.
