TOPIC 19: THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF LANGUAGE

IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES FOR

COMPREHENSION AND ORAL EXPRESSION. THE INTERVENTION
EDUCATIONAL IN THE CASE OF CONTACT LANGUAGES.

INTRODUCTION

The present topic raises the importance of the teaching and learning process of language.
in the Early Childhood Education stage, as it is the main means of communication for the
infant, it regulates its own behavior and serves infants as an instrument for
represent and understand the reality that surrounds them. Thus, the teachers in collaboration
families play a fundamental role in language development.

For the development of the topic, presented with rigor and coherence, we will talk about teaching.
and the learning of the language in Early Childhood Education, next, we will address the techniques
and resources for oral comprehension and expression and educational intervention in the case of the
contact languages. And finally, we will find a brief conclusion as a summary.
and the bibliography and legislation used.

1. TEACHING AND LEARNING OF LANGUAGE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.

Before I start explaining the teaching and learning process of the language, I consider
It is important to conceptually define what is considered language. This is.
considered as the human faculty that allows people to communicate through two
key aspects: language and speech.

Teachers, I believe it is necessary for them to take into account that the learning of a
language during the Early Childhood Education stage allows infants to communicate and
socialize with their environment, organize and structure their thinking, develop the
abstract thinking, regulate their behavior and serve as a mechanism to access
different learnings.

All of this is explicitly gathered in the form of capabilities, both in the LOE and
subsequently in the LOMLOE as in Decree 38/2008 of March 28 from the Consell,
through the general objectives related to language. That is why teachers when it comes to
Those in charge of programming and organizing language teaching must take these aspects into account.

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normative and organize around them, always taking into account the characteristics
principles of each stage and the globalization of learning, as Decroly said well,
author of the New School and pioneer of one of the principles of educational intervention.
Thus, language, like other aspects, is not programmed in a rigid manner and
closed, but rather promotes interaction among them.

In addition to all this, it is important to consider how the linguistic development of the
infants at this age, that is why two major stages of such development are highlighted:

Prelinguistic stage: characterized by babbling and crying

Linguistic stage: in which the first words appear, beginning the
communication through a word supported by non-verbal language until it reaches
to the acquisition of the structures

But, there are various maturational, cognitive, and environmental factors that influence this.
development

Regarding the maturatives, it should be noted that among these the following factors influence:

▪ The specific characteristics of a given chronological age

▪ The peculiar and specific characteristics of each of the students.
and students that make up a group
- On the other hand, cognitive factors are related to those aspects
psychological that refer to higher mental functions, such as
memory, attention, and creativity, among other aspects
- Lastly, the environmental factors: the process of acquiring and mastering the
language has a universal character regardless of the language, its development comes from
conditioned by the interaction with the main social contexts: the family and the
school environment. In this last one, children expand their attachment figures and relationships.

developing emotionally and socially. This fact causes the infant to use
more verbal communication and acquire developmental competencies, both in
formal situations as in informal situations.

The child learns to speak at the same time as to think and reason, hence the importance of a
stimulating, emotional interaction that provokes reasoning. That is why the
Teachers at this stage must know how to approach the teaching process.
language learning. This occurs mainly through the forms it adopts

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verbal language, both oral and written, in conjunction with other languages, musical, audiovisual,
corporal and plastic. Therefore, the Early Childhood Education classroom must be imbued with
surrounded by these languages, it is very interesting that students when
they feel certain emotions or feelings, in addition to verbalizing them, a small
group conversation in which the topic is addressed and they can thus draw and express that
feeling through various techniques.

Following this didactics, children's language should revolve around:

Activity and play: as stated in the intervention principles

educational, whose origin lies in the contributions of authors such as Maria Montessori or

Fröebel. Activity and play are fundamental parts of early childhood education, it is because
that resources and materials should invite to play, to experiment and even to
manipulate various objects, thus facilitating an operational and experiential attitude of
language
Creating a motivating and engaging context for the students, that is, a center of
interest, as established by Decroly in his globalizing approach
Finally, it must provide correct and careful linguistic models, communicating with us.
with the students in an optimal way to provide them with the correct feedback on the
correct use of language.

All these aspects are therefore related to topic 12 of the official syllabus.
Thus, to conclude, I would like to highlight a contribution made by the authors Monfort.
and Juárez in his book "The Boy Who Speaks", as they establish four aspects that under
I consider basic in early childhood education.

Promote linguistic development

Compensate for inequalities caused by the sociocultural environment
Prevent, detect, and act against the emergence of language disorders, as
teachers of stage one of our main functions is this
Prepare students for written language

2. TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES FOR ORAL COMPREHENSION AND EXPRESSION.

The techniques are considered as mechanisms or strategies to get there easily.

Finally indicated, the techniques or methods of work will be based on the experiences, the

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activities that take place around learning and in the games that they will develop in
an environment of affection and trust to enhance self-esteem and social integration of
students, in addition to promoting the acquisition of communicative competence.

For this reason, the teachers at this stage must offer and employ a wide diversity.
on communication techniques, placing particular emphasis on those related to
with the expressive and comprehensive aspects, always using those resources that
improve the specific aspects of language, such as correct articulation, the
vocabulary, writing, and dialogue, always taking into account those students who
has any kind of special educational needs to provide them with the necessary tools
so that it carries out the action normally.

The main communication techniques used in early childhood education are:

The narration: considered as the art of telling tales, stories, or accounts with a
sequential and spatial order. Through narratives, creativity is encouraged and
the imagination, awakening the motivation and interest of the students, increasing their
vocabulary and perfecting the language.

The narrative resource par excellence at this stage is the short story, which gives rise to multiple
activities, not only those related to language but also with
that are related to other aspects of development. For example, through storytelling.
temporal sequences and creativity can be worked on by adapting a classic story to
current times, so that the students invent the clothing that the characters wear, the
space where it is set and the adventures they are going to experience.

Another technique used is description, which involves the enumeration of the

characteristics of a person, animal, or object in a realistic and objective way. The
descriptions help to synthesize thought, increase vocabulary and
they develop the ability to pay attention and observe. At this stage, the descriptions
they are guided, especially during the early years, which is why the teacher is the one who
he should help the child describe the object by asking questions and supporting him with
visual material if necessary. This way, it will be much easier for the students.
describe any type of object or situation.
The dialogues are another technique characteristic of the stage, through which students and the
students express their feelings, their experiences, or their ideas. Through this

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 the child strives to express himself and make himself understood, as well as to
understanding the message that your partner sends. Therefore, it is essential to work on the

dialogue at this stage, the vast majority of early childhood classrooms have
an area that invites meeting and dialogue, as this is a fundamental part.
- On the other hand, dramatization is linked to the symbolic function. Infants
they begin to imitate the adult in their absence, through dramatizations they learn
to communicate with each other, to express their experiences harmoniously and to develop their

spontaneity and imagination. This can be worked on in the classroom of education

children's activities from sessions with puppets, shadow play or theater, even through
corners, such as the one for costumes, where there should be a great diversity of
fabrics, accessories, and clothing for children to dramatize anything
situation that they can think of. In addition, in the symbolic play corner, the children
they can dramatize a daily situation with the help of various materials, by
for example, they can dramatize actions they perform at home, such as setting the table or
make the shopping list.
Finally, we find poems and songs, both contribute to achieving
a greater mastery of sound performance, intonation, rhythm, and pauses,
as well as the musicality of the language.

In addition to these techniques, the early childhood educator must have a series of
resources that work specifically on various aspects of language such as:

The articulation: through it, it is intended for children to pronounce the words.
in a correct and clear manner. The activities that can be carried out to work on it
aspects are: mimetic games, articulatory agility, and linking words
Intonation: through intonation training, the aim is to provide
appropriate expressiveness to the phrase and not just its correct construction. The activities
aimed at the development of various linguistic structures, how,
construcción de frases interrogativas, admirativas, dubitativas y afirmativas
The vocabulary: facilitates all processes related to the language, both at the level
expressive as understanding. Therefore, it is interesting that, through the songs,
Poems, descriptions, and narratives work on vocabulary in a way
continued in that stage.

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 3. THE EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION IN THE CASE OF CONTACT LANGUAGES.

To address this section, we must keep in mind the environment in which we find ourselves,
that is, the Valencian Community. It is characterized by being a bilingual territory in the
that coexist and interact two co-official languages, Valencian and Spanish.

This aspect must be very present in schools, as it promotes the

learning. The habitual use of both languages in a balanced way is reflected in the
Decree 38/2008 as can be seen in one of the stage objectives: "To know that
In the Valencian Community, two languages coexist, Valencian and Spanish, that
interact, which they must know and respect equally and progressively expand the use of
Valencian in all situations

On February 21, 2018, Law 4/2018 was approved, which regulates and promotes the
plurilingualism in the Valencian educational system, the purpose of this law is to regulate the
teaching and the vehicular use of curricular languages, ensuring mastery of the
multilingual and intercultural competencies of Valencian students and promote the presence
in the itinerary of non-curricular languages existing in educational centers. The
provisions that appear in it are mandatory for all centers
public and private concerted schools of the Valencian Community, the non-concerted private ones
They may or may not adhere to what is provided by the Law.

Therefore, the Valencian school system adheres to the Plurilingual Education Program.
and intercultural (PEPLI), which has Valencian and Spanish as curricular languages,
English and other foreign languages are organized by percentages. In the
In the Early Childhood Education stage, English will be incorporated in a way that it has a presence of

10% in the curricular schedule. On the other hand, the minimum time allocated to the contents
curricular content in each of the official languages must be 25% of the teaching hours,
thus, each center will choose the percentage it grants to each language, which may be, for
example, 50% in Castilian and 40% in Valencian.

Referring to the linguistic project of the center, this is the instrument through which
Each center articulates and implements the PEPLI according to its characteristics.
specific to the center and the students. The linguistic project will be part of the project

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educational center and will be developed taking into account the demands, expectations and
limitations of the social-educational context of the center, aiming to become
a transparent instrument where families, the center, and the
administration, adopting measures of cooperation.

Lastly, it is very important to be aware that the learning and mastery of more than
a language, in this case the two official languages and the increasing use of English, favors
not only linguistic development but also social and cultural development, providing children
a broader perspective of the world and cultures.

4. CONCLUSION

To conclude, it is important to know that nowadays we are fortunate that no longer do we

questions the early childhood education stage, which is a stage of its own identity and
essential for the education of students, but increasingly sought after
methodologies that positively and significantly favor cognitive development
engine of the infants.

Nevertheless, teachers must be in constant learning, knowing different currents.

pedagogical and methodological and not limited to just one, because each child is different, for
how their way of learning will be different. Only then can a training process be offered
rich, meaningful, globalizing, based on experiences and that respects the different
rhythms and learning times, but above all, in which any infant is the
protagonist. In this way, students are educated to be independent, with spirit.
critical and with an education that allows them to navigate freely in society.

The topic cannot be concluded without mentioning the importance of the 3 levels of
curricular concretion present in the daily life of the center, in which it is necessary to have
present the current regulations, the educational plan of the center, and the actions directed towards it

only to the educational center.

5. BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
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 a. Bibliography

Torres, M. Trianes, M. V. (2012).Psicología del desarrollo y de la educació[Link]ámide

Palacios, J. Marchesi, A. Coll, C. (1990). Psychological development and education. Alliance

Gallego, J.L. (1994).Educación [Link]

b. Legislation

Organic Law 3/2020, of December 29, which modifies Organic Law 2/2006,
from May 3 of Education. (LOMLOE)

Royal Decree 1630/2006, of December 29, on the basic aspects of the curriculum
Early Childhood Education

Decree 37/2008 of March 28 by the Council, which establishes the contents

educational themes of the 1st cycle of Early Childhood Education in the Valencia Community

Decree 38/2008 of March 28 of the Council, establishing the contents

educational programs of the 2nd cycle of Early Childhood Education in the Valencian Community

Decree 127/2012, of August 3, of the Council, which regulates multilingualism in the

non-university education in the Valencian Community

Order of June 24, 2008, from the Department of Education regarding the evaluation in the stage
Early Childhood Education