Developing language awareness

Developing language awareness

Introduction
	Even though people speak their language effortlessly, they generally are not aware of the individual sounds that make up the language. By exposing them to reading and writing, you can help them develop this awareness and better prepare them to learn to read and write.
	Use informal activities that people already enjoy such as games, riddles, and songs.

Objectives
	Here are some objectives of developing language awareness:
	To help make people aware of individual sounds in their language To expose them to simple concepts related to literacy

Things to do
	Here are some things to do when you develop language awareness:
	Play games that manipulate parts of the language such as words or letters. Tell riddles or jokes that play on language. Sing songs that use alliteration or manipulate words. Do simple phonemic awareness activities that make people aware of their language. Write an alphabet song to teach the names of letters.

Sources
	Anderson, Elfrieda, Scott and Wilkinson 1985 Ball and Blachman 1991 Byrne 1991 Goodman and Goodman 1979 Morrow, O'Connor and Smith 1990 Waters 1993 Yopp 1992

Context for this page:

Task module: Developing language awareness
In task module: Exposing people to reading and writing, by Delle P. Matthews, Anne Klaassens (contributor), Leah B. Walter (contributor), Ken Boothe (contributor), and Trudy K. Stewart (general editor)
In task module: Preparing for a literacy program
In modular book: Prepare for a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter, Mary Morgan, and Leah B. Walter
In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 16 March 1999

© 1999 SIL International