Children's Literature: Australia English Curriculum

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Literature is at the heart of the Australia English Curriculum and is integral to the teaching of language and literacy. How can children’s literature be used to develop an understanding of the components of language?

Books are alive! Children’s literature in particular is at the heart of the Australian English Curriculum and is integral for teachers to use in teaching language and literacy. Teachers must use children’s literature to enhance the understanding and development of the various components of language? How can books make stories come alive? What is children’s literature? What are some of the components of language? And, how can teachers effectively impart understanding with the aid of children’s books in teaching? Firstly, this …show more content…

21,45) state clearly throughout the book, Language and Learning, that children’s literature is an effective ‘tool’ in developing language. There are many books ‘that fit with the themes of language and literacy’, ‘doing things with language’ and ‘grammar’. This means that literature starts with oral language as a base and the stories heard can be added to with pictures initially, then the written word forms a readable language. Talking about stories makes them come alive. Using pictures creates a sense of intrigue in the reader to help bring the story to life. Thus, the doing things with language fits the story. Next, grammar used in the literature can be expounded on in greater detail so as the co-relation between what the students read and what they can write is expanded on. Practice in doing both is an effective way of learning the skills. Learning the components of language leads to greater understanding when a student is asked to make their own …show more content…

Understanding the meaning of grammar then is crucial. Traditional grammar is seen as the parts in sentences taught more than thirty years ago. An example of this is the learning of the writing conventions such as punctuation or abbreviations. Functional grammar is seen as the ‘knowledge of language’ (Emmit et al., 2010 pg. 92). Grammar is the set of rules by which we use language. These rules change as the language changes and it is necessary to keep learning as language evolves. Children’s literature uses functional literacy to relate the knowledge of grammar to three functions of use. Using actions, reflection and connection teachers can teach the skills of proper usage of functional grammar with texts of varying interest to the students. Thus opening up the student’s world to connecting everyday knowledge to their writings, reflecting on how it affects their experiences and in turn using that learnt language in the real

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