What Role Does Language Play In Children

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Topic: Language can be seen and heard; it can be diverse or standard. With this in mind, discus the different roles that language can have in a child’s life.

A child’s life if full of multifunctional language roles. It not only enables communication with the world in a written and oral function; it also enables the child to perceive context and tone. Using the four main functions of language, instrumental, regulatory, interactional and personal, a child can communicate effectively within the home, community and school setting (Halliday, 1975). The child can use these functions in ways to convey content, establish a register and learn the context of a conversation. Language can also negatively affect a child in the school setting, as different …show more content…

This initial communication forms the basis of the child’s interactional language function, it teaches the children expressions of love and emotion (“Smile! How smiling helps baby development,” 2015). This is why the initial displays of love from the parent are essential in the development children’s language development in the early stages. This is often followed by newborns starting to make noises in attempts to communicate, followed by basic words which often leads to an instrumental function. Once the child learns the instrumental function of language, they are able to communicate their needs and wants, even in a primitive one or two words, such as, “milk” or “juice”. I child may also use body language such as pointing, nodding and shaking the head. This gives a child a sense of self (The Children of the Code Project, 2012), a place in the world in which they belong. As the “Dance of a 1000 Hands” video shows us, even sensory impaired people can be proficient in multiple languages, in this case using ques of sign language and visual cues from other dancers (Wanderer, 2011), similarly to how children can communicate with their hands via waving and …show more content…

This involves the child exploring the world around them, asking questions and enquiring about situations. This natural curiosity can be harnessed to create an effective educational setting with the use of visually stimulating resources that inspire literacy related ideas, or fiction that stimulates the children’s minds. Children also have a natural element of intrigue; this can also be referred to as the imaginative function of language. This language function gives the child the ability to create a whole imaginary world around them during playtime, or become a character in a fictional story (Halliday, 1975). Reading books and group stories that include role play will help reinforce and stimulate this natural wonder within a

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