Unit rationale, description and aim
Being able to read and write is critical to young people’s success in their education and workplace. In this unit, preservice teachers examine typical language development and language variations, with particular attention to typical and atypical phonological development, and lexical and semantic development. They also examine aspects of language development in bidialectal and multilingual contexts, the different features of oral and written language, and the reciprocal relationship between oral language/vocabulary knowledge and literacy development.
Preservice teachers are also introduced to how children learn to read and write words and to comprehend longer texts. They examine how the English writing system works and how phonemes, morphemes and the history of the language are represented in this system. The preservice teachers will develop awareness of phonemes, graphemes, and morphemes, and examine why phonics is important in moving children from pre-readers to readers, why spelling is a crucial element of teaching writing, and how spelling differs from and supports reading acquisition. Finally, language and reading comprehension are introduced as multi-componential constructs, and the roles of word reading ability, reading fluency, vocabulary and oral language ability in reading comprehension are highlighted.
The aim of this unit is to provide pre-service teachers with the foundational understanding of language and literacy concepts and developmental and learning processes that are necessary for learning to teach literacy skills.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify, describe and evaluate students’ language...
Learning Outcome 01
Apply knowledge of how children learn to read and ...
Learning Outcome 02
Apply knowledge of phonology, morphology, phonemic...
Learning Outcome 03
Apply literacy and language knowledge and understa...
Learning Outcome 04
Content
Topics will include:
Knowledge
1. Understanding language: Grammar, vocabulary, morphology, phonology, and orthography
2. Language development
3. Differences between written and oral language
4. How children learn to read and write
5. Relationships between reading and oral language
6. Language differences and literacy development
a. Australian Aboriginal English
b. English as an Additional Language
Skills
1. Analysis of phonological, phonemic, morphological, and graphemic features of words
2. Analysis of grammatical, lexical, and phonological features in a range of spoken and written texts
3. Application of knowledge of language and literacy development to assess suitability of texts, learning materials, and learning tasks
Assessment strategy and rationale
A range of assessment procedures will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes, to develop graduate capabilities, and to develop professional standards and criteria consistent with University assessment requirements.
The assessment tasks and their weightings allow pre-service teachers to progressively demonstrate consolidation of knowledge and achievement against the course learning outcomes by demonstrating academic and professional standards. The Foundations of Literacy unit will build the foundational knowledge and skills regarding oral and written language learning and development that are required to meet expectations of the Graduate Attributes and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers - Graduate level.
Assessment Task 1 focuses on the ability to identify the linguistic features of oral or written texts. Assessment Task 2 focuses on students’ ability to analyse the linguistic features of written texts and learning materials. Assessment Task 3, the examination, assesses pre-service teachers’ application of knowledge and understanding of literacy and language (i.e. grammar, vocabulary, morphology, phonology, orthography).
The three assessment tasks are sequenced to allow feedback and progressive development of content knowledge and skills to prepare pre-service teachers for pedagogical knowledge units EDEN290 and EDEN291.
Minimum Achievement Standards
The assessment tasks for this unit are designed to demonstrate the achievement of each learning outcome. In order to pass this unit, pre-service teachers are required to complete ALL assessment tasks and achieve a Pass grade overall.
Overview of assessments
Assessment Task 1: Analysis of Text 1 Students w...
Assessment Task 1: Analysis of Text 1
Students will analyse an oral or written text to identify its features.
20%
Assessment Task 2: Analysis of Text 2 Students w...
Assessment Task 2: Analysis of Text 2
Students will analyse samples of written texts and learning materials to identify their features and suitability for different students.
40%
Assessment Task 3: Examination 2-hour examinatio...
Assessment Task 3: Examination
2-hour examination: Application of knowledge and understanding of literacy and language
40%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
The learning and teaching strategy for this unit is based on providing pre-service teachers with examples of explicit teaching approaches that are supported by research evidence, and that they can implement in their own literacy classrooms.
In line with the chosen learning and teaching strategy, this unit includes frequent reviews of previous learning, explicit delivery of new content, worked examples, guided and independent practice, and frequent feedback. Once the knowledge is consolidated, it will be applied to analysing texts and learning tasks in order to develop analytical and evaluation skills. The learning and teaching strategy is achieved through a range of learning activities such as reading, reflection, weekly self-assessment quizzes, discussion, and engagement with webinars, podcasts and video resources.
This is a 10-credit point unit. It has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, pre-service teachers need to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. This includes regular attendance and participation in tutorials.
The unit is hosted on a Learning Management System (LMS) site with resources and online links, announcements, and a discussion board to post questions and reflections that promote connection between content and educational experiences.
AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - GRADUATE LEVEL
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should be able to:
ACECQA Curriculum Specifications
On successful completion of this unit, pre-service teachers should have developed the following specific knowledge:
Representative texts and references
Required text(s)
Cabell, S. Q., Neuman, S. B., & Patton Terry, N. (Eds.). Handbook on the Science of Early Literacy. Guildford.
· Chapter 6: Learning the code
Snowling, M., Hulme, C. & Nation, K. (2022). The Science of Reading: A Handbook. (2nd Edition). Routledge.
· Chapter 6: Hamilton, L. G., & Hayiou-Thomas, M. E. The foundations of literacy
· Chapter 7: Castles, A., & Nation, K. Learning to read words
· Chapter 8: Kemp, N., & Treiman, R. Learning to spell words
Stuart, M. & Stainthorp, R. (2016). Reading development and teaching. Sage.
· Chapter 1: Essential knowledge about language
· Chapter 6: Comprehension of oral and written language
Recommended references
Brown, A. (2014). Pronunciation and phonetics: A practical guide for English language teachers. Routledge.
Carlisle, J.F., & Kearns, D.M. (2017). Learning to read morphologically complex words. In K. Cain, D.L. Compton, & R.K. Parrila (Eds.), Theories of reading development (pp. 191–214). Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Honig, B., Diamond, L. & Gutlohn, L. (2018). Teaching Reading Sourcebook (3rd ed). CORE:
- Chapters 3-5 on print awareness, letter knowledge, and phonological awareness
- Chapters 6-8 on phonics, irregular word reading, and multisyllabic word reading
McLeod, S., & McCormack, J. (2015). An introduction to speech, language and literacy. Oxford University Press.
Nation, K. (2019). Children’s reading difficulties, language, and reflections on the Simple View of Reading. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 24, 47-73. doi: 10.1080/19404158.2019.1609272
Nation, K., Dawson, N. J., & Hsiao, Y. (2022). Book Language and Its Implications for Children’s Language, Literacy, and Development. Current Directions in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214221103264
Owens, R.E. (2020). Language development: An introduction, Global edition. (9th ed). Pearson Education
Paramour, Z. & Paramour, T. (2020). The grammar book: Understanding and teaching primary grammar. Bloomsbury