Jj is for Jottings 149. Poor Neglected Adverbs.
Unlike the dreaded apostrophe, which many people underuse and many people overuse, the poor neglected adverbs are in danger of disappearing altogether. (Although I still have no idea whether the same people underuse as overuse apostrophes, if they’re different people, or a bit of both. I suspect the third option.) If you are unclear about where to put an apostrophe, you can find out here. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 135. Morphemes.
There was a brief definition of morphemes in the article on learning vocabulary. Direct vocabulary instruction referred to using morphological knowledge to work out meanings of more complex words. So it’s probably time to go more thoroughly into morphemes and how important they really are. Knowledge of morphemes is important in phonics for both reading and spelling; and also in vocabulary and comprehension. That’s a broad sweep across both language and literacy. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 129. Adjectives Add Interest.
In previous posts we have discussed nouns and articles. The next part of speech we will cover is adjectives. Adjectives add interest to language because they describe nouns and pronouns, making our speech or writing more colourful and informative. They are the difference between “The man walked down the road” and “The bent old man walked down the long, winding road”. You get a much clearer and more interesting mental picture with the second sentence, I bet. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 122. Definite and Indefinite Articles.
Following on from the previous article on nouns, it is timely to discuss definite and indefinite articles. Articles are simply “a” or “an”, and “the”. It sounds simple, but there’s a bit more to it than that. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 121. A Noun is a Name.
A noun is a name. But there’s a bit more to it than that. A noun is one of several parts of speech, which also includes verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions and even interjections. Although they are called parts of speech, they are really units of language, but we won’t try to go against the flow on that issue. The difference between speech and language is explained here. I can’t tell you how many times I have been requested to do a speech assessment, when language was really the issue. Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 73. Prince William on Punctuation and Social Media.
Prince William addressed a group of female students at a London school on the issue of cyberbullying. He talked about the stress of trying to live up to all the faked “perfection” seen online, and he urged students to put down their devices, in order to improve mental health. He said that they need to balance their time with other activities, especially outside, and not to be on a screen all day because “it takes you into a different world.”
Prince William also made the point about how often feelings can be hurt be text messages and social media, saying: “Unless you punctuate it correctly — I’m not the best at punctuation and I’m not the grammar police, either — you can read it in 100 different ways.” He also went on to talk about the importance of emotional intelligence and sharing feelings, but that is not my focus today.
Punctuation – many people ignore it and consider it of no importance, but that is absolutely untrue. A message can be completely changed by those little marks on the page, even without changing the words themselves. Here are a couple of examples:
“Let’s eat, Grandma.”
With the comma, these words indicate that the speaker is talking to their grandma and suggesting that they eat dinner. Watch what happens when you remove the comma:
“Let’s eat Grandma.”
Without the comma, the speaker is suggesting that they eat their grandma!
Another example:
“Please replace the chair’s.” The chair’s what?
Clearly, poor punctuation can interfere with the meaning of the message, and for people who punctuate correctly, each punctuation error is a stumbling block to fluent reading, since one must re-read parts to check what is really meant. In text messages and on social media, the writer is not present for you to check what was really meant; in conversation you can clarify meanings and sort out misunderstandings on the spot.
There is much more I could say about punctuation. I’m sure it will work its way into posts at some point!
Source of photo: World Bank Photo Collection.
Jj is for Jottings 62. Raising a Reader Part 2. Toddlers.
Continuing from the previous article (here), you cannot overestimate the importance of reading with a child at the toddler stage – for intellectual, social and emotional development. They take in everything: vocabulary and language structure, numbers and math concepts, colours, shapes, opposites and many other language concepts, animals, manners and all kinds of useful information about how the world works. What’s more, when you read out loud, Continue reading
Jj is for Jottings 55. Helping Your Child’s Language – Technique 1: Modelling.
Shikha and Shanti as kittens. They have to be careful when in the paddock with the alpacas because the alpacas will sometimes chase them. Although we refer to them as “the kids”, we didn’t have to bother with language modelling for them. Besides, they’re Burmese, and I wouldn’t know which language to model!
There are several ways in which parents naturally encourage the development of children’s language in conversation, and you may be using some or all of them without being aware of it. Continue reading
Some of the alpacas’ neighbours who live in the orchard next to their paddock. They can have conversations through the gate if they choose, although the alpacas have never seen chicks this small because they are locked in a pen with their mother until they are big enough not to be attacked by a cat or a bird of prey.
Jj is for Jottings 19. Literacy Development.
There is a close relationship between listening/speaking (oral language) and reading/writing (written language).
From early on in life we listen, think and talk. We THINK in oral language and pictures in our minds. We READ and WRITE by building another layer onto the listening, thinking and talking. Therefore, if oral language is reduced or imperfect in any way, we have a faulty base on which to build written language. It is like trying to build a brick wall on a foundation of sand.
Not all children who have early speech and language problems will have difficulty in learning to read and write, but about 50% will. Many children beginning school do not have strong enough language skills to support learning to read and write, even if they don’t have any glaringly apparent speech or language problems.
Speech/language problems can occur at sound, word or sentence level.
Sound Level: Difficulty in producing sounds.
Not being able to hear the individual sounds in a word.
Word Level: Not understanding the meanings of words.
Not being able to remember familiar words.
Not knowing how or why to change parts of words to change
meaning eg. Adding an ‘s’ to make a plural.
Sentence Level: Not understanding or using the grammatical rules of
language. Continue reading
