California Preschool Learning Foundations - ECEZero2Three ...

LANGUAGE AND LITERACY
50
dren to use language for a broad range
of purposes, including encouraging
children to repeat or tell stories.
Vocabulary. The vocabulary substrand
represents an important tool
for accessing background knowledge,
expressing ideas, and acquiring new
concepts. Children with large vocabularies
can acquire new words more easily,
are more effective readers, and are
more proficient in reading comprehension.
Multiple experiences with words
across a variety of contexts are critical
for children’s acquisition and extension
of vocabulary. An important element
of vocabulary development is the
attainment of an increasing variety and
specificity of accepted words (words
that are commonly used in the children’s
environment or community) for
objects, actions, and attributes used
in both real and symbolic contexts.
For example, many children nearing
the age of four would call all dinosaurs
“dinosaurs.” By the time children are
approaching the age of five, they refer
to dinosaurs with greater specificity,
pointing to an Apatosaurus and saying,
“Apatosaurus,” or pointing to a Tyrannosaurus
and saying, “Tyrannosaurus.”
Vocabulary development also consists
of understanding and using
accepted words for categories of
objects. At around 48 months of age,
children understand and use category
names they encounter frequently, such
as toys, food, clothes, or animals. As
children near the age of 60 months,
their understanding and use of verbal
categories expands to ones they
encounter less often, such as reptiles,
vehicles, fruits, vegetables, and furniture.
Another important aspect of
vocabulary development during the
preschool years is the understanding
and use of words that describe relations
between objects. For example, as
children near 48 months of age, they
use such words as under, in, and different.
Children at around 60 months
of age continue to use simple words
to describe relations between objects
and add complex relational words to
their vocabulary, for example, smaller,
bigger, next to, and in front of. During
the preschool years, children begin to
use the comparative -er and the superlative
-est (big, bigger, biggest; long, longer,
longest) to discriminate among the
sizes of objects.
Often, to promote children’s vocabulary
development, adults’ language
must be contextualized, or supported
by the immediate context. Children
can understand and express more
decontextualized language as their
concepts of vocabulary and language
expand. They can describe concepts
without the support of the immediate
context and increasingly communicate
about events and actions in the
past and in the future. This movement
from concrete and contextualized language
to abstract and decontextualized
language plays a critical role in
children’s growing comprehension of
abstract ideas. Children learn much
of their vocabulary and basic language
concepts indirectly through their interaction
with others. They also acquire
vocabulary through teacher-guided
instructional activities.
Grammar. The third substrand
of listening and speaking, grammar,
refers to the ways in which words,
phrases, and sentences are structured
and marked to make meaning
in language. In preschool, children
take important steps toward acquiring
grammar. Preschoolers learn the
rules of making basic sentences, join-
Preschool Learning Foundations, Volume 1 • California Department of Education