Essay On Importance Of Language

Language is the method of communication used by a particular country or community. Words, whether spoken or written, read or heard, are utilised in a structured and conventional way to express thoughts, ideas, and feelings (www.oxforddictionaries.com). Language has different meanings; it can be standard and diverse, and it has a physical presence in the world (Gee, p.6), as it can be seen and heard. The role language plays in a child’s life, how they will use and with who, from birth to later stages of high school will be discussed.

LANGUAGE AS STANDARD AND DIVERSE

A standard language is the most formal or correct way of writing and speaking a particular variety of a language. For example, Australian English or English English, are considered

Information, ideas and feelings are shared with family and friends, within social groups, in educational settings or the workforce. In these varying situations how we use language will change to suit the context of the situation. For example, an organised debate is different to that of a group of friends arguing about the best pizza topping. A structured formal register would be used in the discussion while the friends arguing would use a much more relaxed, spontaneous informal register. As the debate intensifies, with supreme lovers chanting ‘supreme, supreme’, that same group of friends, are showing what is known as an expression of identity (Crystal, 1987). The purpose of language in this situation is to unite a group of like-minded people with a common purpose, to get the message across that supreme is the best pizza topping. While the language is not necessarily informative, it identifies “who we are and where we belong” (Crystal, 1987), in this case pro supreme pizza. Other scenarios that foster a sense of identity include sharing the same political views, a crowd at a football match and shouts of affirmation at a religious gathering (Crystal,

As discussed earlier, Halliday's first four functions of language are: instrumental, regulatory, interactional and personal. They are important in the early years. However, Jean Piaget also believed that language development occurs in four stages. The two stages relevant to this age group are The Sensorimotor Stage and The Preoperational Stage (Thompson, 2016). In the Sensorimotor Stage, Piaget sees language skills of children as physical. Experimentation of motor skills such as opening and closing the mouth, moving the tongue and pulling faces are all the beginning of language development. Imitating and practicing sounds also occurs. Babies are always listening, looking and making faces, therefore meaningful face to face contact, like laying on the floor next to them copying their facial expressions, talking to and responding to babbling attempts are important in the child making connections with others and understanding the context of when to use sounds (Thompson, 2016). The Pre-operational Stage of Piaget’s theory begins at two years old, where vocabulary has grown considerably but the context in which the child speaks is completely egocentric. Children in this stage are only able to consider things from their point of view as they believe it is the only one possible (Edwards, Hopgood, Rosenberg & Rush, n.d.). For example, mum asks ‘how was your day at preschool?’ and the child answers