If the question is: Give an explanation of how speech, language and communication skills support each of the following areas in children’s development, this is what I have written for mine, I am still currently working on this assignment though so haven't had it signed off or anything, but hope it helps!!
Learning:- There are many debates as to what the definition of learning actually is, and in this case we will refer to it as children’s overall cognition. The word ‘cognition’ is a term that covers a wide range of different tasks, but is mainly about our ability to use and process information that we gain. An example of this is that a child might see that leaves have fallen from trees and are told that it is happening because it is autumn. The child might then see more leaves falling and remember to make the connection between what they saw earlier and what they are seeing now. They may also remember the word autumn, and announce proudly to an adult; “Those leaves are falling too, is that because it is autumn?” or tell their parent that the leaves are falling because it is autumn.
This example shows the way in which learning is taking place, the child is remembering what they have seen, making a connection to what they are seeing or hearing now, and then drawing up a conclusion. The fact that the child is able to ‘label’ this as autumn will help them immensely as they will become more aware of falling leaves when they see them and associate them with autumn over and over again. They can also talk and think about autumn without being outside.
From this we can begin to understand the child’s limitations of body language, facial expressions and gestures when language is not available. Although they allow for instant communication, they are not able to help the child understand what is being seen, nor can they provide a way that they child can communicate what they have seen. This can mean that a child who only has basic communication skills of body language, gesture and facial expression can find it difficult to communicate concepts.
Emotional development:- A major part of emotional development is to have the ability to control our own emotions. Babies and toddlers will struggle with this, but as their language develops they will find it easier as they will be more able to express their needs. Temper tantrums and other outbursts are linked to frustration, jealousy or anger and tend to lessen as the child finds other ways of talking through how they are feeling. For this reason, it is thought to be good practice to ‘name’ emotions when working with young children, this is so they can begin to understand how they are feeling and therefore have ways of expressing this other than through physical reaction alone.
Behaviour:- Having the ability to control and manage our own behaviour is known as ‘self-control’ Young children act largely on impulse and find it hard to keep their behaviour under control, however, once they have mastered their language skills, their behaviour will change dramatically. It would appear that this achievement of language helps children to think things through. They will therefore focus on the consequences of their actions and internally remind themselves of what they need to do or what they shouldn’t do. The start of this process can be observed when a toddler will point to or go up to something they have been told not to touch and say ‘no’.
Social development:- Where emotional development is linked to controlling our own emotions, social development is linked to building on this as it is all about having the ability to recognise our emotions in others and learning to change and adjust our behaviour in accordance. It is also about understanding what the social codes are in any situation and behaving in an appropriate manner. This means that it is important to have good communication and language skills. Children need to read the faces and body language of others and respond in an appropriate way. As play is the main medium of socialisation with other children, language skills also become important from the age of three years, as children tend to use speech to talk about what it is they are doing, or as they get older, can explain the rules of games.
Hope this helps :) x
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