Learning through Language in Early Childhood (review)
Rent from DeepDyve- Learning through language in early childhood by Clare Painter
Clare Painter presents a longitudinal case study of a child’s use of language from age 2.5 to age 5, applying the theoretical framework of systemic-functional [End Page 663] linguistics (SFL) to informal learning. Focusing on the everyday conversations and interactions of her son, she explores his use of language in learning about the world and reasoning within it. The book contains two preliminary chapters, four devoted to the case study, and a conclusion.
Ch. 1 reviews approaches to the development of language and/or thought, distinguishing sharply between universal grammar (UG) approaches and social-interactional ones. Ch. 2 provides an overview of the tenets of SFL as an answer to concerns raised in Ch. 1. Although not reflected in the title, the book relies heavily on SFL theory—which views language as a social semiotic resource—in the explanation of general concepts, the organization of the text, and, most importantly, the interpretation of cognitive development. P’s main argument is that the acquisition of knowledge occurs as a linguistic process and that new linguistic possibilities can prepare a child for subsequent learning. Her findings are based primarily on 39 hours of audiotaped conversation and an unspecified number of parental ‘diaries’.
According to P’s application of SFL theory, four divisions constitute the preschooler’s experiential world: the world of things, the world of events, the world of semiosis, and the construal of cause and effect. P devotes a chronologically-organized chapter to each of these (Chs. 3–7) and always includes in them numerous dated samples of speech transcriptions. Throughout these sections, P presents figures, tables, and diagrams that aid the reader in understanding key concepts and theories.
The presentation of the case study begins in Ch. 3 with an account of Stephen, her son, making sense of the world around him in terms of classification and identification, methods of constructing semantic taxonomies. Stephen learns that spiders and giraffes ‘die’ but airplanes ‘break’, showing that naming plays a crucial role in constructing categories. Ch. 4 highlights his use of comparison and contrast in learning how to make predictions based on the construing of events. It also includes an interesting account of changes in forms and uses of modality. In Ch. 5, P focuses on cognition and Stephen’s use of language to interpret what in SFL is ‘the activity of symbolizing’. Though specialized vocabulary is explained and generally quite accessible to readers, those unfamiliar with the language and concepts of SFL will probably find this chapter quite dense. Ch. 6 offers a more systemic view of language in its analysis of cause-effect relations. Data from earlier sections supplement this discussion.
Ch. 7 concludes the volume with a concise review of how Stephen’s learning can be understood from a linguistic perspective. Additionally, P summarizes his development during the case study, considering how knowledge gained has prepared him for more formal learning that will take place in school. Uninitiated readers may be distracted by P’s decision to see her rich data solely through the SFL framework. However, overall the book achieves admirably what it set out to do and provides a thought-provoking discussion of cognition, most notably an application of SFL theory to linguistic practice.
