Essay on Literacy: Beyond Reading & Writing - Understanding & Interpreting

Introduction

Literacy is defined as the ability of an individual to read, write, and use the language interpreted in communicating effectively. However, Nordquist further expound the definition of literacy which is the 'ability to read and write' which is widely known by a majority of the literate individuals around the globe by defining that literacy is the ability to recognize, understand, interpret, communicate and compute using either written or printed resources that are associated with contexts that are varying and technology application (Coombe et al., 2012). Teaching and assessing young Emirati learners is significant since this will be able to pass powerful literacy skills to the young children as the skills obtain is regarded as a major tool used in interpreting data from online academic resources. Because today a larger percentage of children are classed online comfortably as they are while not accessing the internet that is while offline.The ability of the children to interpret data from online resources allows children to acquire knowledge online to fully use the internet to the fullest, thus ensuring that the digital footmark left by the kids is suitable and safe. Also, literature is significant; it will enable learners to build critical thinking, appreciation for other people's cultures and beliefs, better writing skills, and addressing humanity in the form of poems and short stories. Therefore, teaching young Emirati learners at a younger age will enable learners to be successful in their life and as well in academically, among other benefits associated with teaching literacy to learners at a younger age by increasing productivity in their life (Wooff 2015). The key principles of teaching and assessing young learners that aims at providing a class surrounding that is physically, socially as well as intellectually supportive of learning activities. These principles include a supportive environment provided to the young learners, motivation, and purpose, opportunity to learn, action and reflection, and inclusivity and differences.

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Principle one: Young Emirati learners will enhance their literacy skills which they require if they are provided with a supportive environment

The school environment should be well-secured and tending to contribute to efficient learning. A conducive classroom setting can offer intellectual status that an efficient learning program will take place. The principles and workouts created that are meant for order in a classroom environment should nurture the learners the awareness that they may be efficacious self-directed students. Besides, the school setting as well ought to provide an atmosphere where students and educators are ready to cooperate and an atmosphere that is where students cannot be harassed, for instance, being teased or the situations learners are criticized or denigrating the efforts of the learners.

Principle two: Young Emirati learners will enhance their literacy skills which they require if they respect and accommodate differences between learners

The learning process experienced by the students ought to respect as well as accommodating distinctions existing between students. Learners have many of their previous experiences formed by their culture, a language they communicate, health conditions, norms, places where the students can be located, and past education (McKay & Brown, 2015). Therefore, the criteria of teaching ought to be one that is adaptive, knowledgeable, accommodative, and respecting the diversity of the learners' background experiences that learners bring into the school environment. Thus, to attain sustained and long-term learning the students should be provided with adequate time, and as well as giving learners situations and pieces of advice they need for effective learning.

Principle three: Young Emirati learners will enhance their literacy skills which they require when the learning experiences are motivating, and the purpose is clear to the learner

Therefore, to develop the literacy skills required by the learners, the learning experiences ought to have their purpose clear and as well as motivating the student. In the classroom setting, the leaners ought to be provided resolute and significant activities that encourage ways of thinking and gives pleasure. The activities that the students engage in should be in agreement with their matureness and ought to strive to engage the interest of the learners and further instigate them to succeed (Copland et al., 2014). The educators may improve purposeful learning and motivation by making the expected outcomes from the learning activities from the learners, in the long run, to be precise.

Principle four: Young Emirati learners will enhance their literacy skills which they require by observing and putting into practice the actual values and skills anticipated from them

The learning processes that the students undergo should enable them to view with attention and put into practice the skills as well as values anticipated from them, which at the end provides the learners with the opportunity to learn (Clark, 2012). Therefore, learners ought to have the opportunity of engaging totally in all the learning process, which are anticipated them to go through. For instance, when the students are awaited to acquire knowledge in strategizing, examine and make decisions, then the leaners should put into practice the skills instead of executing plans.

The rationale of how young should Emirati learners should be taught literacy skills

To establish the age at which young learners ought to be taught literacy skills, it is significant to comprehend statement against PreK literacy where the traditionalist holds that children get to know the literacy skills of how to read and write by picking up naturally at a time when they are ready (Al-Awidi, & Ismail, 2014). For this reason, supporters to early reading believe that learners may not be advantaged by studying up to a first grade that is a mean age for the child to start learning how to read and write. Therefore, passing the literacy skills to learners at this level that is before elementary school according to the belief of such proponents has a neutral influence on the students because of the belief that the young learners will not be in a position to keep the literacy skills taught. Other advocators, on the other hand, teaching learners to know how to read has a negative influence.

Such proponents believe that early learning will not only be more of a hindrance than help from their point of view but as well the fear that it could result in learning disability since little children lack attention span or an encouragement to deal with complicated assignments. However, all these statements against early learning instruction fail to put into consideration that reading development is complicated since it involves series of steps that a teacher undergoes to make sure that an infant is at a position of reading and writing effectively (Al Blooshi, & Ezziane, 2013). In summary, the age at which a young Emirati is expected to be taught literacy skills is at the time the infant is born where the parent will teach the child how to communicate and as well exposing them to published resources for their first time this will make them improve on their literacy skills and eventually being able to read, write and communicate.

The rationale for how young the literacy skills of young Emirati learners should be assessed

Assessing the literacy skills of young learners is significant for several reasons, for instance, the assessment is required to assist teachers in knowing the skill levels of their students because learners have knowledge and experiences that are varying. Secondly, the assessment will allow the teachers to monitor the progress of the learner. Therefore, a young leaner of age between the age of five- and twelve-years-old ought to be assessed because young learners between five and twelve years of age have distinct features compared with old students, which must be evaluated using different methods.

Conclusion

In summary, early literacy skills development to learners is significant since it will make it easier for children to learn how to read. Children who start school having acquired literacy skills have a lot of benefits throughout their years spent in school. On the other hand, reading is an essential skill for an individual to be successful in school and later on in life.

References

Al Blooshi, A., & Ezziane, Z. (2013). Technological Readiness of the UAE Higher Education Institutions for the 21st Century. Journal of Education and Learning, 2(4), 123-139. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1077108

Al-Awidi, H. M., & Ismail, S. A. (2014). Teachers' perceptions of the use of computer-assisted language learning to develop children's reading skills in English as a second language in the United Arab Emirates. Early Childhood Education Journal, 42(1), 29-37. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10643-012-0552-7

Clark, I. (2012). Formative assessment: Assessment is for self-regulated learning. Educational Psychology Review, 24(2), 205-249. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-011-9191-6

Coombe, C., Troudi, S., & Al-Hamly, M. (2012). Foreign and second language teacher assessment literacy: Issues, challenges, and recommendations. The Cambridge guide to second language assessment, 20-29.

Copland, F., Garton, S., & Burns, A. (2014). Challenges in teaching English to young learners: global perspectives and local realities. Tesol Quarterly, 48(4), 738-762. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.148

McKay, S. L., & Brown, J. D. (2015). Teaching and assessing EIL in local contexts around the world. Routledge.

Tibi, S., Joshi, R. M., & McLeod, L. (2013). Emergent writing of young children in the United Arab Emirates. Written Language & Literacy, 16(1), 77-105. https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.16.1.04tib

Wooff, D. (2015). How Do I... Effectively use Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) in the classroom?.