Early language and literacy: introduction and overview : early literacy initiative practitioner briefs booklet 1 Edited by Shailaja Menon, Harshita V. Das, Akhila Pydah, Shuchi Sinha

Published by Early Literacy Initiative Azim Premji School of Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. In association with Eklavya Foundation.

Includes bibliographical references.

In this booklet, the reader is introduced to certain foundational ideas related to the teaching and learning of language and early literacy. The first brief argues that children learn to listening, speaking, reading and writing (LSRW) simultaneously, thereby challenging the prevalent idea that they are acquired sequentially. Such a shift has powerful consequences for classroom practice. The second brief underlines the importance of creating a print-rich environment for young language learners and provides some practical ideas for doing so. In the third brief, the “comprehensive” model of early language and literacy instruction is introduced. There are many aspects to consider while teaching early language and literacy, and good language teachers need to be able to attend to all these aspects simultaneously in their classrooms! Ideas are presented for making the comprehensive literacy model come alive in Indian settings. The final brief describes what is meant by “emergent literacy” and how to address it in early language learning environments.