Part A

My early experience of language and literacy was not a positive

experience. I first started school in 1970 and teaching styles were very
different to teaching styles of late. Language and literacy was taught rote
style and without any explanation. I struggled with reading and
comprehending the different rules of English often not knowing the
difference between verbs, nouns and adjectives. The teachers did not
understand why I found language and literacy difficult and often this
would result in the back of my hand being smacked with a ruler by the
teacher. This early experience also resulted in a lack of confidence and
therefore never had the confidence to attempt to further my education at
a younger age.

During early years I attended school I dont recall being read to by my

parents or older sibling. I would often ask for a story at night however
both parents would often say not tonight. There were not many
childrens books in the home however there was always newspapers and
womens magazines my parents would read. My mother would often cut
out recipes from the magazines to put in her cook book.

Through having my own children and working in the Early Childhood

Industry I have wanted to ensure that both my children and the children I
work with enjoy reading and writing I now find language and literacy
enjoyable. I enjoy looking for books the children may enjoy and gain a
great deal of pleasure reading to the children. I try to have lots of
expression when reading aloud so that the children enjoy the experience
and find reading fun instead of something we have to do.

I have a home full of childrens books and ensure that I spend time
reading and talking to my children. We visit the local book store on a
regular basis and attend story time at the local library. I now find that I
enjoy reading and writing and often read for my own pleasure.
Part B

Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My name is Ms. Jones and I have the privilege of being class teacher of
your son/daughters class. Let me begin this letter by reiterating that your
son/daughter has been doing very well in his/her studies. We are also
putting in more and more efforts to shape their career so that they can
become successful and good individuals in their respective lives.

In our constant endeavour to make the learning environment more fruitful

and effective for your child we implement a range of practices for keeping
up with the various modern pedagogies as well as relevant materials
(Gee, 1991). I write this letter with the intention of sharing something
related to this very aspect. The factors which can be and usually are
taught to the students of any institute comprise of speaking, reading,
writing, viewing as well as listening in an effective manner in the
particular context. All of these factors are collectively called literacy.
During the recent years literacys definition has developed to refer to a
flexible, sustainable mastery of a set of capabilities in the use and
production of traditional texts and new communications technologies
using spoken language, print and multimedia. It is important that students
are competent enough to amend as well as adapt their usage of language
for meeting contextual demands in a better way in changing state of
affairs.

In reference with the above mentioned theme of literacy it can be said

that during last couple of decades the idea of literacy has changed a lot
and these days the skill set which are required for a growing individual to
be considered to be literate has changed in a drastic manner. We, these
days, are striving to provide our students with a sense of multiple
intelligences. This can help them in coping up with the changing need of
the world. The idea of multiple intelligences was discussed by Howard
Gardner as early as 1983. However at that point of time this comprised of
technical intelligence as well as emotional intelligence. Currently the
literacy skills which are crucial for attaining in schools and to fulfil possible
opportunities throughout life deal with the technological aspects as well
due to the rapid growth of Information and Communication technology
which has also encroached in our lives in a significant manner. In todays
world it is of utmost importance that one knows how to use as well as
interact through social networking or electronic mails. These are
considered to be bare minimum skills which should be there in an
individual from a very early stage of life. With these advents the language
which is being used has also changed a lot. Gone are those days when
speaking and writing used to warrant different types of languages. These
days for written as well as oral communication same language is being
used, Hence the dimension of the English language has also changed. This
has changed the expression of literacy in an extreme manner. Earlier the
technical, mathematical or logical skills were considered to be the most
important skills for being successful in life. In today's altered world the
interpersonal communication skills are touted to be most important life
skill which probably has the power to make or break the professional
career of a person. Apart from this the personal relationships of the
student, the objectives of his/her life and ambitions in terms of building a
career which is successful is highly dependent on the interpersonal skills
which can be mastered by him. Although it is a tendency amongst the
academicians not to realise and or acknowledge this thing, but I as the
class teacher of your child feel the need for communicating this to you
since it is also important that you groom your child in the house also
accordingly (Christie, 2005).

The current yardstick of literacy teaching in various primary schools in the

nation is better than ever. The lessons which are being delivered by the
schools are thorough, imaginative as well as inventive. For this reason the
motivation level amongst the children to learn in these new manners is
also growing. You will be happy to know that we are also trying the same
in our school. We have implemented a certain approach to teaching
English as well as literacy in the classroom. I am trying to explain this
current methodology for teaching with an analogy. It has been confirmed
by the scientists that in this world the animal which has the most
advanced brain are the human beings. We have read in our biology books
that at the outset the humans used to stay as a group for making their
lifestyle smooth and increase the chance of their continued existence. A
group was more effective in providing protection from large carnivores
and other humans as well (Luke, 1993). This confirms beyond any doubt
that it is important for any person to learn how to communicate in a group
by developing as well as mastering a language. Hence in our class we
encourage group and individual communication and discussions where the
students develop their own style of communicating with each other. This
communication consists of speaking as well as listening which provide the
students a taste of effective communication without being very theoretical
regarding it. This helps in making the students learn the nuances of
spoken language without complicating things with grammar or rights and
wrongs of the language (Cusworth, 1995). The difficulty which we had to
face during our childhood in reading and comprehending the different
rules of English often not knowing the difference between verbs, nouns
and adjectives, tends to be non-existent for the student of this age. At one
point of time which is not very long ago information used to be the
monopoly of books and the libraries which had them. Earlier a project
used to be studying in library alone, making notes etc. However the
students now are encouraged to write on their computers which provide
them with the information they need at their fingertips. In our school it is
encouraged that students learn the language in an easier way through
experimental languages which have been brought about by newer
technologies. We try not to measure the capacity of the students on the
benchmark of uniform conventional grammar but to give them a chance
to express them freely without any fear of being rebuked, which helps the
intuitive child with a sharp mind to be his own mentor. This is how
teachers are effectively supporting students' language and literacy
learning in the classroom. We will also be using the images and language
from the texts Flood and/or The Little Refugee to engage students in
English and literacy learning in classroom. I can confirm that no matter
how much one tries languages have a way of changing themselves. The
pace of change that we are witnessing is unprecedented in human history
and our pedagogy is aimed at helping this course.

I would like to ask you to help us in this by fulfilling your requirements at

home and not pressurizing the child to learn the language and be literate
in a difficult way. That will beat the cause of this pedagogy in our schools.
We at XYZ School hope that you will keep on believing in us for delivering
the best for your children. I am attaching a list of related material for your
convenience.

Regards,

ABCD.

References

Human Communication on the Internet by Leonard Shedletsky and Joan E.

Aitken (Oct 2, 2003, Allyn & Bacon)

The Politics of Internet Communication by Robert J. Klotz (Paperback - 12-

2003, Rowman & Littlefield)

Internet Communication And Qualitative Research: A Handbook For

Researching Online by Chris Mann, Fiona Stewart, (09-2000, sage
pulications)

The Internet Society: Advances In Learning, Commerce And Security

(Advances In Information And Communication Technologies, 1) by K.
Morgan ( 2004-04-07, WIT Press)

Broadcast And Internet Indecency: Defining Free Speech (LEA's

Communication) (LEA's Communication Series) by Jeremy Lipschultz
(2007, Routledge Communication Series)

Christie, F. (2005). Language and Literacy. In Language education in the

primary years (pp. 1-12). Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.
Cusworth, R. (1995). What is a functional model of language? PEN 95.
Sydney, NSW: Primary English Teachers Association.

Gee, J. P. (1991). What is literacy? In C. Mitchell & K. Weiler (Eds.),

Rewriting literacy (pp. 3-11). New York: Bergin & Garvey.

Luke, A. (1993). The social construction of literacy in the primary school.

In L. Unsworth (Ed.), Literacy learning and teaching: Language as social
practice in the primary school (pp. 2-53). South Melbourne: Macmillan
Education Australia.