The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Language, Literacy and Communication Learning Outcomes are designed to encourage the development of fluent communication through speech and to begin familiarising children with the written word to encourage early literacy. Children need a working knowledge of the structure of language and a fairly wide vocabulary in order to be able to make sense of the written word.

Motivation and Communication

Motivation is the most crucial factor in developing language, literacy and communication skills. Activities and experiences have to be interesting enough for children to want to talk about things, share experiences, listen attentively and read and write about them. The adults also need to be receptive and encouraging enough for children to want to communicate with them. This means taking time to listen and respond to what children are saying, giving direct eye contact by bending down to be at their level and asking open ended questions, where answers cannot be confined to a single word , to encourage thinking. Avoid testing children ‘What colour? How many?’ – If the child knows the answer she will soon get bored. If she doesn’t she will feel hopeless and give up responding. Such questions are conversation stoppers, whichever way you look at them.

One way of encouraging language development in children who do not communicate is to comment on what they’re doing or what you are doing, name words to extend vocabulary and avoid asking too many questions. If a child’s own speech contains mistakes it is best to say it yourself correctly without telling her she’s said it wrongly as correcting her is likely to prevent her from trying again. Knowing more about the child’s background can also help to develop communication. The registration form can contain questions about the names of brothers and sisters, pets, favourite activities etc. This will give you a good starting point and make the child feel that you have a genuine interest in her. Encourage the parents to tell you of anything interesting which is happening in the family and if they speak another language ask them to share some key words for everyone to learn.

The Written Word

Interesting experiences can be a stimulus for the written word. Even before a child’s drawings have become recognisable it is worth recording some "news" in writing for the child to share with their parent, e.g. something they’ve achieved or experienced in playgroup. Involve the child when you write in her progress record. A child who cannot formulate her own sentence will benefit from having a sentence made for her and as soon as she can put her thoughts into words she will feel proud to see her sentence in print. It is an opportunity to see the value and purpose of writing when it’s shown to another adult who can read it too. The connection between the written and spoken word is soon understood and the way in which writing and reading "works" becomes obvious.

The Real World

If you stop to consider how much conversation can be generated whilst playing with stickle bricks, you soon realise that experiences need to be linked with the real world, or maybe a wonderful fantasy world to be worthy of the child’s deepest interest. Take children out or bring something of the real world in.