Foundation Stage

Communication, Language and Literacy

Communication, language and literacy depend on learning and being competent in a number of key skills, together with having the confidence, opportunity, encouragement, support and disposition to use them. This area of learning includes communication, speaking and listening in different situations and for different purposes, being read to and beginning to read and write for a variety of purposes.

The development and use of communication and language is at the heart of young children's learning. Learning to listen and speak emerge out of non-verbal communication, which includes body language such as facial expression, eye contact, bending the head to listen, hand gesture, and taking turns. These skills develop as babies and young children express their needs and feelings, interact with others and establish their own identities and personalities.

The ability to communicate gives children the capacity to participate more fully in their society. To become skilful communicators, babies and young children need to be together with a key person and others in warm and loving relationships. Being together with others in this way leads to the wider development of social relations, which include friendship, empathy and sharing emotions.

Very young children's communications are most easily understood by their parents who can often interpret for others. Babies respond differently to some sounds than others and from an early age are able to distinguish sound patterns. They use their voices to make contact and to let people know what they need and how they feel. At first, all learning arises from physical action and the gathering of experience through the senses. Therefore, children learn best when activities engage many senses. Initially their attempts to communicate will be non-verbal. As their language develops and young children learn about conversation, thought becomes less dependent on action, although non-verbal messages remain an important form of communication throughout life.

As children become competent listeners and speakers, they build the foundations for reading and writing. They need lots of opportunities to interact with others as they develop these skills and to use a wide range of resources for making early progress in reading, mark-making and writing.

To give all children the best opportunities for effective development and learning in communication, language and literacy, practitioners should give particular attention to:

• providing opportunities for children to communicate thoughts, ideas and feelings and build up relationships with adults and each other;
• giving opportunities to share and enjoy a wide range of rhymes, music, songs, poetry, stories and non-fiction books;
• giving opportunities for linking language with physical movement in action songs and rhymes, role-play and practical experiences such as cookery and gardening;
• planning an environment that reflects the importance of language through signs, notices and books;
• providing opportunities for children to see adults writing and for children to experiment with writing for themselves, through making marks, personal writing symbols and conventional script;
• providing time and opportunities[for children to develop spoken language through conversations with other children and with adults, both one-to-one and in small groups, with particular awareness of, and sensitivity to, the needs of children learning English as an additional language, using their home language when appropriate;
• providing time and opportunities for children to develop their phonological awareness through small-group teaching when appropriate;
• planning opportunities for children to become aware of languages and writing systems other than English, and communication systems such as signing and braille;
• early identification of and response to any particular difficulties in children's language development;
• close teamwork between, where appropriate, bilingual workers, speech therapists and practitioners;
• opportunities for children who use alternative communication systems to develop ways of recording and accessing texts to develop their skills in these methods.