A Comarison of Typical and Atypical Development of Language and Literacy Skills and Practices - Essay Example

 Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 Assessing Atypical and Typical Development 2 Profiles of the Individuals in the Case Studies 4 Cognitive Abilities of Student K and Student N 5 Memory Processing Speed 8 Communication, Emotional Balance and Behavior 11 Conclusion 14 Introduction Tracking of development is normally done in order to determine the progress in the development and progress of literacy skills and capabilities. In order to track this progress, it is normally important to determine the various indicators of progress (Arnold 2003). Some of the indicators of the progress include cognitive ability, memory processing skills, communication capability and emotional stability & behavior. These factors normally indicate the level of development and progress in terms of literacy skills and capability (Jackson & Stockwell 2011). Every person makes his or her own progress and development in literacy skills in a unique way. Additionally, everyone attains literacy development and capability at a unique time and rate. However, the rate of both typical and atypical development and the pattern of occurrence is the same among individuals who belong to the same age bracket. There are several environmental factors that are known to affect literacy development, though their impacts are unique in each individual. Some of the factors include the language exposure, parental support and family background (Kress 1997). These factors affect the ability of an individual to make progress in literacy skills and capability. This paper explores typical development and atypical development among persons of similar age. To do this, the treatise looks at two studies of individuals with different profiles and family backgrounds. The paper looks at the cognitive and organizational skills, the working skill processing memory, communication, emotional balance and the behavior of the two individuals. Assessing Atypical and Typical Development In the assessment and analysis of the two types of development among persons in different age groups, the various risk factors that differentiate the two are normally assessed, however, it is likewise substantial to note that when observing and assessing typical and atypical development in individuals to determine the literacy progress, not only the risk factors should be looked at (Martin & Miller 2003). Protective factors have also been used to help determine the progress and path of development. One of the most common ways in which typical and atypical development is assessed is through systemic observation. Systemic observation of an individual’s behaviors and abilities is normally done over a certain period of time. This entails looking at the indicator factors, as well as the protective factors that influence literacy development. This form of assessment may be formal or informal (Mercer 2000), and may follow standard observation protocol at varied settings. This is done to help increase the reliability and validity of the results that are obtained from the observation. In most cases, the observation is extended over a long period of time. It provides description of both the frequency and consistency of the various aspects of development that will help understand the progress. When carrying out the systemic assessment, several parties may be involved to help understand the individual in question more so when it comes to their development patterns and paths. The second way through which literacy development can be examined is through compressive evaluation (Nippold 2007). This form of evaluation entails carrying out a review of the innumerable risk factors in addition to the protective factors. It requires periodic evaluation of the factors to be able to ascertain whether the development is following the expected pattern or not. Compressive evaluation is also carried out at different settings and considers several perspectives that are offered by care givers and professionals (Adams 1990). In most cases, an interdisciplinary approach that facilitates the attainment of valuable information is used. Evaluation of material from an assortment of sources is also done. Compressive evaluation focuses on the developmental norms across domains, which include cognitive ability, communication, motor and sensory abilities, emergent literacy and emotional adjustments and behavior. Arnold (2003), however, indicates that there is a wide range of differences among individuals that may appear to fall within the expected behavior, making it problematic to regulate what to classify as atypical or typical development. According to Bee (2006), compressive evaluation can involve the use of multiple instruments and procedures. Some of the processes include norm criterions tests, teacher/parent grading and developmental checklists. Practitioners use cultural and linguistic instruments to ensure that the required assessment on the individuals is done. Profiles of the Individuals in the Case Studies In the case studies, two students will help in comparing typical and atypical learning. The first student, student K, was born in 1989 and is currently 24 years of age. The student has enrolled for a level 2 Floristry Course. She attended Mild Special Needs School due to her background, though she has no disability. Her mother and brother (both dyslexic) believe that she is also dyslexic though a full diagnosis has never been done. It is indicated that student K had a history of acquiring literacy skills from her childhood days. She was never supported nor assessed. However, the current tests that have been done show that she has literacy and processing difficulties. Extra time has been offered to help her complete her tasks. This is in addition to support sessions with a dyslexia professional. The second student in the case study is student N. The student attended a top level school in Buckingham and is currently in the A2 second year where she studies three subjects. The school is a girls only top school. She dropped law the previous year for the reason that she had not been able to concentrate much on the course. She had attained 3Es the previous year and her parents are concerned with her performance. Her mother is a secretary in a legal firm while her father is a phone engineer who works for BT. Student N also has a brother with a BA degree and who works in the field. The student comes from a stable family and her parents are ready to support her in her education so that she can perform better and obtain strong grades. She is, however, under no pressure to perform better in school despite the parents being worried about her grades. Cognitive Abilities of Student K and Student N Cognition refers to how every individual understands the world and how they act in different world scenarios. Buckley (2003) says that cognition is a set of abilities processes and skills that form part of each and every human action. Cognitive abilities are therefore the brain based skills of a person or an individual. These brain based skills are needed to carry out any task, both simple ones and complex tasks. The cognitive abilities determine how a particular person will carry out or accomplish the task in question. Cole, Cole & Lightfoot (2005) says that cognitive abilities are among the key indicators and differentiators of typical and atypical development among individuals. They have to do with the mechanisms through which a person learns, solves problems and pays attention when they are required to do so. An example can be illustrated in answering phone calls. This will entail perception, decision making on whether to answer the call or not, motor skills, language and social skills. Cognitive abilities enable students to identify tasks and perform them based on priorities and allocation. The cognitive abilities are based on neuronal networks and brain structures. Memory skills, for example, rely on the temporal lobes as well as the frontal lobes. In the two case studies, the students in question have demonstrated that they have different cognitive abilities. Student K, who is a 24 year old student, is indicates to a lack the ability to read and spell high frequency words. This is the case because she is unable to perform phonemic recognition. Coleman & Hendry (1999) states that phonemic recognition determines the ability of a child or an individual to develop literacy skills. Those who are able to perform phonemic recognition are able to experience typical development and develop their literacy skills. Conversely the persons who are unable to carry out phonemic recognition are unable to develop their literacy skills, hence they experience atypical development. In the two case studies, student K lacks this concept. Student N, on the other hand, seems to have the concept. The inability of student K to read and spell high frequency world can be traced back to her childhood. It is indicated that student K had a history of learning and literacy difficulty. In addition, the student is said to have had no support at childhood and this could be the reason why she is experiencing difficulty in reading and spelling high frequency words. The 24 year old lacks this concept - this implies that her childhood environment was unsupportive, contributing to his low development. This explains why the student shows lesser literacy traits. Another cognitive ability that makes student K different from student N is her performance in practical tasks. Practical skills require good coordination of motor skills and organizational skills (Garton & Pratt 1998). This is largely concerning the fact that it requires physically carrying out tasks. In addition to this, it is indicated that student K is a visual learner. This shows that she may have good motor skills that enable her to carry out practical tasks with ease, as compared with mental tasks. Student K’s performance in practical tasks can also be traced back to her childhood. Due to the fact that she had literacy and learning difficulty in childhood and was not supported, she might have resorted to relying on visual and practical learning. This is the reason why she performs better in visual and practical tasks. Another cognitive ability that differentiates children experiencing typical development from those experiencing atypical development is social skills. Social skills of an individual dictate how he or she interacts with each other in various settings, both in academic and non-academic settings (Garton & Pratt 1998). This in turn impacts on the self esteem of the individual. Self-esteem is an aspect experienced in both young children and adolescents. Those individuals who are able to interact with others in various social settings develop high self esteem and have high perception. On the other hand, individuals who are not able to interact with others have low self esteem. The social abilities of an individual are greatly influenced by the past of the person in question. In the case study, student K comes across as an individual with low self esteem. Student K‘s low self esteem has been triggered by her inability to interact with other students academically and socially. She appears to be unable to interact with others easily and relies on assistance to express some of the things that she wants to express. In addition, she says that she is incapable of having a boyfriend as she is fat. This shows that she has a low opinion of herself. Student K’s low self esteem can be traced back to her childhood. Student K had learning difficulties and an unsupportedive childhood and this may have resulted in low self esteem. The low self esteem has affected her personal, social and academic life. Student N also appears to come across as someone with low self esteem. Notwithstanding the point that she is capable of interacting with people of the opposite sex, she appears someone who is unsure of some things she says and this is an indication that she may have low self-esteem. Unlike student K whose low self esteem may have resulted from unsupportive past, student N’s low self esteem cannot be said to be a result of lack of support in her childhood. This is because the parents have always been willing to support her. A major reason that might support this is the environment in which she studied. Student N attended a girls only school and this may have affected her social interactions skills especially when it comes to interacting with boys. The lack of these cognitive skills in both student K and student N have impacted negatively on literacy development in the two students. This is the reason they are not able to perform as expected of them. The cognitive abilities of a child in literacy and language skill development are heavily influenced by the environment that the child grows up in or where he or she lives (Jackson & Stockwell 2011). There is thus the need to identify the student’s environment and plan based on these factors. The abilities of the child are further influenced by the roles played by both the teachers and parents within the environment. In assisting the student, various aspects would be considered (Jackson & Stockwell 2011). Basic cognitive abilities need to be identified, upon which literacy development stages would be introduced to the student to enhance learning. Once the student identifies priorities, different study schedules should be designed. This enables the student to identify the key areas of development and perfect on them. Memory Processing Speed Different individuals have unique memory processing speed. The memory processing speed dictates how the individual will be able process the information that is sent to the memory and how they will react to the information that the brain has received and processed (Neuman & Dickinson 2001). The working memory has the ability to hold data that is conveyed to the brain and will determine how an individual focuses on what they are currently doing. The working memory is used, for example, when one concentrates on remembering certain phone numbers. Children on the other hand use their working memory all the time. The working memory may be used to hold sounds while they try to form a word, to remember a word at the beginning of the sentence while at the same time reading a sentence and in remembering immediate steps in a certain math problem. The promptness at which the brain handles the information that it receives will determine whether a person has learning or literacy difficulty or not (Coleman & Hendry 1999). This is the reason why processing speed has been used as number one predictor of literacy skills and achievement. The processing speed, unlike the IQ tests, has no biases and may be a socioeconomic indicator of the cultural background of an individual. In most cases, the processing speeds and working memory skills follow a stable development trajectory or path in the development of literacy and language skills in children. However, some studies have indicated that the speed and the working memory can be improved by increasing the capacity of the working memory and the efficiency of the memory (Arnold 2003). This has been done through several interventions that are intended at certifying that the growth of processing speed and working memory is enhanced. Among the students or children who experience atypical development, there is usually the tendency of literacy difficulty characterized by certain form of difficulty in the phonological processing of information. In such cases, the processing speed is not able to match the cognitive abilities of the children and hence resulting in some from of difficulty in literacy and language skill development (Arnold 2003). Processing speed may be influenced by social and economic factors while at times it may be inherited. Inherence of the learning and phonological processing difficulties occurs when the parents of a child may have been suffering from Dyslexia. Among the students who are having slow processing speeds, there is usually the tendency to encounter and experience slow retrieval of words and sounds from the human long term memory. Hedegaard & Fleer (2008) indicate that the working memory is normally limited in capacity and is time dependent. This, therefore, implies that when the information being passed to the working memory is slow due to a deficit in phonological processing, then there are chances that the letters and sounds that arrived first in the memory will start to fade. By the time the last letters and sounds arrive in the working memory, the first letters and sounds will have been distorted and this affects the ability of the child to recall the information that is being processed. Jackson & Stockwell (2011) indicates that slow processing speeds among children and even adults make it very hard to remember even high quality information from the human long term memory. In the case studies, student K and student N appear to have different processing speeds and this has in turn influenced their literacy capabilities. Student K indicates struggling with various literacy tasks. She finds remembering of words very difficult and at times she ends up mixing the letters and this in turn affects how she spells words. In addition to this, student K experiences difficulty in remembering words and appears to be very forgetful. This is an indication that she has low processing speed and her working memory is not capable of helping her remember the information that is required. The retrieval of material from the long-term memory seems to be slow and this is the reason why she is forgetful and cannot remember word and sounds. The slow processing speed that student K seem to be having can be attributed to two factors. First, it may have been caused by her unsupportive past. The second cause may be her socioeconomic background (Hedegaard & Fleer 2008). Socioeconomic factors and background affects the processing speed of children and this in turn affects their ability to develop language, numerical and literacy skills. Student N on the other hand appears to have higher processing speed compared to student K. Despite the fact that she had difficulty in answering some questions correctly, she appears to have a higher processing speed and working memory capability compared to student K. After repeating the tasks for some time, she was able to, for example, define globalization. This is an indication that she haa a better working memory compared with student K, and was experiencing typical development. Despite being able to process information faster than student K, student N also seems to have some kind of problem in her processing speed and this is a cause for her lack of attention and poor performance in class. Her ability to process information faster than student K may be caused by her socio-economic background and her self esteem. It is therefore important for the socio economic background of an individual to be taken into consideration when constructing plans and strategies that are designed to improve working memory capability, processing, and long term memory, with the intention of promoting literacy and language development (Hedegaard & Fleer 2008). When this is coupled with the child’s medical history, it can help in determining the most appropriate plan to ensure there is normal development. It is important to ensure that the tasks that help in enhancing the processing speed of the brain are used to promote progress in literacy and language skills development among individuals and children. Communication, Emotional Balance and Behavior Communication is a very important aspect of literacy and language skill development. The capacity of a child to converse effectually is greatly influenced by the exposure that he or she has to the language (Neuman & Dickinson 2001). This is in addition to various environmental and social factors that surround the child. These factors go along a way in affecting how the child will develop his or her communication skills. Every child acquires a set of sophisticated symbols and uses them to serve various communicative needs (Xiao-Lei 2011). In the progression they can gain an understanding of their own languages and also be able to gain knowledge and understanding of the world. Among children, there is a whole range of patterns that are used in communication (Neuman & Dickinson 2001). With more exposure to a new pattern and new experiences, the communicative ability of the child is improved. In the case studies, there is varying communication ability between the two students. Student N appears to be able to effectively communicate her thoughts. This is an indicator that she is able to develop her communication skills. On the other hand, student K, who appears to be undergoing atypical development, is unable to effectively communicate. Due to this to communicate, she is unable to carry out some tasks. She is only able to effectively perform practical and visual tasks. This has greatly affected her literacy and language development. The communication problem that student K is experiencing can be traced back to her childhood and also in the environment that she grew up in and the environment that she currently lives in. According to Mercer (2000) there exists a very clear connection between learning and emotions. Negative emotions are known to impair literacy skills development. On the other hand, poor learning is known to result in negative emotions. Induced adverse sentiments have been revealed to obstruct cognitive performance of tasks. Neuman & Dickinson (2001) says that inducing sad emotions among children increases the time that is taken by children to learn to respond to various tasks. In addition, negative emotions increases the number of errors that children make and this affects literacy and language development. On the contrary, induction of happy emotions indicates having a positive result in the achievement of learning outcomes and in the development of literacy and language skills. Studies on emotions, language, memory and story learning points have indicated that positive moods enhance children memory (Mercer 2000). Those students who have positive emotions have indicated that they can retain much more content. They are thus able to boost their literacy skills. This has also been depicted in the case studies. In the case study, it is indicated that student K seems to be more comfortable and smiles when doing practical and visual tasks. It is further indicated that she is able to perform well in these tasks. This shows a connection between her emotions and her performance in these tasks. It supports the thesis that emotions affect literacy skill development among children. Emotions are also known to affect non verbal learning. In the cases where positive mood is mastered, fewer errors are known to result. The lack of confidence among children and learners is also connected to emotions especially in cases where the child feels that she is incapable of learning. These are impulses which tend to be common among children who have not learned to read (Buckley 2003). In such cases, the students are left to depend on their own motivation in order to read. When they are unable to sustain a commitment to learn, they end up lacking confidence in their ability. In such circumstances, it is necessary that the children transform their emotions and self perception so that they can become able to develop their literacy skills. In the cases studies, it is observed that student K is moody, sensitive and irritable. Student K gets upset about small issues. All these are negative emotions. These, in addition to the fact that she has a low self-esteem may also have impacted on her literacy skills since negative emotions slow the rate of development of literacy skills. Student N is also worried about her a grade and she wishes to do better. Through having positive emotions, student N can develop her literacy skills more and improve her grades further. Conclusion Literacy and language development among children is normally traced in order to monitor their progress. Despite the uniqueness in different people, those of a similar age exhibit similar patterns of development. The development is influenced by several factors, including cognitive ability, processing speeds, communication, emotional balance and behavior. In constructing plans to help enhance literacy and language skill development, these factors are used to monitor the development. 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