Children as communicators: peers and others

This chapter will consider the importance of children becoming competent communicators (Bercow, 2008; Field 2010) and will examine how children learn to communicate; looking at speech and language development but also exploring other means of communication. Theories will be compared and contrasted to allow the reader to ponder the nature (Chomsky, 1965) versus nurture (Skinner, 1957; Tomasello 2003) debate within this area and activities provided to allow the reader to apply theory to practice to develop their own pedagogical approach to this area of development. The chapter will look at the impact of environments on the way that children communicate (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Richardson, 2014), and will consider the social and cultural influences of what, and whom, is around the child. Consideration will be given to the impact of family environments (Hart & Risley, 1993) and peer involvement (Hughes, 2010) as well as how the community in which the child is based can influence the development within this prime area of development (Department for Education, 2013; Department for Education, 2014).In order to allow the reader to apply this theoretical discussion to every day practice, the chapter will go on to explore ways in which child’s communication can be encouraged and enhanced. It will consider ways to ensure that the child’s “voice” is heard and provide suggestions of how children can be supported to become confident and competent communicators in a diverse society.