Reflections on Judith Lindfors' Book

             In class, we are reading Judith Lindfors’ book, Children’s Language: Connecting Reading, Writing, and Talk. She discusses literacy curriculum and the best approaches towards instilling motivation and passion in the child.  Throughout the first three chapters, she shares compelling thoughts on patterns, collaboration, and authenticity in language.

Lindfors brings attention to the patterns in language, oral and written, and how children identify and apply them. Children as young as two demonstrate their ability to “pattern [their] speech in the ways [they] have observed in the speech of others” (Lindfors, 2008, p. 12). Children are so committed to patterns that “the child overregularizes, using past tense forms like “comed” [and] “goed”” (Lindfors, 2008, p. 12).  They are not simply imitating, but applying their prior knowledge to expand their ability to communicate. Successfully expressing opinions, wants, and needs is important and valuable to all people.  Language is social and children are motivated to try new words because the situation is authentic.

The author defined two types of reading in Chapter 2 labeled efferent and aesthetic reading. Lindfors cites L. Rosenblatt’s definitions as she describes an efferent reading orientation as when “reader’s attention is focused primarily on what will remain after the reading—the information to be acquired” (Rosenblatt, 1978, p. 24). In contrast, when reading from an aesthetic orientation, “the reader’s attention is centered directly on what he is living through during his relationship with that particular text” (Rosenblatt, 1978, p. 24). Lindfors does not consider one experience more valuable than the other, but regards them both as meaningful reading experiences. Her example of reading Tigress displays characteristics of both orientations  as it contains an engaging story and nonfiction facts to be learned.(Lindfors, 2008, p. 22). The meaning is lost when nothing is gained from the reading. The audience is not engaged in comprehending and responding, but in simply decoding the words.  Lindfors emphasizes the social and the individuality aspects of reading. Children respond, discuss, reflect, and question in ways that reflect their individual interests and needs while also considering their peers’ ideas when reading an authentic text.

           Reading and writing activities must be purposeful for children in order for them to develop a meaning-orientation towards literacy. The author describes tasks such as the sign-out book and writing workshop as being engaging and purposeful for children (Lindfors, 2008, p. 30). Her tasks address ideas that are important to the children and to her, as a teacher. She believes that the children’s purposes come first. For example, writing workshop gives children choices and opportunities to use oral language to socialize while simultaneously providing the teacher with observational data for assessment and skill practice. Literacy is often motivated by a need to communicate and connect with others which is why is important to embed oral, and written language together.

References:

Lindfors, J. W. (2008). Children's language: Connecting reading, writing, and talk. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Rosenblatt, L. M. (1994). The reader, the text, the poem: The transactional theory of the literary work. SIU Press.