YOUNG CHILDREN’S WORD AWARENESS DEVELOPMENT AT PRESCHOOL

Abstract

This study describes the children’s way of developing their word awareness from their teachers and peers at school. The data were obtained from 30 young children, aged 5-6, of a class in a preschool in Banda Aceh. The instruments used to collect data were observations and documents from teachers’ anecdotal records and children’s language achievement reports. The observations were conducted for one semester of about 5 months. The results show that the teachers use the motherese register to speak with the children. They speak more slowly, clearly, with a higher pitch, and with exaggerated intonation. Children develop their word awareness from teachers with facilitation from the multimedia, things around them and social environment at the school. These assistances support the children’s phonological and semantic awareness by highlighting their teachers as models. Meanwhile, the children’s interaction with their peers tends to produce some errors in words usage and pronunciation. The paper further provides discussions on the results.

Keywords: Young Children, Word Awareness, Development, Teachers, Peers, Preschool