A13.4: Preface

For my research question, I chose to explore the possible reasons for why it is important for caregivers to facilitate vocabulary development in young children. As this class has brought me to consider my own literacies, I started to wonder, how I could increase my literacy with a focus on reading and writing? As I began my preliminary research I started to see the term ‘vocabulary’ appear in several articles. When I began reading about vocabulary and correlations between reading and writing, I started to wonder, if literacy learning is a lifelong process, and vocabulary is a fundamental part of literacy, then vocabulary development should be important to people of all ages. So then I was thinking, what population would benefit from this knowledge the most? I decided to start at the beginning, when people first learn vocabulary, young children. As with most learning, people will be more likely to succeed in certain area if they have a good foundation of knowledge or skills, for good vocabulary development this starts at the beginning. As a future SLP, it is important that caregivers know how crucial it is for them to aid in their child’s speech and language development, specifically vocabulary development. The information provided gives preventative insight and strategies for caregivers to increase vocabulary development in young children. I believe that professionals should advocate and provide prevention education whenever possible. It is our job to inform communities of the importance of facilitating a child’s communication that will in turn help children succeed both academically and socially.