Acquisition and Mastery of Oral Language Skills in Enhancing Literacy Development among Young Children in Tanzania A Study of Parents and Teachers

Language, both oral and written, is a tool used by a human being in communicating ideas, concepts and sharing experiences in variety of social contexts. It is also necessary in school activities’ instructions. The social contexts essential for enhancing children’s language are the home and school. It is because of this background that the current study was undertaken to establish how parents’ and teachers’ interaction constitute an essential ingredient in the development of oral language (OL) skills for children’s acquisition of literacy skills at home and in school to facilitate their school readiness. The study conveniently and purposively sampled parents and experienced early grade teachers to share their experiences in the meaningful adult-child interactions and activities important for OL and literacy development. Data analysis for data that were collected through semi- structured interviews and FGDs were subjected to thematic analysis while data through open-ended questionnaires were coded and entered in Microsoft excel spreadsheet before were analysed through the SPSS. The study revealed that friendly, print-rich learning environment, playing activities as well as storytelling are essential in promoting the acquisition and mastery of OL for literacy development and facilitation of communication as well as realisation of better learning outcomes in school among young children. The current study, therefore, suggests that parents and teachers should be involved in providing materials and activities for creating friendly and interactive environments that are necessary for children’s positive development in OL for schooling and general life in any social settings.

Keywords: Language, literacy, and development