Characteristics of a Community of Learners
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Language (Ages 2-3), Language (Ages 3-5), Social Development
Language is a complex system for creating meaning through socially shared conventions (Halliday, 1978). English, like other languages, involves four cueing systems:
- The phonological, or sound, system
- The syntactic, or structural, system
- The semantic, or meaning, system
- The pragmatic, or social and cultural use, system
Together, these systems make communication possible; children and adults use all four systems simultaneously as they read, write, listen, and talk. The priority people place on various cueing systems can vary; however, the phonological system is especially important for beginning readers and writers as they apply phonics skills to decode and spell words. Information about the four cueing systems is summarized in the table below.
| System | Terms | Applications |
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Phonological System The sound system of English with approximately 44 sounds and more than 500 ways to spell them |
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Syntactic System The structural system of English that governs how words are combined into sentences |
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Semantic System The meaning system of English that focuses on vocabulary |
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Pragmatic System The system of English that varies language according to social and cultural uses |
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Excerpted From:
© 2010, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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