Modes of Language

Discuss the modes of language art in relation to their communicative, cognitive and social purposes. Language Arts refers to a complex system for creating meaning through various conventions. (Malyday, 1978).Language is a systematic means of communication by using words either spoken or gestured with hands and structured with grammar. Language is the most important form of human communication, we communicate our thoughts and feelings through language and it plays an important role in our daily lives. Language Arts is a subject that focuses on the listening, writing, reading, speaking, viewing and visually representing. The modes of language are place in two groups traditionally and emergent. Language Arts play different roles in the classroom, three of which are; communicative, social and cognitive role.
Listening is the language arts that begin developing first, and it provides a basis for development of the other language arts. It involves making connections between spoken words (abstract oral symbols) and their meanings.
Speaking involves taking command of the words by using them orally to communicate with others. Speaking is often referred to as expressive skills and oral language skills. The speaker encodes a thought into an oral message and transmits this message to a listener who must decode the oral symbol to understand the message.
Reading involves translating written symbols into the oral symbols that they represent and, finally, into their meaning. Reading is a way of intaking information that has been recorded in print. Thus, it is classified as a receptive skill and a written language skill. The reader decodes a written message that has been encoded by a writer and interprets that message in light of his or her own.
Writing involves encoding written symbols so that theywill convey information to others. It involves communicating with others through the printed word.Writing involves sending a written message to another person or to other people .it is classified as an expressive skill and written language skills. The writer encodes a message that is decoded and interpreted by the reader. Writing is a complex topic.
Viewing refers to interpreting visual media. These media include photographs, illustrations, graphs, maps, and diagrams found in books, as well as video presentations found on television, Internet sites, CD-ROMs, or DVD-ROMs. It can even include live performances in theaters and classrooms.
Visually representing refers to communicating through visual images. These images include photographs, drawings, graphs, maps, and diagrams, as well as video presentations, dioramas, models, and dramatizations. This form of communication requires the student to collect and organize information, decide on the best way to convey it to others, and produce a visual product to accomplish this communication, often incorporating print and sound (including speech) with the visual images, if the student is trying to convey information or sway opinion.
Communication process relating to language arts
According to Wagner (1985, p. 557), “integrating the language arts means providing natural learning situations in which reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing and visually representing can developed together for real purposes and real audiences.Language Arts play different roles in the classroom, three of which are; communicative, social and cognitive role. These three roles of Language Arts are important to our children as it fosters good teaching and learning styles and prepare our children for a brighter and better future. Communication is the process of transmitting information from one person to another. Communication is very important to Language Arts. There are two types of communication oral communication that deals with listening and speaking and there is the written communication that deals with reading and writing. Listening is vital to social interaction and communication within the home or at school. Listening is particularly important for the acquisition of knowledge. Speaking is the response given after listening; it is therefore, the teacher’s duty to provide activities that will involve the students in a wide variety of listening and speaking activities. Some of the activities that expose student’s oral language communication are; drama – students can act out real life situations or can arise directly from their study of literature text etc. Also interviews – this is a valuable tool for developing the listening, viewing and speaking skills. Students can summarizes a report or a comprehension, doing this they will have to think, interpret and then express feelings and storytelling. All of these activities enhance communication in Language Arts classrooms.Writing and reading in my opinion, is considered the most important area of language, it provides the means whereby students can express their ideas and feelings on a particular problem or situation. Some students do not love to write but as Language Arts teachers it is our duty to inform and encourage them of the importance of writing students to write. Language Arts fosters communication in that teacher give the class group’s work to discuss and issue or question through co-operative oral participation on, “How do we help our parents in the home?” Communication is very important in our daily lives, it helps us to express and share feelings among ourselves, friends and families.
The language arts are all important to the communicative skills. All of them use words as basic units and word order for organization. Without them communication would be difficult, and in some cases impossible. Listening and speaking are basic to oral communication, and reading and writing are basic to written communication. Listening and reading are ways of receiving information, and speaking and writing are ways of conveying information.Although language is not the sole means of communication, it is surely the most important one available to humans. Gestures and facial expressions can convey meanings also, but the meanings are much less exact and much more limited in possibilities.
Cognitive process relating to language art In than it supports the belief that language learning is part of the total cognitive process and is acquired like other cognitive skills. According to Piaget, children learn language by responding to language in their environment, perceiving linguistic principles, and applying these principles to their speech production. In his theory of learning, “children learn through social interaction”. This means that by interacting, observing and imitating the behavior of others; where peers or other people that they come in contact with they can and will learn from them. Proponents of the cognitive theory also believe that language acquisition is an innate human quality. In it, it supports the belief that language learning is part of the total cognitive process and it’s acquired like other cognitive skills. As students engage in language art activities, they are faced with learning and discovering some new element in an otherwise known or familiar system of information. Student schemata are sometime disrupted According to theory; children learn language by responding to language in their environment, perceiving linguistic principles, applying these principles to their speech production. The cognitive theory stresses a general ability to acquire knowledge, of which language is one component. Individual children, regardless of differing environments, tend to learn language in the same manner and order, which suggests that the capacity to acquire language lies within the individual. Teachers play an important role in developing children’s abilities. During large group’s activities, teachers introduce and model learning strategies. In small-group lessons, teacher provides guided practice, talk with children about learning strategies, and ask student to reflect on their own. Thus, show their cognitive processes.
Social process relating to language arts Language therefore, is a complex system for creating meaning through socially shared conventions. The social role of Language Arts in the classroom is that as the Language Arts teachers, it is our duty to construct a constructivist classroom, one in which students can actively participate in their learning and discovering new ideas for themselves. A teacher should guide students rather than telling them. The role of language Arts in the social structure give them task to carry out in peers or group, give them research to do etc. In doing this students will be actively be engage in learning activities and discovering new information and ideas for themselves. The teaching of Language Arts in primary schools is very important. It is our role as Language Arts teacher to make teaching and learning of Language Arts fun and interesting so that our children will want to learn and understand it well. Children in school are developing all of their language skills simultaneously. Expanded experiences provided in the classroom can enhance this development. The social purposes in language arts also continue to be refined throughout life. Individuals continue to have experiences, to listen, to speak, and to write. Their experiences provide them more opportunities to learn through listening, to use this learning by imitating in their own speech and writing the things heard, and to understand better the things that they read.
Lev Vygotsky asserted that children learn through socially meaningfully interactions and that language is both social and an important facilitator of learning. Through the interactions with adults and the collaboration with classmates and teacher, children will learn things they could not learn on their own. Lev Vygotsky also stated in his theory about the zone of proximal development, the different levels of a child’s growth and development in learning. According to Vygotsky language art is a mechanism for thought and that children’s ego-centric speech (which he called self-talk) gradually becomes inner speech, when children talk to themselves mentally rather than orally.
In closing, although the six language arts each have their own individual characteristic, they are highly interrelated.

References
Cox, C. (1988). Teaching Language Arts.
Norton, D. (1980). The Effective teaching of Language Arts. (Sixth edition). Ruddell, R. (1995). Teaching Children to Read and Write. (Third edition).
Tompkins, G. (1995). Language Arts Patterns of Practice. (Sixth edition).

References: Cox, C. (1988). Teaching Language Arts. Norton, D. (1980). The Effective teaching of Language Arts. (Sixth edition). Ruddell, R. (1995). Teaching Children to Read and Write. (Third edition). Tompkins, G. (1995). Language Arts Patterns of Practice. (Sixth edition).