Poor Communication Skills Among Children in England - Literature review Example

Poor Communications Amongst Young Pupils in England Recent studies in England have revealed that school going children are lacking basic communication skills that they should be having at their age. This has majorly been attributed to; poor development of the children during the tender age, less attention by parents, teachers and caregivers, family environment, financial status, ethnicity/language and television/media. As pointed out by Evesham & Media, success of school going children in their studies and ability to interact with peers is dependent to a very high percentage on their communications skills. This is the time when the kids get the basics of communications by learning meanings of words, understand grammar and eventually construct sentences and speak fluently. At the same time being able to learn how to communicate using voice, tone, gesture, facial expressions, and body language. (Evesham & Media). As said by Dowling, it is important for parents and teachers to know that communication among children begin from birth. Although they cannot speak at this age, they are able to communicate by crying. They hear and recognize different voices and even languages. Caregivers, teachers and parents play a very vital role in the child’s communication development at this stage. The child should be taught language and speeches since their brain development is faster than any other time of life (Dowling 2010, p.87). This is corroborated by Lindon when he says that the first three years of a child is when the brain cells are developed and therefore it is very critical in the development of the child’s communications skills and that is the reason great attention and care should be taken in what the child hears and sees at this time (Dowling 2010, p.87; Lindon 2012, p.46). It is evident that there has not been much attention on this leading to poor communication among children. There is a worrying trend among the young children since most of them lack personal, emotional and social development at an early age will lead to poor communication. Fox & Lentini says that behavioral problems in children’s development is influenced by the lifestyle of parents. Early exposure to domestic violence and other family problems do have impact on the child’s development. Janice, Masi & Vick adds that parental attachment is an important aspect of emotional and social development of children. The social and emotional health of a child is highly dependent on the attachment to their parents. Poor parental attachment has a negative impact. The mental health of caregivers and parents is also a contributing factor to children’s development since the study shows that children with parents having mental illnesses have difficulty in controlling their emotions (Janice, Masi & Vick 2009, p.5; Fox & Lentini 2013, p.7). Studies have revealed that there is a big difference in emotional and behavioral health between children from poor and rich backgrounds which will eventually affect their communication development. The financial status of childrens’ families has something to do with their social, emotional and personal development hence their communication skills development. Studies by Dowling reveal that the income of the family and neighborhood where the children are brought up do have effects on the child’s social and emotional development. It is evident that children from low-income families and neighborhoods experience social and emotional problems than their counterparts from average to high income families (Dowling 2010, p.83). This will eventually affect they communication development. A study by Janice, Masi and Vick, there is a link between social class and language development in children. This was verified by interviewing children from professional, working class and low class families. They found out that children from professional families could speak better than those from low and working class families. A most fascinating finding is that a three year old child form a professional class family had a better vocabulary that an adult form low class family (Janice, Masi & Vick 2009, p. 5). Ethnicity and language also is shown to have an impact on social and emotional development of children. A research by Baker and Eversley found out that despite English being the language of instruction in England, more than 30 percent of children speak other languages at home. This has shown a great difference between native English speakers and the bilingual ones. Children of non English natives have problems in communication and this is attributed to the early learning of the language that will be not used majorly for communication outside the home (Baker & Eversay 2010, p.12). It is evident that the lifestyle has changed in the past few years and this has had a great impact in the development of the children. Media and television, less time parents spend with their children, and parents work structure have impacted so much on the development of learning of the children. According to Janice, Masi & Vick, children spend more time watching TV instead of playing and socializing which is a better way of developing personal and communication skills. He emphasizes that what children are watching at this age is not important for their communication and behavioral development. There is also a hindrance to proper communications between children and parents by the television since at one point there is concentration to a TV program and the parent will not be able to listen and understand what the child is trying to communicate hence hindering proper communication (Janice, Masi & Vick 2009, p. 7) Lindon (2012) reveals that a higher numbers of parents are currently on employment than it was in the past. This has left a gap since their parents do not have enough time to communicate with their children. There is also a desire for these parents to work more hours in part time jobs which leaves a huge communications gap. According to Dowling, families spend less time together. Everyone eat separately rather than having time together in the dining room whereby children will be able to observe the way family members communicate. This is important since by hearing and listening, they will be able to emulate their example (Dowling 2010, p.83). In the wake of all these challenges facing young children’s communication development, there is a great need for parents to seek help from relevant institutions so as to help in curbing this problem. There is hope in the future since the government has admitted to this problem and have increased funding towards this. It is important to give the young children a good chance to develop good communication skills. They should be able to understand the children and help them instead of criticizing. Teachers and caregivers identify and implement best instruction methods in order to learn emotional and social skills and how to solve problems faced by children. The involvement of parents and teachers should play an important role in achieving this objective. The appropriate approaches should be applied in use of games which allow children to learn and apply new skills. Parents also should have sometime everyday to switch off the television and take time with the child and let the child communicate their emotions and abilities. This will enable the parent to share and teach the child basic communication skills and the child will be able to develop this with time and practice. Reference List Baker P & Eversley J, 2010, Multilingual Capital: The Languages of London's School children and Their Relevance to Economic, Social and Educational Policies, London, Battlebridge Publications. Dowling M, 2010, Young Children’s Personal, Social and Emotional Development, 3rd ed, London: Sage Publications Inc. Evesham F & Media, D, 2015, Reasons Why Some Young Children Lack Good Communication Skills [online] available at: http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/reasons-young-children-lack-good-communication-skills-16116.html [accessed [20 April, 2015] Fox L & Lentini R H, 2013, Teaching Social and Emotional Skills. Beyond the Journal. [online] available at: https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200611/BTJFoxLentini.pdf Janice L C, Masi R & Vick J, 2009, Social-emotional Development in Early Childhood: What Every Policymaker Should Know, Columbia University Press. Lindon J, 2012, Understanding Child Development: Linking Theory and Practice, Hodder Arnold, London. Read More