Running Head: DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PAPER 1

Disciplinary Research Paper

Early childhood education is a branch of educational theory, which relates to the
educational development of young children in the period before the start of
compulsory education. Generally, it focuses on five developmental domains of
childhood development, including physical development, social development,
emotional development, language, and cognitive skills. However, the graduate
program of Early Childhood Education for Diverse Learners mainly prepares
professionals to work with young children and families from diverse cultural,
linguistic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Hence, researchers and early childhood
educators in this field pay much attention to issues about early literacy, differentiation
in instruction, multicultural effects on early childhood, school role in early childhood
and universal preschool, etc (Gordon & Browne, 2014). During these issues, the most
important topics that this field is discussing today are early language and literacy
development, family engagement, and Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP).
Learning to read and write at a high level of proficiency is a lifelong process.
However, the early childhood years are a critical time for acquiring important
language and literacy skills. They serve as an important foundation for subsequent
literacy development. Furthermore, previous research shows that when adults create
rich language and literacy environments and interact with a young childs
communication in specific ways, they can boost that childs emergent language and
literacy development and increase the likelihood of future academic success (Green,
Peterson & Lewis, 2006). Hence, increased attention has been given to children's
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early language and literacy development in recent years. By working on this topic,
several efforts have been made to synthesize important research on children's early
language and literacy development in order to provide educators and parents with
research-based instructional strategies for enhancing children's literacy experiences
during their preschool years. Researchers explore reports, newer research findings,
and the effectiveness of specific approaches to teaching early oral language
development to establish a solid foundation for later reading comprehension.
Moreover, professionals expand on concepts to help educators understand how oral
language relates to reading comprehension, word reading, and language development,
and what teachers can do to foster early literacy development (Shanahan & Lonigan,
2014). With the syntheses of the recent studies, early childhood educators, including
parents and teachers, employ a range of research-based strategies to facilitate
children's early language and literacy development.
In addition, a growing body of research focuses on the relationship between
meaningful family engagement and childrens early learning because family
engagement is often considered in union with childrens participation in early
childhood education programs, and parental involvement is a critical element of
high-quality early care and education (Halgunseth & Peterson, 2009). To illustrate, a
pair of recent studies underscores the importance of family involvement in early
education experiences. The first study investigates the association between parent
involvement in elementary school and success in high school, and suggests that parent
involvement in school is an important component in early childhood education to help
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promote long-term effects (Barnard, 2004). The second study explores how family
activities in the home contribute to childrens development while they are attending
Head Start programs (Gelber & Isen, 2011). Furthermore, numerous research studies
ecological social exchange model of family engagement, including early childhood
education program resources and family resources (Halgunseth & Peterson, 2009).
According to these studies, school, family, and community build a solid base of
knowledge on partnerships. Parents and teacher learn to share responsibility for the
education and development of their children, and the common collaborative activities
of home and school provided in these studies help to promote young children
development.
Lastly, Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), which is designed to
promote young childrens optimal learning and development, is a topic presently
being discussed widely both nationally and internationally. Developmentally
Appropriate Practice is what early childhood educators and caregivers are advised to
use in teaching young children. It calls upon the teacher to make sure that the daily
activities and environment provide engaging learning experiences for every child in
the classroom. In order to encourage such optimal experiences, various studies discuss
about principles of child development and Learning, guidelines for effective teaching,
teaching strategies and so on (Kohler, Christensen & Kilgo, 2012). For example, a
study, which examines the beliefs of Jordanian kindergarten teachers toward
developmentally appropriate practices (DAP), shows the importance of
developmentally appropriate practice in the country. The useful data provided in the
DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH PAPER 4
study helps in planning kindergartens' learning activities and designing appropriate
preparation and training programs for kindergarten teachers. This particular study fills
in some gaps that presently exist relative to early childhood education and contributes
to the educational and psychological literature (Abu-Jaber, Al-Shawareb & Gheith,
2010). With the study about DAP, educators and professionals know about what is
typical at each age and stage of childrens early development, and childrens families
background information. This knowledge helps teachers to decide which experiences
are best for childrens learning and development (Copple, 2009).
Research about these topics provides practical, easy-to-read resources for
educators and professionals in the early childhood field, and offers effective, new
approaches to deal with the challenging issues which arise in the care and education
of young children. However, some limitations still exist in current studies. As the
findings from the study about early language and literacy development indicated,
educators need access to high-quality children's literature, including age-appropriate
books and other print materials, to promote important language and literacy activities
in their learning centers. However, millions of children do not have access to
high-quality training in this area. Hence, further study needs to be focused on how
early childhood educators working in nonfederal funded programs can receive support
and training that will assist them in their efforts to help children acquire essential
early literacy skills(Green, Peterson & Lewis, 2006). Moreover, the study about
parent involvement in school only examined the parents behavior of being involved
in children's education, but parental attitudes toward education are also closely linked.
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Therefore, future research may needs to examine parent involvement along with
parental attitudes and parent expectations, rather than just measuring parent
involvement as a behavior by itself (Barnard, 2004). Furthermore, in the light of the
findings from the study about teachers beliefs toward DAP, the researchers also
recommend that future research should consider incorporating on-site observations of
teachers instructional activities and interactions with children (Abu-Jaber,
Al-Shawareb & Gheith, 2010).
As a student in early childhood education field, I plan to teach toddlers second
language in their early age. Therefore, I intend to conduct a research on whether study
of English is having a negative impact on childrens first-language acquisition and
what methods or strategies teacher can apply to reduce the influence. This thesis is
related to childrens early language and literacy development. As mentioned above,
most people's view about young children learning a foreign language is that early
childhood is a critical period of language development. Hence, the sooner study, the
better master of foreign language. Moreover, some scholars have pointed out that
English education should start in early childhood, and the best time to start English
education is when a baby begins to learn mother tongue, because children born with
the ability to accept the language. We can found a lot of similar discussions in
educational scholarly articles. However, at present, some parents hold high hopes for
their children. They often adopt a "force" approach for children to learn a foreign
language. Furthermore, coupling with a lack of effective scientific guidance, some
teachers take simplistic and unprofessional approaches. Ignoring the children's
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language learning characteristics will result in a negative impact on childrens
language acquisition. Due to this misunderstanding of early childhood education,
some children have a delay on the development of both mother tongue and second
language. Therefore, it is important for me to study the impact of foreign language
study on mother tongue, and to figure out what teaching methods and strategies
teachers can apply to improve childrens proficiency of bilingual languages. In this
endeavor, Professor Samita Arora will provide me academic knowledge about the
differences in childrens cognitive development while they simultaneously study two
languages, and Dr. Burns will assist me to conduct this research in a qualitative
method.
In conclusion, early language and literacy development, family engagement, and
Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) are the most important topics that early
childhood education field is discussing now. However, with the development of the
objective social environment and subjective condition, more and more new topics will
be discuss to acknowledge the multidisciplinary nature of the early childhood field,
and to provides multiple perspectives and insights into contemporary early childhood
education. All these research will be essential resources for anyone involved or
interested in any aspect of the early childhood field.

Word count: 1434


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Reference
Abu-Jaber, M., Al-Shawareb, A., & Gheith, E. (2010). Kindergarten Teachers
Beliefs Toward Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Jordan. Early
Childhood Education Journal, 38(1), 6574. doi:10.1007/s10643-010-0379-z
Barnard, W. M. (2004). Parent involvement in elementary school and educational
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Copple, C. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood
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Gelber, A. M., & Isen, A. (2011). Childrens schooling and parents investment in
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Economic Research. Retrieved from: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17704
Gordon, A. M., & Browne, K. W. (2014). Beginnings and beyond: foundations in
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Green, S. D., Peterson, R. & Lewis, J. R. (2006). Language and literacy promotion in
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Research & Practice, 8(1). Retrieved from:
http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v8n1/green.html
Halgunseth, L. C. & Peterson, A. (2009). Family Engagement, Diverse Families, and
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Kohler, M., Christensen, L., & Kilgo, J. (2012). Among the Periodicals:
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doi:10.1080/00094056.2012.741494
Shanahan, T. & Lonigan, C. (2014, March). The role of early oral language in literacy
development. The Journal of Communication & Education. Retrieved from:
http://languagemagazine.com/?page_id=5100