When you finish reading this chapter, you should be able to

• Discuss the relationship between cognitive development and language learning.
• Understand the concept of emergent literacy.
• List some features of a print-rich classroom environment.
• Explain the influence of the home on a child's early language growth.
• Discuss the roles of listening comprehension and oral expression in the development of literacy.
• Identify some ways children learn to read in an emergent literacy classroom.
• Explain how children's growth in writing occurs.