Parents’ Role In Fostering Young Children’s Language Development
Abstract
The evidence about the benefits of parents being involved in their children’s education, and
children’s literacy activities in particular is
overwhelming. It is therefore important that parents
and careers are aware of the
significant contribution they can make to their children’s learning
by providing a
stimulating environment around language. The objective of this research was
to describe the parents’ role in fostering young children’s language development. The context
of this research was in Medan, Sumatera Utara and the subjects were the parents of children
aged 5-7 years old. Interview and observation were used in collecting the data. “
Three aspects
of parenting have been highlighted as central to children’s early language and learning: (1) the
frequency of children’s participation in routine learning activities; (2) the quality of caregiver-
child engagements; and (3) the provision of age-appropriate learning materials” (Tamis-
LeMonda, 2009:2). After analyzing the data, it was found that parents still found the difficulties
in encouraging the children’s literacy and should use the appropriate media based on their need
and want. Provision o f various media also needs to be made to guide t he parents to provide a
literacy-rich and stimulating environment. Parents should have a great commitment in developing
the children’s literacy gradually