The focus of the English curriculum in the early years is on extending student’s experiences with spoken and written texts, and the ways in which language is used in making and responding to texts. Particular emphasis is placed on teaching students to use spoken language appropriately in many new formal and informal ways: expanding students vocabularies in both spoken and written language: teaching reading and writing skills and strategies: fostering critical perspectives on texts: and expanding students knowledge of literature and teaching them how to make links between reading and their own experiences.
The student’s gradual movement from dependence on the teacher and other competent language users, to increasing independence as a learner, marks this early stage of schooling.
