Oracy and literacy practices in a Japanese kindergarten: a theoretical examination

Abstract

This article first introduces oracy and literacy education practices in a Japanese kindergarten classroom. The authors then take up three episodes of oral interactions between five‐year‐old children and their teachers and examined the meaning of these oracy activities as children’s building the base in the literacy world. Finally, the authors suggest the importance of the teacher’s role in scaffolding children’s construction of oracy and literacy.

Keywords:

• oracy
• literacy
• Japanese kindergarten classroom
• teacher’s role
• Fröbel
• Vygotsky

Acknowledgements

This paper was written as part of the research project ‘Developing literacy education program for four‐ to five‐year‐old children in internationalized society’ granted by the Ministry of Education (#18530636) 2006–2008.

Notes

1. Hiragana: Japanese cursive syllabary. Besides Hiragana, children in Japan learn Katakana, the square‐formed Kana and Kanji Chinese characters at school.

2. Sugoroku: Japanese traditional board‐game. Children roll dice, in turn, and move their pieces as many steps as the number of the die shows. On the step where the piece stops, there is a message written such as: ‘Go back three steps.’ The player reads the message and follows the order.