Language arts is the general academic subject area dealing with developing comprehension and capacity for use of written and oral language. The five strands of the Language arts are reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing (visual literacy), as established by the National Council of Teachers of English.

Reading

Reading, by definition, is the ability and knowledge of a language that allows comprehension by grasping the meaning of written or printed characters, words, or sentences. Reading involves a wide variety of print and nonprint texts that help a reader gain an understanding of what is being read. Reading allows a reader to acquire new information, gain knowledge and understanding, and for personal fulfillment. Reading of texts that are often included in educational curriculum include fiction, nonfiction, classic, and contemporary works.

Each state in the United States sets standards for reading that are incorporated into the local curriculum that are taught within the school system. In partnership with the International Reading Association (IRA), The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) offers standards for teaching language arts. The list of 12 standards that offer guidance for the opportunities and resources students should have in order to develop the language skills they need.

The IRA/NCTE standards concerning reading are:^[1]

• Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

• Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

• Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics.

Composition

Composition is defined as the combination of distinct parts or elements to form a whole and the manner in which these elements are combined or related. The following are examples of Composition in Language Arts:

• The art or act of composing a literary work
• The structure or organization of literature
• A short essay, especially one written as an academic exercise (an essay is a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative) ^[2] There are many types of short essays, including, but not limited to:

1. Five-paragraph essay
2. Argumentative essay
3. Cause and effect essay
4. Comparative essay.

Compositions may also include:

• Narrative Essays
• Expository Essays
• Persuasive Essays
• Technical Writing

According to The National Council of Teachers of English, the standards for composition are:^[3]

• Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
• Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Grammar

Grammar is the study of the structure and features of a language. Grammar usually consists of rules and standards that are to be followed to produce acceptable writing and speaking.^[4]

Parts of Speech

Nouns

A noun is a word used to name a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.

A common noun names any of one of a group of persons, places, things, or ideas, while a proper noun names a particular person, place, thing or idea.

A concrete noun names an object that can be perceived by one or more of the senses (hearing, sight, smell, taste, or touch), while an abstract noun names a quality, a characteristic, an emotion, or an idea.

A collective noun names a group, while a compound noun consists of two or more words used together as a single noun. Some compound nouns are written as one word, some as separate words, and others as hyphenated words.

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or of more than one noun. A word that the pronoun stands for is called its antecedent. A pronoun may appear in the same sentence as its antecedent or in a following sentence. The antecedent may be a noun or another pronoun. Pronouns are classified into six types:

Adjectives

An adjective is a word used to modify a noun or a pronoun. To modify means to describe or to make more definite the meaning of a word. Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns by telling what kind, which one, or how many/how much.

The most frequently used adjectives are a, an, and the. These adjectives are commonly called articles. The articles a and an are indefinite articles, and are used to indicate that a noun refers to one of a general group. The is the definite article, and indicates that a noun refers to a specific someone or something.

Verbs

• A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being.
  • An action verb expresses physical or mental activity: runs, thinks, hope, studies.
  • A transitive verb is an action verb that takes an object, a word that tells who or what receives the action.
  • An intransitive verb is an action verb that does not take an object.
  • A linking verb, (or state-of-being verb), connects the subject with a word that identifies or describes it.
  • A verb phrase consists of a main verb and at least one auxiliary verb. Common auxiliary verbs are forms of to be, forms of have, forms of do, and can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.

Adverbs

• An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, and adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs modify by telling how, when, where, or to what extent.

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in the sentence. A preposition always introduces a prepositional phrase. The noun or the pronoun that ends the prepositional phrase is the object of the preposition.

These are the commonly used prepositions: aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but (meaning except), by, concerning, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, outside, over, past, since, through, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with, within, without. Note, however, that some words function as adverbs or prepositions depending on its use in the sentence.

The compound prepositions are: according to, because of, aside from, in addition to, in front of, instead of, next to, on account of, and prior to.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word used to join words or groups of words.

A coordinating conjunction joins words or groups of words used in the same way: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet. Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs to join words or groups of words used in the same way: both...and, either...or, neither...nor, whether...or, not only...but also. Finally, a subordinating conjunction begins a subordinate clause and connects it to an independent clause: after, although, as, as if, as much, as, as though, as well as, because, before, even though, how, if, in order that, provided, since, so that, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while, why.

Interjections

An interjection is a word that expresses emotion. It has no grammatical relation to other words in the sentence. An interjection is set off from the other words in a sentence by an exclamation point or a comma. An example is: "Wow! Your new haircut looks great." The common interjections are: hey, wow, ouch, and no.

Teaching

The International Reading Association (IRA) and The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) offer standards for teaching language arts that address the importance of students acquiring multiple literacy skills:

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manuel. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.

External links

• BedfordstMartins.com
• English.purdue.edu

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