EDEC28005 - Early Language, Literacy and the Creative Arts

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

Language and literacy are critical for children’s engagement within the contemporary world. The acquisition and development of multiliteracies occurs within the diverse contexts within which children participate. This unit introduces you to socio-cultural theory as a basis for understanding language acquisition and use and for identifying pedagogical approaches to support literacy learning through arts, play, creativity, and exploration. In this unit you will examine the strategies used by educators to support the development of oracy and build on the home, community and real-world literacy practices of children. Pedagogies to support children to engage with the multiple ways that they make and communicate meaning about their world will be examined and enacted. You will complete a 15 day placement with children (3 – 4 years) where you will connect theory with practice.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 8
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Mixed Mode
Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Mixed Mode

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 0%
2. Professional Practice Placement 0%
3. Written Assessment 0%

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 89.47% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 18.81% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: various emails tutorial discussions Moodle forums
Feedback:
 Placement

Recommendation:
 Continue to work closely with the WIL team to support student placement and progress.

Action Taken:
 In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Synthesise socio-cultural theories of literacy, language learning and meaning making
  2. Evaluate the diverse communicative backgrounds of children and the impact this diversity has on learning, including for children who speak languages other than English or in addition to English
  3. Explain the effect of oral language development on the literacy learning of young children from diverse linguistic, social and cultural backgrounds
  4. Describe strategies used by educators to develop oracy and build on the home, community and real-world literacy practices of children
  5. Plan and assess developmentally appropriate experiences that promote young children’s learning with a particular focus on integrating language and literacy, and the creative arts
  6. Demonstrate professional responsibility through adherence to placement guidelines, codes of conduct, codes of ethics and legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes for teachers at the professional experience site
  7. Critically reflect on planning and teaching strategies enacted to determine their suitability for supporting language and literacy development and engagement in the creative arts and their responsiveness to diverse learner characteristics, abilities and stages of development
  8. Design a provocation space or experience that invites children’s engagement and provides opportunities for them to respond in multiple ways particularly through the creative arts.

This unit contributes to meeting the curriculum content requirements outlined by the Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) particularly the requirement for content focussed on language development, working with children who speak languages other than, or in addition to, English, language and literacy, and the creative arts.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Professional Practice Placement • •
3 - Written Assessment • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Knowledge • • • • • •
2 - Communication • • • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • • • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility •
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8