From "Learning Language" To "Learning the Lifeworld through Language": Problems and Reflections on Early Childhood Language Education in Taiwan

Early childhood language education plays a fundamental role in children’s overall development because language serves not only as a means of communication but also as an important medium through which children understand their experiences, interact with others, explore the world, and construct meaning. This article argues that early childhood language education should return to children’s lifeworlds and move beyond the narrow goal of linguistic skills acquisition toward enabling children to learn about life, understand the world, and construct meaning through language. Based on this perspective, the article examines four major issues in early childhood language education in Taiwan. First, an excessive emphasis on literacy and writing may narrow language education into skills training while reducing opportunities for oral expression, listening, storytelling, imagination, and social interaction. Second, the article proposes a shift from teacher-directed language instruction to child-centered language interaction, emphasizing children’s linguistic agency, dialogue, participation, and collaborative meaning-making. Third, the functions of the language learning area should be strengthened by transforming it from a space for storing instructional materials into a rich learning environment that supports autonomous reading, storytelling, symbol exploration, creative writing, dramatic play, peer interaction, and meaning-making. Fourth, children’s literature should be recognized as an important medium for language, emotional, imaginative, and value exploration rather than merely being used as a tool for teaching vocabulary, literacy, or moral values. Taken together, these four issues highlight the need to reconsider the purposes and practices of early childhood language education in Taiwan. The article concludes that early childhood language education should move from skills to experience, from instruction to interaction, from materials to meaningful learning environments, and from the instrumental use of literature to literary and aesthetic experience. Ultimately, the goal is to move from “learning language” toward “learning the lifeworld through language,” enabling children to understand themselves, communicate with others, explore their surroundings, and construct meaning through meaningful linguistic experiences.