Examining phonemic awareness and concepts of print patterns of kindergarten students

Abstract

Necessary prerequisites for and at the same time powerful predictors of children's success in beginning reading are the development of phonemic awareness and concepts of print. Students who are learning to read need to be taught how to consciously attend to phonemes and to develop an understanding regarding concepts about print. This study was two‐fold. First, we examined demographic characteristics that included gender, socioeconomics, preschool experience, and race to determine how these factors related to phonemic awareness and concepts of print development for kindergarten students. It was concluded that low SES children and Latino children were at greater risk of not developing phonemic awareness and concepts of print in kindergarten. Further data were collected and analyzed to examine low SES and Latino children's knowledge of phonemic awareness and concepts of print development. The study found that, along with maturation, a diagnostic approach that guides phonemic awareness instruction and concepts about print enhances kindergarten students’ phonemic awareness and concepts of print development.