Learning Written Storybook Language in School: A Comparison of Low-SES Children in Skills-Based and Whole Language Classrooms

Abstract

This study examined three data sets from previous studies to determine if children who begin kindergarten with significantly less implicit linguistic knowledge of books, as compared to well-read-to kindergartners, acquire this knowledge through experience with books in kindergarten and first grade. Further, the impact of instructional method on acquisition of this linguistic knowledge was examined by comparing children who experienced skills-based beginning literacy instruction to those who participated in whole language classrooms. Results show that all of the children who began school with low levels of knowledge of written syntax and vocabulary catch up to the well-read-to children’s baseline kindergarten scores on this dimension by the end of first grade. In addition, those children in whole language classes with increased levels of storybook readings, book discussions, and opportunities to explore books and to write, as compared to the skill-based curriculums, showed significantly greater growth in their knowledge of written language and more extensive breadth of knowledge of written linguistic features.