Children's Emergent Literacy Skills Research Articles

Assessing preschoolers' emergent literacy skills in English and Spanish with the Get Ready to Read! screening tool.

This study investigated the ability of the English and Spanish versions of the Get Ready to Read! Screener (E-GRTR and S-GRTR) administered at the beginning of the preschool year to predict the oral language and phonological and print processing skills of Spanish-speaking English-language learners (ELLs) and English-only speaking children (EO) at the end of the year. The results revealed that the E-GRTR predicted the EO and ELL children's English emergent literacy skills and the ELL children's Spanish emergent literacy skills, and the S-GRTR predicted the ELL children's English and Spanish emergent literacy skills. For both groups, the E-GRTR and the S-GRTR were better at predicting children's print knowledge in English and Spanish compared to the other emergent literacy measures. The findings suggest that both screeners can be used effectively to assess preschool children's emergent literacy skills.

Facilitating Emergent Literacy Skills: A Literature-Based, Multiple Intelligence Approach

Educators have continually sought to achieve a balance between a phonics-based, code-emphasis program and a more holistic, meaning-based approach to emergent literacy instruction. This article describes an integrated phonics and literature-based approach to developing children's emergent literacy skills. These skills included alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, phonics and nonsense word competence, and language usage. Using Howard Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligence, the program's literacy activities addressed children's interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, linguistic, musical, naturalistic, and visual-spatial abilities and interests. Stories from children's trade books were told in a variety of storytelling methods, such as draw talk, character imagery, felt board, group role play, and chant. These approaches were matched to children's interests and multiple intelligence areas. All of the storytelling sessions were followed by related activities that incorporated the children's emergent literacy skills. Results from this study of 13 inner-city children indicated that this integrated, seven-week program resulted in significant gains in phonemic awareness, nonsense word competence, and word usage fluency. The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) was used as a pretest and a posttest to assess children's initial and later competence on the basic emergent literacy skills. Implications for further research on this integrated approach are discussed.

The Role of Home Literacy Practices in Preschool Children's Language and Emergent Literacy Skills

This study examined how 4 specific measures of home literacy practices (i.e., shared book reading frequency, maternal book reading strategies, child's enjoyment of reading, and maternal sensitivity) and a global measure of the quality and responsiveness of the home environment during the preschool years predicted children's language and emergent literacy skills between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Study participants were 72 African American children and their mothers or primary guardians primarily from low-income families whose home literacy environment and development have been followed since infancy. Annually, between 18 months and 5 years of age, the children's mothers were interviewed about the frequency they read to their child and how much their child enjoyed being read to, and the overall quality and responsiveness of the home environment were observed. Mothers also were observed reading to their child once a year at 2, 3, and 4 years of age, and maternal sensitivity and types of maternal book reading strategies were coded. Children's receptive and expressive language and vocabulary were assessed annually between 3 years of age and kindergarten entry, and emergent literacy skills were assessed at 4 years and kindergarten entry. The specific home literacy practices showed moderate to large correlations with each other, and only a few significant associations with the language and literacy outcomes, after controlling for maternal education, maternal reading skills, and the child's gender. The global measure of overall responsiveness and support of the home environment was the strongest predictor of children's language and early literacy skills and contributed over and above the specific literacy practice measures in predicting children's early language and literacy development.

Laying foundations for academic language competence: the effects of storybook reading on Zulu language, literacy and discourse development

Success at school depends heavily on language and literacy skills. Research indicates that pre-school children whose parents read storybooks to them have a linguistic and literacy head start over other children when they start school. In contrast, learners who come to school with few literacy skills are at a disadvantage. A Family Literacy project was started in 2000 in disadvantaged areas of rural KwaZulu-Natal. One component of the programme promotes storybook reading in Zulu to pre-school children in Grade R. Various aspects of the children's language and emergent literacy skills were assessed longitudinally. Children in Grade 1 who were not in the project were also assessed, and their performance compared to those of the children in Grade R. The results showed that, on the whole, the Grade R children who were in the Family Literacy Project scored better on the literacy tests and showed stronger language and discourse development than the Grade 1 learners, even though the pre-schoolers were on average a year younger than the Grade 1 learners. These findings suggest that reading storybooks to pre-school children has beneficial effects on their language, literacy and discourse development.

Children's Performance in School Readiness Skills in the Jumpstart Program

This article reports 2 pilot research studies of child outcomes associated with participation in the New York City Jumpstart program. Jumpstart is a new, national preschool program designed to supplement Head Start and other pre- school experiences. Study 1 is a 2-year longitudinal study at the original NYC Jumpstart site that assessed improvement in school readiness skills as measured by a standardized instrument, the Bracken Basic Concept Scale (BBCS), in children who participated in the program, as well as in a comparison Head Start sample. Information on the immediate benefits to children was gathered from parents and teachers using focus groups and surveys. Results indicate that the Jumpstart program was serving the children from the Head Start population who were less school ready than their peers, as revealed by their lower performance on the BBCS. Parents and teachers credited the one-on-one attention provided by Jumpstart Corps Members as promoting the children's development. Study 2 is an observational longitudinal study covering the 2nd year of the program and includes participants from all 4 NYC Jumpstart sites. Views of the children's progress were obtained from the children's mentors, a Jumpstart staff Observation Team, and parents using program-specific measures and focus groups. Results show that adults saw improvement in the children's emergent literacy skills and social adaptive behaviors, although the different observers assessed growth in different areas. Implications for educational and social policies are drawn.

The Role of Family Literacy Environments in Promoting Young Children's Emerging Literacy Skills

EDITORS' NOTES (Pia Rebello Britto, Jeanne Brooks--Gunn). 1. Emergent Literacy Is Emerging Knowledge of Written, Not Oral, Language (Victoria Purcell--Gates). Children's knowledge of the development of written, as opposed to oral, language is central to the concept of emergent literacy. 2. Parent--Child Interaction in Three Conversational Contexts: Variations in Style and Strategy (Catherine Crain--Thoreson, Michael P. Dahlin, Terris A. Powell). The associations between parent language complexity and conversational style and child language use are examined across three contexts--storybook reading, free play with toys, and joint remembering of an event. 3. Storybook Reading and Parent Teaching: Links to Language and Literacy Development (Monique Senechal, Jo--Anne LeFevre). In this chapter the strong links between shared book reading and children's vocabulary are demonstrated, and parent's storybook reading is contrasted with their teaching of literacy to determine the respective influence of each activity on children's emerging literacy skills. 4. The Role of Family and Home in the Literacy Development of Children from Low--Income Backgrounds (Stacey A. Storch, Grover J. Whitehurst). The longitudinal effect of home influences on a range of children's emerging literacy skills is examined in a sample of low--income preschool-- and elementary school--age children. 5. Beyond Shared Book Reading: Dimensions of Home Literacy and Low--Income African American Preschoolers' Skills (Pia Rebello Britto, Jeanne Brooks--Gunn). In this chapter family literacy environments and their association with young children's emerging literacy skills are examined from a multi--dimensional perspective. 6. Concluding Comments (Pia Rebello Britto, Jeanne Brooks--Gunn). New directions in the understanding of family literacy environments and children's emerging literacy are discussed. Also presented are implications of these new directions for research and practice. INDEX.

The role of family and home in the literacy development of children from low-income backgrounds.

The authors of this chapter propose and test a model of individual differences in the development of emergent literacy. The model provides a means for evaluating the contribution of various aspects of the home environment to children's emerging literacy skills and helps to clarify the processes by which family environment and different domains of emergent literacy are related.

Enhancing Family Competence Through Literacy Activities

SUMMARY The present paper describes the range of positive family outcomes found when the parents of low-income preschoolers engage in literacy activities with their children. One hundred parents attended a series of family literacy workshops designed to instruct parents on the use of effective book sharing techniques to use with their children. The goal of the program was to increase the children's school readiness and emergent literacy skills by training parents to be more effective and self-confident “first teachers” of the type of literacy skills necessary for early school success. Parents reported that both the amount of parent-child book sharing increased and the time spent reading was more interesting and enjoyable. Children's language skills as well as their interest in books and learning increased. Personal benefits to the parent included enhanced self-esteem and self confidence, increased knowledge of normative child development and sense of efficacy as a parent, heightened understanding of the importance of parental involvement, increased feeling of literacy competence and interest in improving their own education, and sense of increased social support. Other family members (spouses and siblings) also increased their literacy activities. Family relationships, communication, and feelings of togetherness were also enhanced. Implications for individual and family competency enhancing interventions are discussed.

Emergent Literacy Skills of Migrant Mexican American Preschoolers

This study describes the emergent literacy skills of 48 4-year-old migrant Mexican American preschoolers and the extent to which the home and Head Start literacy environments affected those skills. Children's emergent literacy skills were assessed individually in their dominant language. Information about the amount of print available in the home and at the Head Start center and the frequency of reading with each child was collected from parents and teachers. Scores on the emergent literacy measures showed mixed performance overall. Results suggested that the home literacy environment had the greatest influence on children's emergent literacy skills.

Mothers’ Implicit Theories of Early Literacy Instruction: Implications for Children's Reading and Writing

Subjects in this exploratory study were 19 five‐ to six‐year‐old children and their mothers. Mothers completed surveys of family literacy practices and beliefs about early reading Instruction and children's emergent literacy skills were assessed. Results showed that one group of mothers held implicit theories that resembled whole language models of literacy Instruction. A second group of mothers held views that resembled a phonics orientation, while a smaller group of mothers had more varied and idiosyncratic beliefs. Mothers’ implicit theories were associated with their modeling of literacy behaviors, helping their children write, and with their children's independent exploration of writing and current levels of literacy skill. Results point to the importance of parents’ implicit developmental theories and the heed to understand how parental belief systems affect the roles that families play in literacy acquisition.

Effects of Commenting During Joint Book Reading by Mothers with Low SES

This study investigated whether teaching mothers with low socioeconomic status (SES) to comment while reading to their children would increase communicative interaction in mother-child dyads and improve the children's emerging literacy skills. Three children with developmental disabilities and four at-risk children participated. Mothers were taught to comment on the literary content in books in a way that related events and characters in the story to the child's own experiences. A multiple baseline across participants with an embedded withdrawal design was used to evaluate the effects of intervention on parent-child interactions. All mothers increased their use of specific comments. Most mothers also increased other conversational acts that set the occasion for positive verbal interactions and increased their responsiveness to their children. All children demonstrated more assertive and responsive utterances during the commenting intervention. Four of the children showed improved emerging literacy skills on a standardized measure. These changes in interaction patterns during book reading seemed to provide improved opportunities for language learning and language use by low-SES children with and without developmental disabilities, as well as increased exposure to early literacy experiences.

Promoting Emergent Literacy in a Pediatric Clinic: Predictors of Parent-Child Reading

Shared parent-child reading during the preschool years is significantly related to children's emergent literacy skills. Factors potentially predictive of shared reading were assessed among low-income families of preschoolers (N = 79) attending a pediatric clinic. Demographic, experiential, attitudinal, and caretaker literacy measures were examined in relation to 2 self-report measures of shared parent-child reading: DeBaryshe's (1995) Reading Exposure Composite and Needlman, Fried, Morley, Taylor, and Zuckerman's (1991) Activity Recall Literacy Orientation. Regression analyses revealed that caretaker reading beliefs, self-reported caretaker literacy, and child interest in reading were significant predictors of both shared reading measures. Results are discussed in terms of implications for primary prevention programs aimed at encouraging children's emergent literacy skills in public pediatric settings.

Child Development and Emergent Literacy

Emergent literacy consists of the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are developmental precursors to reading and writing. This article offers a preliminary typology of children's emergent literacy skills, a review of the evidence that relates emergent literacy to reading, and a review of the evidence for linkage between children's emergent literacy environments and the development of emergent literacy skills. We propose that emergent literacy consists of at least two distinct domains: inside-out skills (e.g., phonological awareness, letter knowledge) and outside-in skills (e.g., language, conceptual knowledge). These different domains are not the product of the same experiences and appear to be influential at different points in time during reading acquisition. Whereas outside-in skills are associated with those aspects of children's literacy environments typically measured, little is known about the origins of inside-out skills. Evidence from interventions to enhance emergent literacy suggests that relatively intensive and multifaceted interventions are needed to improve reading achievement maximally. A number of successful preschool interventions for outside-in skills exist, and computer-based tasks designed to teach children inside-out skills seem promising. Future research directions include more sophisticated multidimensional examination of emergent literacy skills and environments, better integration with reading research, and longer-term evaluation of preschool interventions. Policy implications for emergent literacy intervention and reading education are discussed.

Child Development and Emergent Literacy

Emergent literacy consists of the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are developmental precursors to reading and writing. This article offers a preliminary typology of children's emergent literacy skills, a review of the evidence that relates emergent literacy to reading, and a review of the evidence for linkage between children's emergent literacy environments and the development of emergent literacy skills. We propose that emergent literacy consists of at least two distinct domains: inside-out skills (e.g., phonological awareness, letter knowledge) and outside-in skills (e.g., language, conceptual knowledge). These different domains are not the product of the same experiences and appear to be influential at different points in time during reading acquisition. Whereas outside-in skills are associated with those aspects of children's literacy environments typically measured, little is known about the origins of inside-out skills. Evidence from interventions to enhance emergent literacy suggests that relatively intensive and multifaceted interventions are needed to improve reading achievement maximally. A number of successful preschool interventions for outside-in skills exist, and computer-based tasks designed to teach children inside-out skills seem promising. Future research directions include more sophisticated multidimensional examination of emergent literacy skills and environments, better integration with reading research, and longer-term evaluation of preschool interventions. Policy implications for emergent literacy intervention and reading education are discussed.