Development Of Emergent Literacy Skills Research Articles

Investigating if high-quality kindergarten teachers sustain the pre-K boost to children's emergent literacy skill development in North Carolina.

This study tested the hypothesis that high-quality kindergarten teachers sustain and amplify the skill development of children who participated in North Carolina's NC Pre-K program during the previous year, compared to matched non-participants (N = 17,330; 42% African American, 40% Non-Hispanic White, 15% Hispanic; 51% male; Mage = 4.5 years at fall of pre-K). Kindergarten teacher quality was measured using a "value-added" approach. NC Pre-K participants outperformed non-participants in the fall of kindergarten (β = .22) and 11% of this boost remained evident by the spring of kindergarten. Higher value-added teachers promoted the skill development of all children (β = .30 in the spring) but did not differentially benefit the skill development of former NC Pre-K participants compared to non-participants.

Application of the DECOLE programme in a natural classroom situation: effects on emergente literacy skills

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of the DECOLE Program, applied by a teacher in natural classroom conditions, on preschoolers' emergent literacy skills. Fifty-three Brazilian children attending a public preschool participated (average age: 5 years and 7 months; standard deviation: 3.9 months), separeted into an Experimental Group (n=30) and a Control Group (n=23). Before and after the intervention, participants’ phonological awareness, vocabulary, oral comprehension, and letter knowledge skills were assessed. The results indicate that the groups were equivalent in the pre-test regarding the skills assessed. In the post-intervention, significant differences were observed in favor of the Experimental Group, which participated in the intervention, in phonological awareness, oral comprehension and vocabulary. The results suggest the effectiveness of the DECOLE Program, when applied in a natural classroom situation, for the development of emergent literacy skills considered highly relevant for learning to read and write.

“Let’s Read Together”: A Parent-Focused Intervention on Dialogic Book Reading to Improve Early Language and Literacy Skills in Preschool Children

Many children are at risk for reading difficulties because of inadequate emergent literacy skills. It is widely accepted that development of emergent literacy skills is strictly related to children’s early literacy experiences at home and school. Dialogic reading is an evidence-based intervention to promote the language skills of preschool children. This study examined the feasibility and efficacy of a parent-focused dialogic book reading intervention that aimed to foster the early language and literacy skills of pre-school children. A sample of 40 Italian preschoolers (Mage = 62.9 months, SD = 6.3) and their parents were divided into three groups: treatment group (n = 12); information group (n = 12) and control group (n = 16). The efficacy of the intervention for oral language skills was examined by analyzing the improvements from pre- to post-intervention in children’s oral language outcomes, through ad hoc and standardized tasks; specifically, by measuring proximal and distal abilities. Additionally, we analyzed the intervention effects on parent–child interaction and dialogic behaviors during shared book reading. Results suggest that a relatively brief intervention (6 weeks) using dialogic book reading strategies can lead to sustained improvements in early language and literacy skills in preschoolers (both proximal and distal) and in parent dialogic behaviors during shared book reading.

Building Comprehension Skills of Young Children With Autism One Storybook at a Time.

Purpose Reading involves the ability to decode and draw meaning from printed text. Reading skill profiles vary widely among learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One fairly common pattern is relative strength in decoding combined with weak comprehension skills-indicators of this profile emerge as early as the preschool years. In order for children with ASD to develop a facility with language that prepares them for reading success, practitioners must intentionally create and provide appropriate instruction practices. Method In this tutorial, we describe ways in which practitioners can support language development and comprehension skills for children with ASD within the context of shared reading activities. We begin by providing known information about the reading performance of children with ASD using the Simple View of Reading as our guiding conceptual framework. Next, we present a number of practical, evidence-based strategies that educators can implement within the context of shared book reading activities. Case studies are embedded throughout the tutorial to demonstrate how practitioners may apply these strategies in their instructional settings. Conclusions Shared book reading interventions are a well-studied, developmentally appropriate approach for bringing about change in language and literacy in early childhood. The success of shared reading depends upon rich communication and interaction between the adult reader and the child. Many children with ASD will require strategies to support social communication and emergent literacy skill development (e.g., vocabulary knowledge, language comprehension) that are specifically linked to future reading comprehension.

Development of emergent literacy skills of a child with hearing loss: a longitudinal case study

ABSTRACT This longitudinal case study aimed to investigate the development of emergent literacy skills of a child with hearing loss was carried out in a research and application centre which provides full-time day education using an auditory-oral approach for children with hearing loss. The study focuses on a child with profound hearing loss who started kindergarten education at the age of 52 months. The data was collected in the second and third grade of kindergarten and the first term of primary first grade. Results indicate that group and individual experiences, based on the Whole Language Approach, support the development of code-related and oral language skills and that the child benefited from intense and systematic application of drills in accordance with his individual needs.

Shared reading practices between parents and young children with Down syndrome in Ireland

Shared reading, a key component of the home literacy environment, has well documented potential for the development of emergent literacy skills. This study explored shared reading interactions between parents and their young children (aged one to six years) with Down syndrome in Ireland. 191 parents completed an online questionnaire, providing quantitative and qualitative data on their practices, experiences and views in relation to shared reading with their children. Findings indicate that the majority of parents engage their children in shared reading regularly and commence shared reading at an early age. Social/emotional factors and enjoyment, followed by speech and language development, were the primary factors motivating parents to engage their children in shared reading. There was evidence of parental use of oral language and print referencing strategies during shared reading. There was, however, potential for greater use of a wider range of strategies. Many parents also described challenges which affect engagement in shared reading. The majority of participating parents indicated that they would welcome additional guidance in relation to shared reading with their children. It is recommended that a parental education programme, providing parents of young children with Down syndrome with advice and guidance on shared reading be implemented.

Book-Reading Engagement in Children with Autism and Language Impairment: Associations with Emergent-Literacy Skills.

Emergent-literacy skills are frequently taught within social interactions in preschool classrooms such as shared book reading. Children with impaired language and/or social engagement may have difficulty accessing these learning opportunities. Therefore, we sought to investigate the relationship between book-reading orientation during a teacher-led shared book reading activity and emergent-literacy skill development across three groups of preschool children; autism (n = 22), developmental language disorder (DLD; n = 23), and typical development (TD; n = 58). The children with autism demonstrated less book-reading orientation than their DLD and TD peers. Book-reading orientation was a significant predictor of residualized gains in print-concept knowledge and phonological awareness. Thus, book-reading orientation appears to play a critical role in preschooler's emergent-literacy skill development.

The Relationship between Phonological Processing and Emergent Literacy Skills in Arabic-Speaking Kindergarten Children

Introduction: Children with weak emergent literacy skills are at risk for later reading problems. The majority of research on the relationship between phonological processing and emergent literacy has been conducted on children who speak English and European languages. The aim of the current study was to address the relationship between phonological processing and emergent literacy skills in Arabic-speaking Egyptian children. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted on a sample of 50 typically developing kindergarten children in the age range from 4 years 6 months to 6 years 5 months. Children were subjected to assessment of both phonological processing and emergent literacy using a specially constructed test battery in Arabic. Results: A highly significant positive correlation was found between total scores of phonological processing and of emergent literacy tests. Both isolating final phonemes and rapid naming were the best predictors of emergent literacy. Conclusions: Phonological processing skills are important prerequisites for the development of emergent literacy skills in Arabic-speaking children. The designed test battery proved to be both valid and reliable and can be used as a screening tool for the identification of children at risk of later reading problems.

The Development of Emergent Literacy Skills during Preschool Period: A Sample of 36-71 Month-Old Turkish Children

The aim of this study was to unfold the development of preschool children’s emergent literacy skills with respect to age. This study was conducted in a cross sectional design. The sample consisted of 96 children aged 36-71 months. ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis Test results indicated that emergent literacy skills (phonological awareness, print concepts, alphabet knowledge and name writing) of preschool children could be differentiated with respect to age. The best performance that children displayed in phonological awareness was in syllable segmentation, whereas the lowest performance was in last phoneme detection. In terms of print concepts, the children were better at items about book concepts than at items about sentence, words and letters. With respect to alphabet knowledge, 36-47 month-olds showed almost no letter knowledge but the performance increased after 48 months of age. In terms of name writing, 36-47 month-olds responded with drawing rather than writing their names. 48-59 month-olds began to use letters in their name writing and most of the 60-71 month-olds could write their names conventionally.

Utilisation d’albums bilingues par des familles bi/plurilingues : description des langues employées lors des lectures et des interactions

The use of bilingual books represents an interesting means of supporting the development of emergent literacy skills among young multilingual children. The family practices that surround these books have, however, remain little explored. In this exploratory study, in order to document the use of this type of book by multilingual families, six parent-child dyads were filmed during the repeated reading of two bilingual books. Our analysis has been focused on the use the parents and children make of the various resources of their linguistic repertoire in order to read and discuss the books. A variety of practices surrounding the use of bilingual books have been observed, thereby highlighting the importance of taking different factors into account when considering an intervention based on using bilingual books in/among multilingual families.

Olvasóvá nevelés újszülött kortól kezdve

Even before the formal literacy education most of the children meet literacy in a spontaneous way. Emergent literacy is the term used to describe young children’s developing literacy skills before formal reading and writing instruction in school. Much research has demonstrated that the home environment serves as an important influence in the development of emergent literacy skills in young children. Family literacy refers to literacyrelated processes, for example when family members engage in shared story reading which positively influences young children’s motivations to read. Since babies and toddlers (children under three) are dependent on their parents and carers for access to books, developmentally appropriate reading materials (board and tactile books, picture books and storytelling books nursery rhymes), are recommended which are of high quality, age appropriate, challenging without frustrating, worthy of attention for parents and carers.

Laying a Firm Foundation: Embedding Evidence-Based Emergent Literacy Practices Into Early Intervention and Preschool Environments

As part of this clinical forum on curriculum-based intervention, the goal of this tutorial is to share research about the importance of language and literacy foundations in natural environments during emergent literacy skill development, from infancy through preschool. Following an overview of intervention models in schools by Powell (2018), best practices at home, in child care, and in preschool settings are discussed. Speech-language pathologists in these settings will be provided a toolbox of best emergent literacy practices. A review of published literature in speech-language pathology, early intervention, early childhood education, and literacy was completed. Subsequently, an overview of the impact of early home and preschool literacy experiences are described. Research-based implementation of best practice is supported with examples of shared book reading and child-led literacy embedded in play within the coaching model of early intervention. Finally, various aspects of emergent literacy skill development in the preschool years are discussed. These include phonemic awareness, print/alphabet awareness, oral language skills, and embedded/explicit literacy. Research indicates that rich home literacy environments and exposure to rich oral language provide an important foundation for the more structured literacy environments of school. Furthermore, there is a wealth of evidence to support a variety of direct and indirect intervention practices in the home, child care, and preschool contexts to support and enhance all aspects of oral and written literacy. Application of this "toolbox" of strategies should enable speech-language pathologists to address the prevention and intervention of literacy deficits within multiple environments during book and play activities. Additionally, clinicians will have techniques to share with parents, child care providers, and preschool teachers for evidence-based literacy instruction within all settings during typical daily activities.

Home Literacy Environment: Definitions, Dimensions and Its Role on the Development of Emergent Literacy Skills

Today it is believed that children acquire skills and knowledge about literacy before they begin formal schooling. These skills and knowledge are termed as “emergent literacy” and are affected by “home literacy environment” where children grow up. By providing literacy related materials and engaging in literacy activities with their children, parents support the development of these skills of their children. This review paper provides definitions and dimensions of home literacy environment and how this environment works to support emergent literacy skills of young children.

Put down that smartphone and read to me!

Shared reading between a mother and child is known to benefit that toddler's cognition, social and emotional development, and brain growth. But just what happens inside the brain? To answer this, Hutton et al provide a rather novel, cross-sectional study of 22 low-socioeconomic status mothers and their 4-year-old girls, who completed a functional MRI using an established story-listening task, followed by videotaped observation of an uncoached mother-daughter reading session of the same age-appropriate picture book. Shared-reading scores were positively correlated with functional MRI activation of left frontal and temporal lobes plus the anterior insula, parahippocampus, and putamen. In the reading sessions, only 6 of 22 mother-child dyads shared reading spontaneously without an external prompt, while 10 more required a prompt by the research coordinator. Six did not read at all, due to maternal distraction usually by a smartphone. Shared reading quality scores were significantly negatively correlated with maternal distraction by smartphones. Maternal shared reading experience plays an important role in development of emergent literacy skills for young children. This joint task is associated with brain activation of key language structures, which can be followed by functional MRI. One might wonder whether these same critical brain structures are activated in the child who “interacts” alone with a book on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Most certainly, a parent more preoccupied with operating a smartphone than interacting with his child adversely affects intellectual development. Article page 204 ▶ Shared Reading Quality and Brain Activation during Story Listening in Preschool-Age ChildrenThe Journal of PediatricsVol. 191PreviewTo explore the relationship between maternal shared reading quality (verbal interactivity and engagement) and brain function during story listening in at-risk, preschool-age children, in the context of behavioral evidence and American Academy of Pediatrics, recommendations. Full-Text PDF

Development of a home literacy environment questionnaire for Tamil-speaking kindergarten children

BackgroundThe development of emergent literacy skills depends upon the literacy environments and experiences of children at home. Children’s home literacy environment is closely related to the development of various aspects of emergent literacy like letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Dimensions of home literacy environment, such as physical (literacy) environment, child’s own literacy habits, parental literacy habits, parent-child interaction for language and literacy activities, and parental beliefs about literacy, have been reported in literature.MethodsThe present study describes the construction of a home literacy environment questionnaire for Tamil-speaking kindergarten children in the Indian context. The various dimensions of home literacy environment were described, and items related to each dimension were listed. Seventeen judges rated each item on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (no fit) to 4 (excellent fit). Their comments/remarks/opinion, specific to an item or dimension, were also taken. The rating responses were analyzed for content validity and internal consistency.ResultsContent validity index was calculated at item level as well as scale level. The items in each subscale/dimension which had the item level content validity index scores higher than 0.78 were included in the final questionnaire and the other items were rejected. The scale level content validity index scores were higher than 0.90, indicating good content validity. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated as a measure of internal consistency. Cronbach’s alpha values were lower than 0.7 for three domains: physical environment, parent literacy habits, and parental beliefs.ConclusionsThe questionnaire developed promises to be a useful tool to evaluate the home literacy environment of Tamil children who undergo formal education in English medium schools like in India. The questionnaire developed and presented here can help in collecting reliable data to make informed decisions about children’s (whether typically developing or with developmental disabilities) home literacy environment.

Using tablets and apps to enhance emergent literacy skills in young children

Touch screen tablets (e.g., iPads) are being increasingly used by young children due to their stimulating multimodal features and intuitive touch-based interface. However, little is known about the effects of tablets and apps on the development of emergent literacy skills. This pre-post-test randomised controlled study explored the effects of using literacy apps on emergent literacy skills in English speaking children aged 2–5 years (N=48). There were 24 children in the iPad group and 24 children in the waitlist control group. The 9-week (30min/week) iPad literacy program focussed on three new alphabet letters each week using three apps (letter matching, letter tracing, and drawing). Following the program, children in the iPad group showed significantly higher letter name and sound knowledge, print concepts and name writing skills than children in the control group. No significant group differences were found for letter writing skills or numeral knowledge. The findings showed that tablets can positively support letter name and sound learning and aspects of emergent writing development. How teachers can best utilise these digital tools in early childhood classrooms to support emergent literacy requires further investigation.

Associations of Home and Classroom Environments with Head Start Children's Code-Related and Oral Language Skills

ABSTRACTThis study used data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009 4-year-old cohort to examine associations among family characteristics, home and classroom environments, and the emergent literacy skills of Head Start children. Results from hierarchical linear models suggest that both family and classroom contexts play a unique and interactive role in supporting Head Start children's development of different sets of emergent literacy skills. Parental warmth was positively related to children's oral language skills (i.e., receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge), and teachers' educational level and the quality of instructional support in the classroom were significantly associated with children's code-related skills (i.e., letter-name and letter-sound knowledge). Further, high-quality instructional support in the classroom buffered the negative influence of low maternal education on children's oral language skills. Interventions focusing on enhancing the quality of parent-child interactions, in addition to professional development for teachers designed to improve the quality of instructional support, may contribute to promoting the development of emergent literacy skills of young children from low-income families.

Interactive Reading with Young Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children in eBooks Versus Print Books.

Interactive storybook reading is effective in enhancing deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children's emergent literacy skills. The current digital era gives parents more opportunities to read books with their child. From an early age on, interaction between parent and child during literacy activities is very important for the development of emergent literacy skills. The purpose of the present study was to explore the opportunities of eBooks on a tablet for interactive reading with young DHH children. Parent and child interactive behavior in reading print books was compared to eBooks in 18 parents and their 1- to 3-year-old DHH child. All parents followed an interactive reading program after which their interactive reading behaviors were observed while reading print books and eBooks with their child. Results mainly showed similar interactive reading behaviors in parents and children when reading print books or eBooks, except for a lower occurrence of pointing to pictures/objects in the parent behavior when reading the eBooks. These results give parents and professionals even more opportunities for interactive storybook reading with DHH children, and thus more opportunities to enhance their language and literacy skills. Tablets can be easily taken with you making eBooks accessible for interactive reading wherever you are.

Young children's use of touch screen tablets for writing and reading at home

Young children's literacy experiences at home shape the development of emergent literacy skills. Due to the increasing use of touch screen tablets (e.g., iPads) in homes and early education setting...

Young children's use of touch screen tablets for writing and reading at home: Relationships with emergent literacy

Young children's literacy experiences at home shape the development of emergent literacy skills. Due to the increasing use of touch screen tablets (e.g., iPads) in homes and early education settings it is important to investigate the relationship between digital tools and emergent literacy. The present study examined the relationships between children's (N = 57; aged 2–4 years) emergent literacy skills and home use of tablets for writing and reading. Correlational analysis showed a positive association between children's access to apps and print knowledge. A positive association was found between the frequency of writing with tablets and print awareness, print knowledge, and sound knowledge. No associations occurred between emergent literacy skills and frequency of e-book reading. Further research is needed to investigate the effects of tablet writing on emergent literacy development.