Emergent Literacy Development Research Articles

Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices to Support Emergent Literacy Development in Preschool Education: The Moderating Role of Continuous Training

AbstractThe main goal of this study was to explore the relationship between emergent literacy beliefs and practices among Portuguese preschool teachers and to investigate the moderating role of experience and training (initial and continuous). The participants were 266 preschool teachers working in Portugal. The results indicate higher levels of holistic beliefs than technicist beliefs regarding emergent literacy. Practices aimed at promoting oral language and phonological awareness were reported as the most frequently used practices in the classroom. Teachers who had continuous training in emergent literacy had more holistic beliefs and performed more practices to promote children’s phonological awareness and knowledge of the relationship between oral and written language. Continuous training was also a significant moderator of the relationship between emergent literacy beliefs and practices. These findings highlight the importance of continuous training in fostering the use of quality research-based practices in the classroom.

Swipe, tap, read? Unveiling the effects of Touchscreen devices on Emergent Literacy Development in preschoolers

Emergent literacy skills are vital for children’s reading and writing development. While touchscreen devices have been linked to enhanced emergent literacy in developed countries, their impact in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with limited access to quality apps, is underexplored. Thailand, classified as an upper-middle-income country, presents a unique context with its specific challenges in educational technology, which have not been extensively studied. This study examined the relationship between touchscreen device usage and emergent literacy development in Thai preschool children. Using a cross-sectional design, we analyzed data from 317 Thai children aged 5–6 years, assessing their emergent literacy skills and examining the association with touchscreen device usage through logistic regression analysis. Our findings showed that 79.5% of participants engaged with touchscreen devices, and there was an observed trend suggesting that exclusive tablet users might exhibit enhanced phonological awareness, letter naming, and rapid automatized naming skills. However, these potential improvements did not reach statistical significance when primary caregiver characteristics were taken into account. Our findings highlight the complexity of this relationship and underscore the need for further research to elucidate the potential influences of application quality and screen time engagement on emergent literacy, particularly in LMICs.

Speech-Language Pathologists' Perceptions of Language and Literacy Instruction for Pre-K Children With Developmental Language Disorder.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have multiple roles and responsibilities related to language and literacy instruction in schools. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study was to analyze school-based SLPs' perceptions related to effective language and early literacy instruction for pre-K children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The goal of this study was to inform development of a new language and early literacy professional development program for inclusive pre-K teachers. Eight school-based SLPs participated in a 1-hr virtual focus group conducted via Zoom recording technology. The researchers used a conventional content analysis approach to analyze the focus group data and identify themes from the discussion. The researchers developed two themes: (a) SLPs identified repeated exposure to books, peer interaction, and teaching vocabulary with visual supports and props as key elements of language and literacy instruction that can be integrated into a variety of contexts, and (b) SLPs want more time with parents and teachers to support their book reading and model specific language strategies. SLPs identified several instructional practices inclusive pre-K teachers could be taught to use during professional development programs to support the emergent literacy development of children with DLD. They also discussed the need for ongoing collaboration between SLPs, caregivers, and teachers to maximize children's early language and literacy experiences. Future research should explore the impact of partnerships with caregivers and teachers on children's language and literacy outcomes.

The examination of the variables affecting the print awareness skills of six-year-old children attending kindergarten

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between child gender, maternal education, writing readiness skills, and print awareness skills. A total of three hundred and sixteen six-year-old children, comprising one hundred and eighty-three girls and one hundred and thirty-three boys, were assessed for their writing readiness skills and print awareness skills. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the potential relationships among child gender, maternal education, writing readiness skills, and print awareness skills. Additionally, a regression analysis was conducted to assess the predictive strength of these variables on print awareness skills, with child gender and maternal education treated as dummy variables. The results of the regression analysis revealed that these three variables accounted for approximately nine percent of the variance in print awareness skills. The implications of these findings were discussed in terms of understanding the interconnectedness of child gender, maternal education, writing readiness skills, and print awareness skills in promoting emergent literacy development. These findings hold significance for practitioners as they aim to determine the predictive power of writing readiness skills and provide appropriate support for children in relation to these skills.

Development of English in Marathi Speaking Children Attending English Medium Schools (Senior Kindergarten and Grade I)

An increasing number of Marathi-speaking children attend English medium schools in Maharashtra, India. The developmental trend of English in these children is not studied according to the researcher’s best knowledge. Studying this development is essential to understand the development of children with developmental disabilities. Hence, the study aimed to understand the development of English in Marathi-speaking children attending English medium schools in senior kindergarten and Grade I (5 to 7 years of age). Forty Marathi-speaking children attending English medium schools (Senior Kindergarten and Grade I) were included. ‘Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool 2nd Edition (CELF)’ was used to assess children's language skills, and ‘Development of Emergent Literacy- Questionnaire’ was administered to study the relation between home literacy environment and language skills in English. A gender difference was present for Senior Kindergarten children but not for the children studying in Grade I. More than 65% of children had scores below the age equivalent scores across the subtests. A moderate positive correlation was found between all the subtests of CELF and the score on the emergent literacy questionnaire. In conclusion, there is an effect of gender on English language skills in kindergarten which is not present in Grade I. The competency in English in Marathi-speaking children appears to be low and moderately related to literacy exposure at home.

My child lags behind: Parents’ perceptions of children's needs for language support, their home-literacy practices, and children's language skills

The home literacy environment (HLE) in terms of providing frequent and high-quality access to oral and written language is a well-established, positive predictor of children's language and emergent literacy development. However, little is known about parents’ perception of children's needs for language support and how this perception in terms of a compensatory motive for fostering children's language skills relates to parents’ home-literacy practices, and their children's language skills. To examine these questions, we conducted a study with 193 preschool children and their parents. We assessed parents’ motive to foster their children to compensate for a perceived unfavorable language development, multiple indicators of the HLE, and children's language skills. Parents’ compensatory motive proved to reflect the needs of their children as children of parents reporting a compensatory motive displayed lower language skills than children of parents who indicated no such motive. However, parents with and without compensatory motive did not differ in terms of reported home-literacy practices. There were also differences concerning the correlational pattern between home-literacy practices and children's language development, with correlations being generally weaker and sometimes even negative in the compensatory group. The results suggest that the relationship between home-literacy practices and children's language development might be decidedly complex and less straightforward than often assumed.

Sing and Play Your Way to Reading: Building Emergent Literacy Skills in Infants and Toddlers Through Music

AbstractThe article highlights connections between music and movement activities and emergent literacy development among infants and toddlers. I review how music is linked to phonological awareness, oral language, vocabulary, and other related skills that support reading, like executive function. I also highlight the benefits of including teacher‐facilitated, hands‐on, active music experiences, even when teachers may lack confidence in their musical abilities and music training. The article provides teachers with easy‐to‐implement activities to use in the classroom to explicitly support literacy through developmentally appropriate and engaging music and movement activities, including songs, instruments, movement, and song‐based picture books.

The unique and compensatory effects of home and classroom learning activities on Migrant and Seasonal Head Start children's Spanish and English emergent literacy skills.

Children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFW) are among the most underprivileged, underserved groups in the United States. The current study examined how home and classroom language and literacy experiences uniquely and interactively contributed to MSFW children's emergent literacy skills in English and Spanish. Participants were 255 Spanish-English dual language learning children (M age = 49 mon; 98.3% Latino/Hispanic) and their parents and 47 teachers, drawn from the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) Study. Parents reported how often the target children engaged in language and literacy activities (i.e., teaching letters, words, or numbers, book-reading, singing, and storytelling) with their family members. Teachers reported how often the target children engaged in classroom language and literacy activities (e.g., book-reading, learning letters, retelling stories, etc.). Children's emergent literacy skills in English and Spanish were assessed by standard tests. After controlling for demographic variables, home and classroom language and literacy activities uniquely predicted children's emergent literacy skills in Spanish, but not in English. Additionally, home and classroom activities compensated one another in supporting children's English and Spanish emergent literacy development. That is, language and literacy activities in one context showed a stronger effect for children who experienced less frequent activities in the other context. Together, these findings shed light on ways to support MSFW children's emergent literacy skills and reveal the importance of integrating and connecting home and school learning experiences.

Over de drempels van geletterdheid: laaggeletterde ouders helpen hun jonge kind te ondersteunen

Family literacy programs aim at supporting parents in stimulating their young children’s emergent literacy development. Reviews of effect studies in general show positive outcomes, while the effects on children from low socioeconomic families are mixed. The literacy level of parents, however, is mostly not taken into account in effect studies and therefore it is unclear what types of activities might work in families where parents have limited reading skills. For non-literate or low-literate parents traditional family literacy programs might create several barriers, due to the fact that these programs often assume a certain level of reading skill in parents and require them to initiate cognitively challenging interactions around sometimes difficult texts. In this contribution, we analyse the main barriers such programs might create for these parents and we offer suggestions how to overcome these barriers. Promising approaches can be found in empowering parents by personalizing and tailoring the program activities, by offering interesting materials that are not dependent on advanced reading skills and trigger children and parents to interact, and by making use of the technological innovations in new media, such as digital, animated picture books.

The potential for ELLECCT to support language development in the early years: A commentary on Weadman, Serry and Snow (2022)

This commentary focuses on the English Early Years Education context and how the Emergent Literacy and Language Early Childhood Checklist for Teachers (ELLECCT Weadman, 2022) could be used in this context to emphasise the centrality of oral language in emergent literacy development. The English Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and initiatives such as the Early Reading guide, the English Hubs and the Education Endowment Fund all contain a focus on early language and literacy. There is the potential for the ELLECCT to bring these two elements together. Consideration is given to opportunities for using this tool in training, including Early Years Teachers, speech and language therapists and parents, to highlight everyone’s role in supporting early language and literacy. Finally, the ELLECCT’s potential for identifying and supporting children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs in Early Years classrooms, particularly in areas of disadvantage, is highlighted.

Literacy Activities that Highlight Emergent and Beginning Literacy Development

AbstractActivities that teach PreK–1 students the six components of emergent literacy and beginning reading and word study are presented for classroom settings. These activities are adaptable developmentally and they highlight four important aspects of teaching phonics, spelling and word knowledge that are often overlooked: the rhythm of literacy, Concept of Word in Text (COW‐T), articulation in word study, and the role of spelling in the reciprocal processes of reading and writing (decoding/encoding). Research underlying these activities suggests that rhythmic activities in early literacy instruction can be a precursor to explicit instruction for phonological awareness with young children and students who struggle to learn to read. The research also shows how articulation and other multisensory aspects of learning to read are parts of development and instruction for emergent and beginning readers. The role of spelling during these early periods is highlighted and discussed.

Turkey’s Primary English-as-a-foreign Language (EFL) Coursebooks: An Investigation of Emergent Literacy Tasks

Turkey’s most recent primary English language curriculum, which highlights oral skills, mandates communicative English language teaching to young English language learners. Recent primary English curriculum comprises two hours per week of English-as-a-foreign language (EFL) instruction to include listening and speaking only for Grade 2 and very limited reading and writing for Grade 3 onward. While communicative skills are highly emphasized, literacy skills are kept on the back burner as reading and writing are incorporated gradually with minimal reading and writing at earlier grade levels and some literacy practices at upper grade levels. Successful emergent literacy development in English highly depends on young language learners’ phonological (e.g. alliteration, rhyme), phonemic (i.e. sound manipulation), and orthographic awareness (i.e. spelling conventions) in English. The present study investigates to what extent Turkey’s locally-designed primary EFL coursebooks—used in 2018-2021 academic period—cater to the early literacy needs of young learners at grades two, three, and four. The study explores early literacy content in coursebooks in a mixed-methods design: qualitatively with the descriptive content analysis and quantitatively with the frequency of early literacy constructs. The results of those analyses reveal primary English coursebooks do not promote a linguistically sound and pedagogically appropriate integration of literacy skills according to principles of second language (L2) literacy acquisition at primary levels. Turkey’s misaligned early English literacy curriculum, in its current state, sends alarming messages to foreign language policy-makers, material designers, and EFL educators.

An examination of the heterogenous nature of literacy development in Spanish-speaking preschool children

ABSTRACT This study evaluated the emergent literacy profiles of preschool Spanish-speaking children. Participants included 440 children in dual-language classrooms who were assessed in English and Spanish at the beginning and end of their preschool year. Research Findings: Through latent profile analysis, conducted with fall data, four empirically derived emergent literacy profiles emerged. Further analyses were conducted to determine if there were differential relations between the literacy profiles and spring early reading measures of alphabet knowledge and oral language, measures that are typically used to evaluate kindergarten readiness for literacy instruction. Practice or Policy: Results highlight the heterogeneous nature of emergent literacy development in Spanish-speaking children and demonstrate the need for individualized literacy instruction during the preschool years.

Parent-child shared book reading mediates the impact of socioeconomic status on heritage language learners’ emergent literacy

The promotion of parent-child shared book reading for the development of children's literacy is a vital component of early literacy evidence-based recommendations. A robust body of research demonstrates that, regardless of socioeconomic status, parent-child shared book reading promotes monolingual children's literacy. However, despite the growing population of heritage language learners in the United States, those who grow up in homes where a familial language is spoken but receive English instruction at school, parent-child shared book reading research among heritage language learners remains scarce. Further, the impact of parent-child shared book reading is likely to alter the influence of family's socioeconomic status on heritage language learners’ emergent literacy development. Here, parent-child shared book reading and children's emergent literacy were examined using latent variable path analyses in a national sample of 965 heritage language learners ages 2 to 6 years old. Parent-child shared book reading mediated the effect of socioeconomic status on heritage language learners' emergent literacy.

Parental perspectives on shared reading practices at home

Background Shared book reading is the interaction that occurs between child and adult when they look at or read a book together and it facilitates the development of emergent literacy and language skills. In India, oral narration of stories was the tradition and shared book reading is not a culturally familiar routine. Shared reading practice among preschoolers in India is a less explored research area. Aim The present study explores the parental perspectives and practices on shared reading at home and also its association with Socioeconomic status. Method Forty -one parents of 3-5 years old typically developing children with Malayalam as native language participated in the study. The questionnaire on 'Parental Perspectives on Storybook Reading in Indian Home Contexts' was used to understand the parental perspectives on shared reading, and the “Modified Kuppuswamy Socioeconomic Scale” was used to understand the socioeconomic status of the family. Results 73.1% of parents reported that they began reading to their children between 2 and 4 years of age, 43.9% read 3–5 times per week, and 58.5% had fewer than 10 books in the home. The parental attitude and beliefs about shared reading did not correlate with SES and child's age. Conclusion Overall, the findings indicate that parents were aware of the benefits of storybook reading and were generally positive about it. The findings of this study provide preliminary information on the home literacy environment (HLE) in Kerala. Understanding more about the parental storybook reading practice will facilitate the development of parent programs to enhance and promote quality HLEs.

Family engagement in early learning opportunities at home and in early childhood education centers in Colombia

Family engagement in early learning and education is considered a key predictor of children's development. However, little is known about the link between family engagement in early learning opportunities in sociocultural diverse contexts, particularly in low- and-middle-income countries. This study examined the associations of family engagement in home learning activities (e.g., reading books, naming things) and in early childhood care and education centers (ECCE; e.g., attending meetings or workshops, helping inside the classroom) with young children's emergent literacy and numeracy, social-emotional functioning, motor development, and executive functions, as measured through direct assessment. Data came from a nationally-representative sample of public ECCE centers in Colombia serving 3–5-year-old children (N = 3069). Multilevel model analyses showed that home-based family engagement was associated with higher emergent numeracy, emergent literacy, social-emotional functioning, and motor development, whereas center-based family engagement was associated only with higher emergent numeracy and literacy development. These results suggest that interventions and policies designed to improve family engagement in early learning opportunities both at the ECCE centers and at the home could have positive and independent effects on early childhood development.

Shared-Reading Onset and Emergent Literacy Development

ABSTRACT Research Findings: The home literacy environment and particularly shared reading are central determinants of children’s emergent literacy skills and predictors of their later reading development. Although the importance of frequent shared reading is well established, there is little knowledge about the age at which reading to children starts having beneficial effects. Accordingly, we synthesize five experimental studies (N = 643) to estimate links between retrospectively reported shared-reading onset age, current shared-reading frequency, and a range of emergent literacy skills (expressive and receptive vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, phonological awareness, and oral narrative skill), controlling for child and family characteristics. Retrospective reports of shared-reading onset significantly correlated with current shared-reading frequency and emergent literacy skills. In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, shared-reading onset age predicted grammatical knowledge, receptive and expressive vocabulary, after controlling for child and family characteristics and current shared-reading frequency. However, incremental effects were generally small. Practice or Policy: Findings indicate that early book reading may help to develop emergent literacy skills, even when shared reading begins before the end of children’s first year of life. Thus, we encourage parents to engage in frequent, early book reading activities with their children.

Effects of a professional development program on emergent literacy-promoting practices and environments in early childhood education and care

ABSTRACT The years from birth to five are critical for building the emergent literacy skills that precede learning to read and write. Early childhood education and care services are in a unique position to support emergent literacy development, particularly for children in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. This article reports the findings of a small cluster randomised controlled trial of the Let’s Read professional development program involving 12 centres and 223 educators in Australia. Through eLearning and on-site coaching, the program of relatively short duration and intensity supported educators of children from birth to school age. While the small sample size means the results must be interpreted with caution, the findings were promising. Despite variation in the fidelity of implementation, educators and centres in the intervention group showed more positive scores after participating in Let’s Read than those who did not across all areas of educator practice and classroom quality. Changes were most encouraging for educators of infants and toddlers. These results suggest there is measurable value in professional development involving coaching for improving emergent literacy-promoting practices of early childhood educators, including those working within disadvantaged communities. Concurrent fidelity and impact research should be undertaken with any wider implementation.

Development of copying skills in L2 adult English learners with emergent print literacy

Situated at a Northern California adult school, this study offers insight into the developmental process of adult emergent print literacy development in an L2 context, with specific attention to the earliest stages. Focused on four adult students each having 0–1 year of formal L1 education, the researcher documented instances of copying classroom text over a 5-month period. In alignment with children’s orthographic development, the findings indicate that adults new to writing may also progress along a similar trajectory of written shape production, relying on both motor skill development and the subsequent integration of a perceptual-motor component.Moreover, these learners demonstrated varying levels of attunement to orthographic features of text, including letter count and sequence, word segmentation, and adherence to semiotic norms of paper orientation, lines, and margins. The variance between the participants resulted in varying learner starting points depending on which skills students had previously acquired or been exposed to. Consequently, practitioners should not make any assumptions about the skills incoming students already possess; additionally, practitioners must be conscious of the varying cognitive demands entailed within a simple copying task given the myriad of novel skills entailed.

Australian Early Childhood Teachers’ Training in Language and Literacy: A Nation-Wide Review of Pre-Service Course Content

Early childhood teachers are well-positioned to maximise preschoolers’ development in oral language and emergent literacy; both of which are vital predictors of academic success at school. Research investigating their pre-service training in language and emergent literacy remains limited. This issue is addressed in the present study, with the first nation-wide review of the oral language and emergent literacy course content across all 84 Australian early childhood teacher pre-service courses. Qualitative Content Analysis was employed to gain an overview of language and emergent literacy teaching content reported in publicly available course documents. Study findings demonstrated large variation in the oral language and emergent literacy course content reported. The results showed that course content on the structure of language and code-related skills including phonological awareness and concepts of print, do not feature prominently across pre-service course documents. Further, course content on evidence-based strategies to foster children’s oral language and emergent literacy development, such as dialogic book reading, and intentional adult-child interactions were also limited. Findings are discussed with respect to their implications for preparing early childhood teachers to support the oral language and emergent literacy growth of preschoolers.