Acquisition Of Literacy Skills Research Articles

Learning to Read in an “Estranged” Language: Arabic Diglossia, Child Literacy, and the Case for Mother Tongue-Based Education

Reading proficiency of Arab students is amongst the lowest globally. Research in applied linguistics confirms the pervasive impact of Arabic language diglossia—that is the linguistic distance between the language of education, Standard Arabic (StA), and the vernacular mother tongue, Spoken Arabic (SpA)—on the acquisition of various basic literacy skills. This multidisciplinary paper argues that the current approach to education in Arab countries is not working and proposes to refocus on Mother Tongue-Based education. In a novel analysis, the paper examines through the lens of diglossia StA vocabulary in various educational materials designed to teach initial literacy to young children, including the new kindergarten Arabic textbook by the Ministry of Education of Egypt. The analysis shows that more than half the vocabulary used to teach basic reading skills, such as phonics and decoding, is unfamiliar to children, i.e., distant from their spoken language variety. A commonly proposed solution to the unfamiliarity of preschool-aged children with the language of literacy instruction is to expand their oral exposure to StA, through read-aloud and screen time, such that it is not a new language when they enter school. Drawing on findings from the fields of Arabic linguistics, Early Childhood Education, MotherTongue-Based education, and children’s literature, this paper discusses problems with this approach and deems it unimplementable. Using new survey data, the paper confirms the poor culture of reading to children in StA. It further outlines research demonstrating the limited role of screen time in developing language. Recognizing that children enter school with limited to no knowledge of StA, the paper presents evidence-based arguments for why adopting Mother Tongue-Based education—where SpA is the language of literacy instruction during the initial years of schooling—is the better pedagogical approach to teaching literacy and should be a steppingstone to learning StA.

A Study of the Relationship between Family Income and Literacy Level

Many socioeconomic factors influence the literacy rate in Pakistan. Poverty is known to be the main factor considered to have coexisted with low literacy skills and under achievements. There is an established link between poverty and illiteracy in developing countries. Poverty forces people into child labor, which produces illiteracy and these illiterates are forced to take low-income jobs that produce poverty. Thus, poverty and illiteracy have a cyclical relationship. The study was launched to further probe the link between family income and the acquisition of literacy skills. The main aim of the study was to: examine the co-occurrence of family income and participants’ learning achievement level; and to explore the role of income on participants’ literacy skills and to recommend certain measures to improve literacy. The study was descriptive, and the survey method was adopted to gather data from the people of the District of Bahawalpur. Two types of research tools were employed in the current study. The first tool was adapted by the Lao National Literacy Survey 2001, which was based on household information. The second tool was a test, adapted by the Lao National Literacy Survey 2001, which measures the basic literacy skills (reading, writing, numeracy, and visual skills) and background information of respondents. The researcher used two separate sheets for each respondent. One sheet was used for households' basic information and the other for the compilation of test results of the literacy skills of the respondents. After gathering the complete information from respondents, the data was organized and analyzed statistically. The main finding of the study reflective that high family income correlates with a higher level of literacy skills, and lower-income with a lower level of literacy skills. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that the government launch facilitating programs for the needy and vulnerable wards of society.

Mystery of the Runaway Letrabytes: Inclusive Assessment of Phonological Awareness With Tangible Gamification

The development of phonological awareness, i.e. the metacognitive skill that allows thinking and manipulating the language structure, from an early age is mandatory for the acquisition of literacy skills. Multisensory stimulation, curiosity and interest are fundamental for learning. In doing so, Communication Technologies have a key role because a learning-oriented use can encourage current digital natives’ interest and thinking. This paper presents a game with tangible technology designed for both intervention and diagnostic, formative and summative evaluation. The user experience was carried out during two weeks through a multiple case study with four kindergarten children. A multimedia adventure game was presented in which they had to solve phonological awareness challenges through the manipulation of tangible technology to achieve the final goal. The observation was recorded in the designed evaluation model, allowing the analysis of pre- and post-intervention data after the triangulation of data for subsequent qualitative analysis. The results show an improvement in phonological awareness, as well as the gamified experience marks. These promising outcomes support the use of such methodologies to a learner-centered education model.

Examining the Status of English as a Medium of Instruction in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Study of Botswana and Nigeria

This paper examines the status of English as a medium of instruction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by comparing how it is taught and learned in Botswana and Nigeria. The paper’s argument is based on the premise that learners acquire literacy skills in a familiar language (Williams, 2011). The English language is an official language in the two countries and has been linked to their social, economic and political development (Cholakova, 2015). The aim of the study is to compare the status of English as a medium of instruction in Botswana and Nigeria, identify and examine the implications for its use, and recommend best practice for policymakers in the field. Based on a systematic review of research between 2000 and 2021, the paper identifies several key findings affecting both countries: the insufficient acquisition of literacy skills in English, the need for a language policy review in Botswana, and the need for a thorough review of teacher quality by the governments of both countries if United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.c is to be achieved by the deadline of 2030. The implications of the review for both countries are that pupils drop out of school as a result of their lack of understanding of English; a non-credit pass in English at the secondary level can hinder students’ career progression; English remains parents’ educationally preferred language; and policy makers need to have a strategic awareness of how English and other languages are used in their communities for educational purposes.

Analisis kemampuan scientific literacy siswa SMA dalam soal PISA pada materi virus dan bakteri

This study aims to analyze the scientific literacy skills of high school students on PISA released items reading and science questions based on the PISA framework on the "Process Aspects" in terms of scientific literacy and reading literacy on the biological content of the material "Viruses and Bacteria". This research is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The instruments used were PISA questions in 2000, 2006, and 2015 which have been released (main instrument) as well as school curriculum biology questions (comparative instruments), questionnaires, and interviews. The research began to be carried out in February 2020 and began with conducting research trials conducted in schools (A). The subjects in this study were students in SMA (B) and (C) grades 10, 11, and 12 with different school curriculum characteristics, school (B) with the 2013 curriculum and school (C) with the Cambridge curriculum. Sampling was carried out using convenience sampling method. The results showed that the scientific literacy skills of school B students resulted in: 80% (grade 10), 81% (grade 11) and 75% (grade 12) in the "High" category, school C resulted in: 47% (grade 10), 51% (grade 11) and 55% (grade 12) in the "Very Low" category. The students' results in the 2013 school curriculum biology questions (B) were included in the "Very High" category, while schools (C) that used the Cambridge curriculum were included in the "Low" category. Acquisition of scientific literacy skills which is included in the "High" category is in line with the experience of students in learning in schools which as a whole uses the PBL (Problem Based Learning) method, while the acquisition of scientific literacy skills which is included in the "Low" category turns out to be less in line with students' experiences in learning. in schools that as a whole use the PjBL (Project Based Learning) method.

Links between early literacy and early numeracy during preschool education in France

ABSTRACT Children develop early literacy and numeracy skills from an early age. The primary aim of the current study is to examen links between early literacy skills and early numeracy skills during preschool education in France. This study involves 313 kindergarten students (152 girls and 161 boys), aged between 3.44 and 7.02 years (mean age = 5.07 years, standard deviation = 0.88). Regression analyses accounting for children’s characteristics and early literacy skills revealed that letter knowledge was a significant predictor of numeral identification and verbal counting in the three years of French école maternelle. Children’s characteristics (age and socioeconomic status) have an impact on early numeracy skills but only for the youngest students in school (petite section). These findings suggest that young children’s early numeracy skills are related to the acquisition of early literacy skills and to children’s characteristics. Implications for future research are discussed.

Exploring parents’, coaches’, and children’s experiences and perceived outcomes in preschooler sport

ABSTRACT There is limited and conflicting evidence of the benefits of early years (<6) sport participation, yet sport programmes directly targeting this demographic are commonplace. Given known positive and negative outcomes associated with sport participation among older children and youth, there is a need to explore unique benefits, risks, and associated experiences of younger children’s sport involvement; this research may inform parenting decisions around early sport enrolment, and implications for children’s development over the life course. In this exploratory study, experiences and perceived outcomes of preschooler sport participation were examined from the perspective of parents (n = 10), coaches (n = 7), and children aged 3–5 years (n = 10). Results emerging from individual semi-structured interviews revealed themes related to (a) physical activity and energy management, (b) physical literacy and sport skill acquisition, (c) understanding success and failure, (d) socialisation and social skills, and (e) life skills and school readiness. Findings indicate substantive diversity in experiences and perceived outcomes across participants, tied in part to children’s age, length of time in programs, programme/sport type, and concurrent attendance of other programs (e.g. music, daycare, kindergarten). Preschooler sport experiences were not universal, and despite parents’ sometimes inflated expectations, positive developmental outcomes did not emerge through children’s mere attendance alone, but rather were the result of unique interacting contextual factors. Continued research is warranted, as positive outcomes among older children and youth in sport should not automatically be imprinted upon the preschooler demographic.

Universal Grammar (UG) Access in the Acquisition of Literacy Skills: Evidences from the Undergraduate (BS- English) Students’ Knowledge of Punctuations

Universal Grammar (UG) Access in the Acquisition of Literacy Skills: Evidences from the Undergraduate (BS- English) Students’ Knowledge of Punctuations

The Impact of E-Book Reading on Young Children's Emergent Literacy Skills: An Analytical Review.

Young children’s use of digital devices is increasing as we progress through the 21st century and handheld and mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have become increasingly available. While older children using tablets to read has been more broadly investigated, less is known about the impacts of digital reading on children at the stage of literacy acquisition. An analytical review was conducted on the effects of interactive e-book interventions for young children’s literacy development when compared to (a) listening to print books, (b) regular school programs, and (c) reading non-enhanced and non-interactive e-books. A significant additional beneficial effect of e-book interventions was found for phonological awareness and vocabulary learning based on data from 1138 children in 14 randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies. When e-books are properly selected and used, children develop literacy skills equally well and sometimes better than with print books. Additionally, e-book interventions outperformed the regular school program in the development of literacy skills. Similarly, enhanced e-book conditions revealed benefits over the non-enhanced e-book interventions in literacy skill acquisition. The impact of these findings related to health issues, e-book design, disadvantaged populations, and adult-led e-book sharing is discussed.

University Students Harvesting the Benefits of a Garden Laboratory.

Community gardens (CG) are areas of land where individuals or groups grow food in single or shared plots, typically in an urban setting, providing fresh produce, urban greening, and opportunities to socialize and improve the community. The purpose of this descriptive study was to introduce a CG laboratory (lab) as part of an introductory foods course within a nutrition program and explore how the lab influenced students' learning and overall experiences. Forty-one students, 2 lab instructors, and 3 student volunteers who tended the CG participated in the survey. Survey analysis revealed 4 interrelated themes: (i) connection and exposure, (ii) food preparation, (iii) benefits of using local food, and (iv) explicit learning. Overall, the lab fostered multiple types of individual and relational learning involving the acquisition of course content and food literacy skills. The CG was valued by students as a curriculum component as well as opportunities for personal growth and development. With the growing importance of food systems knowledge to the profession, CG may act as a site for embodied forms of learning in nutrition programs.

How Predictive Is the Match Between Children’s Emergent Literacy Skills With Maternal Reading Proficiency From Early Childhood Education to Literacy Skills Acquisition in Primary Five? Evidence From Ghana

This longitudinal study investigated the predictive power of the match between home literary practices, especially maternal reading proficiency and children’s emergent literacy skills at preschool, and how these implicate children’s literacy acquisition at primary five. Using stratified random purposive sampling of two hundred and fifty two (252) participants, comprising one hundred and twenty mothers, one hundred and twenty kindergarten children, and twelve kindergarten teachers responses measured using multiple linear regression models, the following were the major findings: a) parental education especially that of the mother was the most significant factor; b) phonological and morphological awareness during preschool at age 4 mediated causal connection to early family socioeconomic status and children’s ability at age 11 on character recognition; c) children’s vocabulary acquisition at age 4 mediated a correlation between early family factors such as mother’s socioeconomic status and mother-child reading tuition at home and how fluent children can read at age 11. The conclusion of this study is that it difficult to significantly improve early family environmental factors of some children, nevertheless, designing classroom intervention for disadvantaged children on cognitive and linguistic skills is feasible and possible to compensate for environmental disadvantage.

Mothers' views and home literacy practices on children literacy skills acquisition: A qualitative study

This study aimed to explore mother's views and home literacy practices for their children on literacy skills acquisition. In the study carried out in 2020, twenty-five mothers of children aged 6 years were assessed by means of a semi-structured qualitative interview. Two mother views were identified; (1) family is responsible (FR) and (2) teacher is responsible (TR) on children's literacy skills acquisition. An examination of the literacy practices offered by mothers revealed that there are similarities and differences between the practices. The obtained results indicated that mothers who consider that family is responsible for children's literacy acquisition implemented more versatile and greater number of activities for their children. On the contrary, mothers who consider that teachers are responsible for children's literacy acquisition preferred mostly activities that support writing skills rather than reading skills. Some recommendations were also made in this paper to promote the emergent literacy skills of preschoolers.

Exploring the effect of an augmented reality literacy programme for reading and spelling difficulties for children diagnosed with ADHD

Children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience a variety of difficulties related to three primary symptoms: hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The most common type of ADHD has a combination of all three symptom areas. These core symptoms may negatively impact the academic and social performance of children throughout their school life. The AHA (ADHD-Augmented) project focused specifically on the impact of digital technologies’ intervention on literacy skills of children that participated in the pilot study and were diagnosed with ADHD prior to the intervention. Existing research has shown that augmented reality (AR) can improve academic outcomes by stimulating pupils’ attention. AHA project aimed at implementing an evidence-based intervention to improve ADHD children’s reading and spelling abilities through the enhancement of an existing literacy programme with AR functionality. The present paper reports preliminary findings of the pilot study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the AHA system in promoting the acquisition of literacy skills in a sample of children diagnosed with ADHD compared to the literacy programme as usual. Background information on the main characteristics and difficulties related to the teaching and learning process associated with children diagnosed with ADHD are first introduced; the design and methodology of the AHA project intervention are also described. The preliminary findings have shown that AHA project succeeded in delivering an AR solution within an existing online literacy programme, which integrates a set of specific technologies and supports interactive educational content, services, assessment, and feedback.

Using Systematic Synthetic Phonics to Accelerate Rural Indigenous Children’s Acquisition of Early Literacy Skills

Studies focusing on the strategy of phonics in Malaysia have highlighted the insufficiency and ineffectiveness of SBELC phonics training received by teachers, resulting in confusion among them as to what really constitutes effective use of the phonics strategy. On the other hand, systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) has been proven beneficial in accelerating the performance of children in their early literacy. However, few studies have been conducted on English language learners as the majority of those research was focused on native speakers of the English language. Against this background, this article presents a description of a systematic way of teaching phonics that could inform teachers on how the strategy can be optimally utilised to accelerate the performance of students who are possibly at risk of being left behind. It then reports an investigation that compared the efficacy of SSP against SBELC phonics in accelerating the acquisition of early literacy skills with a group of indigenous children residing in the rural parts of Sarawak, Malaysia. Five instruments; (1) productive letter-sound test, (2) free-sound isolation test, (3) reading test, (4) spelling test, and (5) oral-reading fluency test were administered to measure phonemic awareness, decoding, reading, and spelling ability. Data were collected from the pretest and the posttest. The results demonstrate that both groups recorded significant improvement in reading and spelling, but children in the experimental group (SSP) outperformed the control group (SBELC phonics) significantly. Following this, SSP should be implemented in classrooms to help accelerate children’s early reading fluency and spelling ability.

Using a Gesture-based videogame to support eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills of children with down syndrome

Children with Down syndrome (DS) have deficits in eye-hand coordination skills. Deficits in eye-hand coordination could negatively impact the acquisition of literacy skills. This paper presents the evaluation of BeeSmart, a gesture-based videogame for supporting eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills. The aim of this work is to investigate whether BeeSmart has the potential to support eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills of children with DS. A 10-week study with seven children with DS and two psychotherapists is presented. The results indicate that BeeSmart was perceived as a potential tool to support eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills. Three out of seven participants improved their eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills to some degree. The evaluation study also revealed some improvements that should be made to BeeSmart, such as a reward counter for children with DS with a higher cognitive level. More game sessions with BeeSmart is required to investigate at what degree of BeeSmart improves eye-hand coordination and pre-literacy skills of children with DS.

Instructional Materials’ Effect on Learners’ Literacy Among Public Pre-Primary II in Webuye West Sub-County, Kenya

Unavailability of instructional materials inhibits the acquisition of literacy competencies among learners at pre-primary level. This study sought to find out how the availability of instructional materials influences learners’ literacy among Pre-Primary II learners in public primary schools in Webuye West Sub-County. Descriptive survey research design that adopted mixed methods approach was used. A population of 3,216 respondents that comprised 55 headteachers and their deputies, 109 pre-primary II teachers and 2,997 pre-primary II learners was engaged in the study. From these, a sample of 86 pre-primary II teachers and 341 pre-primary II learners were randomly drawn while 48 head teachers and 48 deputies were sampled using purposive sampling technique. The researcher collected data using questionnaires from deputy headteachers and pre-primary II teachers, interview guide from headteachers and observation schedule from pre-primary II learners. The questionnaires were piloted using test re-test method and a reliable Cronbach correlation alpha index of 0.79 computed. The instruments were adequately validated. Quantitative data was analysed and presented on tables while qualitative data was analysed thematically as guided by the research objectives. The study found out that schools in the study area did not provide adequate and appropriate instructional materials that would equip learners with literacy skills. It further found out that inadequacy of instructional materials affected the acquisition of literacy skills in pre-school learners. The study recommends that the National and County government should provide adequate teaching and learning materials to enhance the acquisition of literacy skills among pre-primary II learners in public primary schools in Webuye West Sub-County. It also recommends that a similar study is carried out in other areas and consider using a larger population and include more variables such as the role of the teacher in influencing learners’ acquisition of literacy skills in pre-primary II level.

Teenage Mothers’ Socio-Economic Status and Involvement in Their Children’s Early Literacy Skills Acquisition in Kilifi, County Kenya

Early literacy competency is a key factor in a child’s reading progress, school transition and academic achievement. Children who acquire pre-literacy skills adequately and early in life have been seen to have a smooth transition, have a thorough understanding of concepts in other learning areas and become high academic achievers. Since acquisition of pre-literacy skills is a fundamental issue in the education cycle of an individual, it should not be left to teachers alone. It is of essence to establish how parents can be involved in their children’s acquisition of pre-literacy skills since they are the first teachers that a child encounters. Parents can be involved in promoting their children’s acquisition of pre-literacy skills by providing resources that promote acquisition of pre-literacy skills, assisting children to do homework, involving children in shared book reading and creating a stimulating Home Learning Environment (HLE). A family’s Socio-Economic Status has been identified as one of the major factors that influence the rate of parental involvement in education. Parents from privileged SES backgrounds are more involved in their children’s education than their counterparts from low SES backgrounds. Most teenage mothers drop out of school before completing the whole education cycle and therefore they lack marketable skills that would help them get decent jobs. This means that they end up in low paying and unsatisfying jobs. It was therefore important to find out how the SES of teenage mothers influence their involvement in children’s acquisition of pre-literacy skills. This article highlights findings from a study that sought to establish the influence of teenage mothers’ SES on their involvement in children’s acquisition of pre-literacy skills. The study was based on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and employed descriptive survey design. It was carried out in Kilifi County, Kenya and involved a sample of 115 teenage mothers. A questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. Findings indicated that the SES of teenage mothers influence their involvement in children’s acquisition of pre-literacy skills. The authors recommended that the back to school policy should be fully implemented, county governments increase resources allocated to pre-primary schools and donor agents should help teenage mothers acquire vocational skills. Keywords: Demographic factors, early literacy, education level, pre-literacy skills, pre-primary children, socio-economic status, teenage mothers DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-18-15 Publication date: June 30th 2020

A Comparison of Pinyin Invented Spelling and Oddity Test in Measuring Phonological Awareness in L2 Learners of Chinese.

The importance of phonological awareness (PA) for the acquisition of literacy skills has been widely recognized. Across languages, PA is commonly examined using the Oddity test, however, for Chinese-speaking children, Pinyin invented spelling is recommended as being a more powerful tool to assess PA. However, it is still unclear whether this holds true for learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL). To address this issue, we administered an oddity test and a Pinyin invented spelling task to explore Chinese PA in 43 Arabic and 40 English CSL learners at pre-intermediate and intermediate levels. The results generated two major findings. First, Pinyin invented spelling revealed more significant cross-group differences in Chinese PA between the Arabic and English CSL learners than the oddity test. Second, the participants' performance in Pinyin invented spelling was a stronger predictor of character-reading and character-writing skills than their performance in the oddity test. The overall findings suggest that Pinyin invented spelling may be a more powerful measurement of Chinese PA for CSL learners in comparison to the conventional test, in line with the findings reported for Chinese-speaking children. The theoretical implications for understanding the role of phonological skills in the growth of Chinese literacy skills and practical suggestions for measuring Chinese PA are proposed.

The link between executive functions and literacy: introduction

This special issue was born within the M2S Project (Mindfulness to students’ success: Relating executive functions and writing through a mindfulness app to promote children’s cognitive, social, and health-related outcomes) to call researchers and practitioners’ attention to the role that executive functions play on the acquisition and development of literacy skills, a neglected topic in the field. The selected papers include various methods and techniques to examine the relationships between literacy and executive functions across languages/cultures and different age groups, with and without disabilities.

Literacy Training of Kindergarten Children With Pencil, Keyboard or Tablet Stylus: The Influence of the Writing Tool on Reading and Writing Performance at the Letter and Word Level.

During the last years, digital writing devices are increasingly replacing handwriting with pencil and paper. As reading and writing skills are central for education, it is important to know, which writing tool is optimal for initial literacy education. The present training study was therefore set up to test the influence of the writing tool on the acquisition of literacy skills at the letter and word level with various tests in a large sample of kindergarten children (n = 147). Using closely matched letter learning games, children were trained with 16 letters by handwriting with a pencil on a sheet of paper, by writing with a stylus on a tablet computer, or by typing letters using a virtual keyboard on a tablet across 7 weeks. Training using a stylus on a touchscreen is an interesting comparison condition for traditional handwriting, because the slippery surface of a touchscreen has lower friction than paper and thus increases difficulty of motor control. Before training, immediately after training and four to five weeks after training, we assessed reading and writing performance using standardized tests. We also assessed visuo-spatial skills before and after training, in order to test, whether the different training regimens affected cognitive domains other than written language. Children of the pencil group showed superior performance in letter recognition and improved visuo-spatial skills compared with keyboard training. The performance of the stylus group did not differ significantly neither from the keyboard nor from the pencil group. Keyboard training, however, resulted in superior performance in word writing and reading compared with handwriting training with a stylus on the tablet, but not compared with the pencil group. Our results suggest that handwriting with pencil fosters acquisition of letter knowledge and improves visuo-spatial skills compared with keyboarding. At least given the current technological state, writing with a stylus on a touchscreen seems to be the least favorable writing tool, possibly because of increased demands on motor control. Future training studies covering a more extended observation period over years are needed to allow conclusions about long-term effects of writing tools on literacy acquisition as well as on general cognitive development.