THEORIES OF LEARNING AND EARLY LITERACY

OBJECTIVES

Define emergent literacy Explain the importance of

home literacy to early literacy

DEFINITION OF EMERGENT LITERACY

Emergent literacy is a term first used by Marie Clay to describe how young children interact with books and when reading and writing, even though they could not read or write in the conventional sense. A vast amount of research has since been done within the fields of psychology, child development, education, linguistics, and sociology.

Emergent literacy is a gradual process that takes place over time from birth - until a child can read and write in what we consider to be a conventional sense. A key to the term literacy is the interrelatedness of all parts of language: speaking, listening, reading, writing, and viewing. It is never too early to begin reading to a child.

ELEMENTS OF EMERGENT LITERACY

The process of learning to read and write begins very early in a child's life. Children have contact with many forms of communication right from the start. Most children can identify common signs and logos by the age of 2-3. They will begin to experiment with written forms of communicating by scribbling long before they can read. 

ELEMENTS OF EMERGENT LITERACY

Reading and writing develop at the same time in young children and are interrelated. Children do not learn how to read first and then learn how to write. Writing is often easier for some children to begin with than reading.

The functions of reading often promote the learning of reading. Literacy often develops from the need in real life situations to get something done or to read so that they can learn. Literacy is not a set of isolated skills, but rather a set of processes that children see as a means to achieve goals.

ELEMENTS OF EMERGENT LITERACY

Children learn literacy through active engagement with books and writing opportunities. Children reconstruct their knowledge by rereading favorite books.

ELEMENTS OF EMERGENT LITERACY

Listening to books plays a very important role in the literacy development of children. Reading to children each day is one of the most beneficial ways in which a parent can promote literacy. Children develop a feel for the nature of written language at a very early age by listening to books read aloud. They begin to understand the function of reading and develop a positive attitude towards it. 

ELEMENTS OF EMERGENT LITERACY

Children pass through the stages of emergent literacy in different ways and at different ages. These developmental stages lead to the skills needed for both reading and writing acquisition.

ELEMENTS OF EMERGENT LITERACY

Parents can promote early literacy development for infants by:

* introducing cloth or cardboard books with brightly colored pictures

* reading books that have rhyme, rhythm and repetition like nursery rhymes* pointing out words in the environment (such as on signs, etc) and explaining the meaning of the words

Parents can promote early literacy development for toddlers and preschoolers by:

* surrounding children with a literature rich environment filled with books, magazines, games, etc.* reading simple stories with one central character and a basic plot* responding to questions your child might have about print in your house or elsewhere in the environment* supporting early writing by making sure that paper, crayons, pencils and markers are available

THE IMPORTANCE

OF HOME

LITERACYTO

EARLY LITERACY

Early childhood professionals have long recognized the importance of language and literacy in preparing children to succeed in school. Early literacy plays a key role in enabling the kind of early learning experiences that research shows are linked with academic achievement, reduced grade retention, higher graduation rates, and enhanced productivity in adult life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HOME LITERACY

TO EARLY LITERACY

Literacy learning starts early and persists throughout life.

In the past, our field has talked about early literacy in terms of what was called reading readiness, the necessary level of preparation children should attain before beginning formal reading instruction. Key factors or predictors include oral language, alphabet knowledge, knowledge of how the sounds of our language link to the alphabet, and knowledge about print.

Reading readiness largely focused on targeted instruction in kindergarten and early first grade. While the notion of certain predictors has been maintained, the way we look at their development has changed. Today’s research suggests that learning to read and write is an ongoing and emerging process from infancy. This is consistent with what has been learned from neurocognitive research about young learners and learning. From the earliest years, everything that adults do to support children’s language and literacy really counts.

Oral language and literacy develop concurrently.

Although oral language is foundational to literacy development, the two also develop concurrently. What children learn from listening and talking contributes to their ability to read and write and vice versa. For example, young children’s phonological awareness (ability to identify and make oral rhymes and manipulate the individual sounds – phonemes- in spoken words) is an important indicator of their potential success in learning to read. Phonological awareness begins early with rhyming games and chants, often on a parent’s knee.

• Children who fall behind in oral language and literacy development are less likely to be successful beginning readers; and their achievement lag is likely to persist throughout the primary grades and beyond.

• It is not enough to simply teach early literacy skills in isolation. Teaching children to apply the skills they learn has a significantly greater effect on their ability to read and write.

Children’s experiences with the world and with print greatly influence their ability to comprehend what they read.

True reading involves understanding. What children bring to a text, whether oral or written, influences the understandings they take away. The more limited a child’s experiences the more likely he or she will have difficulty with reading.

There are two kinds of experiences that are highly influential to literacy development: background knowledge about the world and background knowledge about print and books.

THANK YOU!