Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-01T21:17:36.093Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Early Literacy: A Developmental and Comparative Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

G. Robinson*
Affiliation:
The University of Newcastle
C. M. Rutten
Affiliation:
The University of Newcastle
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Greg Robinson. Special Education Centre, University of Newcastle, Callaghan NSW 2308.

Abstract

In two experiments, the acquisition of literacy skills by three to six year olds was examined to (1) assess a possible developmental sequence of knowledge about print and word reading, and (2) compare the skill levels of good and poor six year old readers using a developmental model.

The first experiment involved 30 three, four and five year olds from a preschool and primary school who were assessed on a battery of tasks designed to measure five aspects of awareness of print and word reading concepts. The five aspects assessed were concepts about print, graphic awareness, phonemic awareness, grapheme-phoneme correspondence knowledge and word reading. Analysis of the data showed a developmental expansion of print related concepts and skills with age.

In the second experiment, using similar methodology, 25 good six year old readers performed significantly better than 22 poor six year old readers across all component measures and a developmental lag reading disability model was thus implied.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ball, E.W., & Blachman, B.A. (1991). Does phoneme awareness training in kindergarten make a difference in early word recognition and developmental spelling? Reading Research Quarterly, 26 (1), 4966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, L., & Bryant, P. (1983). Categorising sounds and learning to read - a causal connection. Nature, 301, 419421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, P.E. (1990). Phonological development and reading. In Pumfrey, P.D. & Elliot, C.D. (Eds.). Children’s difficulties in reading, spelling and writing, 63125. London: Falmer Press.Google Scholar
Byrne, B. (1991). The role of phonological awareness in reading aquisition. Australian Journal of Reading, 14 (2), 133139.Google Scholar
Byrne, B. & Fielding-Bamsley, R. (1990). Aquisition of the alphabetic principle. A case for teaching recognition of phonemic identity. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82 (4), 805812.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrne, B., Freebody, P. & Gates, A. (1992). Longitudinal data on the relations of word reading strategies to comprehension, reading time and phonemic awareness. Reading Research Quarterly, 27 (2), 141151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clay, M. (1985). The early detection of reading difficulties. NZ: Heinemann Education. Google Scholar
Dunn, D. (1991). Towards the prevention of reading problems: phonological awareness. NSW Journal of Special Education, 14, 7–16.Google Scholar
Ehri, L.C., & Wilce, L.S. (1985). Movement into reading: is the first stage of printed word learning visual or phonetic? Reading Research Quarterly, 20 (2), 163179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehri, L.C., & Wilce, L.S. (1987). Does learning to spell help beginners to Iearn to read? Reading Research Quarterly, 22 (1), 4766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herdman, C.M. & LeFevre, J. (1992). Individual differences in the efficiency of word recognition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84 (1), 95102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiebert, E. (1978). Preschool children’s understanding of written language. Child Development, 49, 12311234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiebert, E. (1981). Developmental patterns and interrelationships of preschool children’s print awareness. Reading Research Quarterly, 16 (2), 236260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurford, D. (1990). Training phonemic segmentation ability with a phonemic discrimination intervention in second and third grade children with reading disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23 (9), 564569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurford, D.P., Darrow, L.J., Edwards, T.L., Howerton, C.J., Mote, C.R., Schauf, J.D., & Coffey, P. (1993). An examination of phonemic processing abilities in children during their first-grade year. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 26 (3), 167177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurford, D.P., Gilliland, C., & Ginavan, S. (1992). Examination of the intra syllable phonemic discrimination deficit in children with reading disabilities. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 17, 8388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurford, D.P., & Sanders, R.E. (1990). Assessment and remediation of a phonemic discrimination deficit in reading disabled second and fourth graders. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 50, 396415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Juel, C. (1988). Learning to read and write: a longitudinal study of 54 children from first through fourth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 437447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Juel, C. Griffith, P., & Gough, P., (1986) The acquisition of literacy: a longitudinal study of children in first and second grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 78, 243–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenchner, O., Gerber, M., & Routh, D.K. (1990). Phonological awareness tasks as predictors of decoding ability: beyond segmentation. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 23 (4), 240247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lomax, R.G., & McGee, L.M. (1987). Young children’s concepts about print and reading: toward a model of word reading acquisition. Reading Research Quarterly, 22 (2), 237256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macquarie University. (1990) Reading tutor program. Syd: MUSEC.Google Scholar
Mason, J. (1980). When do children begin to read: an exploration of four-year-old children’s letter and word reading competencies. Reading Research Quarterly, 15, 203–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, J. (1980). When do children begin to read: An exploration of four-year-old children’s letter and word reading competencies. Reading Research Quarterly, 15, 203–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masonheimer, P.E., Drum, P.A., & Ehri, L.C. (1984). Does environmental print identification lead children into word reading? Journal of Reading Behaviour, 16, 257271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, D. (1983). Concepts of word and phoneme awareness in the beginning reader. Research in the Teaching of English, 17, 359373.Google Scholar
Pratt, A.C., & Brady, S. (1988). Relation of phonological awareness to reading disability in children and adults. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (3), 319323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosner, J. (1975). Helping children overcome learning difficulties: a step by step guide for parents and teachers, 2nd ed. New York: Walker &Co. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Share, D., Jorm, A., Maclean, R., & Matthews, R. (1984). Sources of individual difference in reading acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 13091324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K.E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21 (4), 360407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K.E., Nathan, R.G., & Vala-Rossi, M. (1986). Developmental changes in the cognitive correlates of reading ability and the developmental lag hypothesis. Reading Research Quarterly, 21 (3), 267283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanovich, K.E. (1988). Explaining the differences between the dyslexic and the garden-variety poor reader: the phonological-core variable-difference Model. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 21 (10), 590604.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tunmer, W., & Nesdale, A. (1985). Phonemic segmentation skill and beginning reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 417427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walczyk, J.J., & Raska, L.J. (1992). The relation between low- and high-level reading skills in children. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 17, 38–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar