Emergent Comprehension: A Literature Review

December, 2011Dianna Sand

Definitions Background Foundation Research Research Highlights What’s Next?

Focus

Emergent literacy can be defined as the beginnings of understanding of literacy ideas which lead to conventional literacy (Dooley, 2010).

Emergent comprehension encompasses a child's experiences and understanding prior to "conventional text comprehension" (Dooley and Matthews, 2009,p. 273).

Definitions

What constitutes early childhood literacy skills?

What are the definitions of emergent literacy and early comprehension?

Is early childhood comprehension different from conventional comprehension?

Which instructional strategies could best help to develop early childhood literacy skills and comprehension?

Questions

Developmentally Appropriate Practice

BackgroundNational Early Literacy

PanelDeveloping Early Literacy

Top tier variables produce medium to large predictive relationships: ◦ alphabet knowledge◦ phonological awareness◦ rapid automatic naming

of letters or digits◦ rapid automatic naming

of objects or colors, writing or writing name

◦ phonological memory

Second tier variables produce moderate correlations with at least one measure of later literacy achievement:◦ concepts about print◦ print knowledge◦ reading readiness◦ oral language◦ visual processing

NELP Findings

Criticism of NELP Agreement with NELP

Broader interpretation of literacy in the younger years

Narrowness of the predictor variables and cautions around basing pre-k instruction only on the top tier variables

Comprehensive approach for pre-k instruction which includes both skills and language development strategies – including ELLs, disabilities – not addressed

Language, vocabulary, conceptual, and background knowledge development – not addressed

Need for research in areas such as:◦ Oral language

development and correlations to later / conventional literacy skills

◦ Early comprehension research

Dooley & Matthews (2009) and Dooley (2010) Identified four phases characterizing children’s

approaches to books:◦ Book as Prop – prior to age 2 into early age 3 --used

in play, like toys, mistreated◦ Book as Invitation – late age 2 into age 3 – books

represent not only physical object by have abstract meaning . . . “the bug book”

◦ Book as Script – turning 3 – begin to treat books like books: topic content, image and voice intonations

◦ Book as Text – turning 4 – indicated attention to print, pointing to words, approximated reading (even looking at beginning sounds)

Research Highlight

1.Young children interact with texts in ways different from those of older children and adults.

2.Young children’s symbolic understanding develops across time via interactions with significant others.

3.Young children’s meaning construction begins at birth via experience with primary caregivers and other important adults.

(Dooley, 2010, p. 121.)

Emergent Comprehension

Modality of Play: play integration as it relates to literacy learning in preschool settings

Nicolopoulou, Barbosa de Sà, Ilgaz, and Brockmeyer (2010)

Moon and Reifel (2008) Modality of Movement

Phillips, Gorton, Pinciotti, and Sachdev (2010) obtained improvement across several components of the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards

DeBruin-Parecki & Squibb (2011) looked at teaching comprehension strategies, movement was a component

Haggerty (2010) three-year research project in New Zealand –”investigated children’s use of different literacy modes” (p. 178).

Multimodal Approaches

Joe doing a wheelie on the tricycle.Photo of Joe cornering on two

wheels.

Research Highlight: Haggerty, on multimodal literacy

“We suggest that connecting with the significance that these modes and experiences held for Joe enabled him to more fully contribute to and benefit from the kindergarten’s curriculum. (p. 182).

Three-year old Joe on his motorbike!Photo of Joe riding at motorcross.

Research Highlight: Haggerty, on multimodal literacy

“This photograph transformed how we viewed Joe’s riding, making us reassess the scale of Joe’s bide riding interests and skills” (p. 184).

Photo of Joe and bike mid-air .

Research Highlight: Haggerty, on multimodal literacy

“We have come to more fully appreciate the permeability of the boundaries between what constitutes traditional literacies, non-traditional literacies, and ‘non’-literacies” p. 188.

American Sign Language ◦ Weiss (2008 Doctoral Dissertation): improvements for

language-delayed students in receptive, expressive language and comprehension.

Art◦ Soundy & Drucker (2010) – how can children create and

express meaning (comprehension) through art? Music

◦ Bolduc (2008) literature review of the effects of music instruction on emergent literacy capacities among pre-school children; twenty years of research; music is a complementary approach to develop listening and analysis abilities as well as “linguistic abilities: auditory perception, phonological memory, and metacognitive knowledge.” (Conclusion Section).

Multisensory Approaches

Zalea --- Tracks in the snow

Research Highlight: Soundy & Drucker, on Picture Partners

“‘Peter is making tracks.’ [Zalea uses her finger to trace the curving lines.] Then she continues, ‘Peter wants to make a snow angel, his favorite thing.’ As she points to the footprints leading to the impression in the snow, she chants, ‘Crunch, crunch, crunch.’”

Research Highlight: Soundy & Drucker, on Picture Partners

“Emergent Comprehension” is ripe for research.

Multimodal and multisensory approaches to teaching help in development of early comprehension.

Summary

Interesting things ◦ Testing instruments used were all different◦ Cognitive research / brain functioning is hot◦ More research on emergent comprehension ◦ On the verge of change

What’s next . . .

Bolduc, J. (2008). The effects of music instruction on emergent literacy capacities among pre-school children: A literature review. Early Childhood Research & Practice 10(1). http://search.ebscohost.com.holyfamily.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ848819&site=ehost-live

DeBruin-Parecki, A., & Squibb, K. (2011). Promoting at-risk preschool children's comprehension through research-based strategy instruction. Reading Horizons, 51(1), 41-62. http://search.ebscohost.com.holyfamily.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=61992967&site=ehost-live

Dickenson, D. K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2010). Speaking out for language: Why language is central to reading development. Educational Researcher, 39(4), 305-310.doi:10.3102/0013189X10370204

Dooley, C. M. (2010). Young children's approaches to books: The emergence of comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 64(2), 120-130. doi:10.1598/RT.64.2.4

Dooley, C. M., & Matthews, M. W. (2009). Emergent comprehension: Understanding comprehension development among young literacy learners. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 9(3), 269-294. doi:10.1177/1468798409345110

References

Gutierrez, K.D., Zepeda, M. & Castro, D. C. (2010). Advancing early literacy learning for all children: Implications of the NELP report for dual-language learners. Educational Researcher, 39(4), 334-339. doi:10.3102/0013189X10369831

Haggerty, M. (2010). Exploring curriculum implications of multimodal literacy in a New Zealand early childhood setting. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18(3), 177-189. doi:10.1080/1350293X.2010.500073

Haggerty, M. (2010). Photo of Joe at motorcross.European Early Childhood Education Research Journal,18(3), 177-189. doi:10.1080/1350293X.2010.500073

Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2011). The great balancing act: Optimizing core curricula through playful pedagogy. In E. Zigler, W. S. Gilliam, & W. S. Barnett, (Eds.). (2011). The pre-K debates: Current controversies & issues. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks Publishing.

Moon, K., & Reifel, S. (2008). Play and literacy learning in a diverse language pre-kindergarten classroom. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 9(1), 49-65. http://search.ebscohost. com.holyfamily.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ894268&site=ehost-live

Morrow, L. M., & Dougherty, S. (2011). Early literacy development: Merging perspectives that influence practice. Journal of Reading Education, 36(3), 5-11. http://search.ebscohost.com.holyfamily.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx ?direc t=true&db=ehh&AN=61998309&site=ehost-live

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. A position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children Washington, DC: Author. http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/position%20statement%20Web.pdf

References

National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy. http://lincs.ed.gov /earlychildhood/NELP/NELPreport.html

Nicolopoulou, A., Barbosa de Sà, A., Ilgaz, H., & Brockmeyer, C. (2010). Using the transformative power of play to educate hearts and minds: From Vygotsky to Vivian Paley and beyond. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 17(1), 42-58. doi:10.1080/10749030903312512

Neuman, S. B. (2010). Lessons from my mother: Reflections on the National Early Literacy Panel Report. Educational Researcher, 39(4), 301-304. doi:10.3102/0013189X10370475

Office of Child Development and Early Learning. Pennsylvania Department of Education and Department of Public Welfare. (2009). Pre-kindergarten Pennsylvania learning standards for early childhood. (Revised) (3rd ed.). Author.

Phillips, R. D., Gorton, R. L., Pinciotti, P., & Sachdev, A. (2010). Promising findings on preschoolers' emergent literacy and school readiness in arts-integrated early childhood settings. Early Childhood Education Journal, 38, 111-122.doi:10.1007/s10643-010-0397-x

References

Rule, A. C., Dockstader, C. J., & Stewart, R. A. (2006). Hands-on and kinesthetic activities for teaching phonological awareness. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(3), 195-201. doi:10.1007/s10643-006-0130-y

Soundy, C.S., & Drucker, M. F. (2010). Picture partners: A co-creative journey into visual literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(6), 447-460. doi.10.1007/s10643-010-0374-4

Soundy, C.S., & Drucker, M. F. (2010). Zalea—Tracks in the snow picture. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(6), 447-460. doi.10.1007/s10643-010-0374-4

Teale, W. H., Hoffman, J. L., & Paciga, K. A. (2010). Where is NELP leading preschool literacy instruction? Potential positives and pitfalls. Educational Researcher, 39(4), 311-315. doi:10.3102/0013189X10369830

Weiss, M. (2008). Increasing receptive, expressive, and overall language skills in language-delayed preschool students. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest. (3346418.)

Zigler, E., Gilliam, W. S., & Barnett, W. S. (Eds.). (2011). The pre-K debates: Current controversies & issues. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks Publishing.

References