Early literacy and child wellbeing: Exploring the efficacy of a home-based literacy intervention on children’s foundational literacy skills

2020 ◽  
pp. 146879842095522
Author(s):  
Melissa Derby ◽  
Angus Macfarlane ◽  
Gail Gillon
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Literacy Success

This paper reports on findings from a doctoral study that explored the efficacy of a home-based literacy intervention in advancing preschool children’s foundational literacy skills. Two key cognitive skills critical for early literacy success were examined in particular, those being phonological awareness, and elements of oral language, including vocabulary knowledge, which is the specific skill discussed in this paper. The intervention consisted of two main areas of focus – one, named Rich Reading and Reminiscing (RRR), concentrated on stimulating children’s oral language skills, and the other, called Stimulating Sound Sensitivity (SSS), aimed to generate shifts in children’s phonological awareness abilities. Data sets were gathered with eight children and their families over a twelve-week period, which corresponded with the duration of the intervention. A final set of data was collected six months after the intervention ceased. The study employed a crossover design, where four children and their families participated in the RRR component of the intervention, which ran for six weeks, followed by the SSS portion of the intervention. The remaining four children participated in the same parts of the intervention but in reverse order of delivery. The crossover approach established a control in the study, and allowed the effects of each part of the intervention on the children’s early literacy skills to be more clearly revealed. This paper reports on two children – one from each cohort – whose results are evidence of the efficacy of the intervention in advancing key aspects of children’s foundational literacy skills. Key Findings The children who participated in the RRR component of the intervention first showed improvements in vocabulary knowledge mid-intervention. Conversely, the children who participated in the SSS component first made gains in their phonological awareness skills before the other cohort of children did. These findings have implications for early childhood educators and families concerning the strategies adopted by these stakeholders which aim to foster strong cognitive skills critical for literacy success.

Effects of Explicit and Non-explicit Versions of an Early Intervention Program Incorporating Indigenous Culture into Kindergarten Literacy Instruction

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie D. Mackay ◽  
Kent Mcintosh
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Risk Category ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Before And After

Abstract Low literacy is a challenge facing Indigenous communities across North America and is an identified barrier to school success. Early literacy intervention is an important target to reduce the discrepancies in literacy outcomes. The Moe the Mouse® Speech and Language Development Program (Gardner & Chesterman, 2006) is a cultural curriculum created to improve the early language skills of students aged three to five, but its effectiveness in improving early literacy skills has yet to be assessed. An enhanced Moe the Mouse® program, created by the first author, integrates explicit instruction in phonological awareness into the Moe the Mouse® program. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the two programs. One hundred Kindergarten students at six elementary schools participated in this study. A quasiexperimental pre-post cluster design with three conditions was used. Before and after the program, phonological awareness skills of the students were assessed. Across the intervention, statistically significant differences were found in relation to phonological skills. After the intervention, a statistically significantly smaller proportion of students from the enhanced Moe the Mouse® program fell in the “At Risk” category for later reading difficulties when compared to the other conditions. Additionally, both programs were rated by teachers as socially valid and culturally responsive.

scholarly journals Effects of computerized grapho-phonological training on literacy acquisition and vocabulary knowledge in children with an immigrant background learning German as L2

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-383
Author(s):  
Marita Konerding ◽  
Kirstin Bergström ◽  
Thomas Lachmann ◽  
Maria Klatte
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Training Group ◽  
Literacy Acquisition ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Reading Measures

Abstract As a consequence of globalization and migration, the number of children receiving literacy instruction in their second language (L2) is high and still increasing. Therefore, teachers need instruction methods that are effective in both L1 and L2 learners. Here, we investigate the effectiveness of a computerized training program combining phoneme perception, phonological awareness, and systematic phonics, in a sample of second-graders (N = 26) instructed in German as L2. Based on prior evidence concerning (1) literacy acquisition in L2 and (2) effects of literacy development on oral language abilities, we expected significant training effects on children’s literacy skills and vocabulary knowledge. The children of the training group worked through the program during school lessons, 20 min per day, for a period of 8 weeks. The controls continued to receive standard classroom instruction. German tests of phonological awareness, reading, spelling, and vocabulary were performed at three time points (pretest, immediate posttest, and follow-up after 9 weeks). Analyses confirmed that improvements in phonological awareness, spelling, and vocabulary between pretest and posttest were stronger in the training group when compared to the controls. For spelling and vocabulary, these effects were still significant at follow-up. Effect sizes were medium to high. For the reading measures, no group differences were found. In sum, the results yield further evidence for the effectiveness of phonics-based literacy instruction in L2 learners, and for the beneficial effects of basic literacy skills on novel word learning.

scholarly journals The structure of preliteracy competence in children aged five to seven years

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Ivanka Bider Petelin ◽  
Martina Ozbič
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Oblimin Rotation

Children´s early literacy development is a key contributor to later literacy skills and overall academic achievement. We have developed a set of tests that assesses preliteracy competence based on well-established foreign and Slovenian instruments or tools. A sample of 307 children aged from five to seven years were tested. A high Cronbach alpha coefficient (alpha = 0.87) indicates that the design instrument is an internally reliable instrument. This paper showcases and describes the differences in the development of preliteracy competence in different age group. The results show that children between 5 and 7 show the greatest development of the abilities to discern the initial sound, to analyse the sound, to notice the removal of sounds or syllables from a meaningless word, and to recall words on a given phoneme. Exploratory factor analysis with oblimin rotation revealed that preliteracy competence is best understood as a four-dimensional construct among children aged five to seven years. The first dimension is defined by higher-level phonological awareness, verbal memory, and rapid automatic naming, so it is metaphonology. The second factor, named perceptual language structure, expresses macro-linguistic structure (syllable, rhymes) and discrimination of words that sound similar. The third factor, named vocabulary, is saturated mostly by syllable analysis, vocabulary and word comprehension. The fourth factor is visual processing and capturing, which enable storage and refreshing of non-verbal information and the discrimination of symbols. The differences in development of preliteracy competency indicate intervention in the following areas: phonological awareness, verbal short-term memory, visual processing (discrimination and short-term memory) and vocabulary knowledge.

scholarly journals Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Development of an Early Literacy App in Dhuwaya

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Gillian Wigglesworth ◽  
Melanie Wilkinson ◽  
Yalmay Yunupingu ◽  
Robyn Beecham ◽  
Jake Stockley
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
First Language ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Intercultural Development ◽  
Educational Challenges ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
Bilingual School ◽  
The Impact

Phonological awareness is a skill which is crucial in learning to read. In this paper, we report on the challenges encountered while developing a digital application (app) for teaching phonological awareness and early literacy skills in Dhuwaya. Dhuwaya is a Yolŋu language variety spoken in Yirrkala and surrounding areas in East Arnhem Land. Dhuwaya is the first language of the children who attend a bilingual school in which Dhuwaya and English are the languages of instruction. Dhuwaya and English have different phonemic inventories and different alphabets. The Dhuwaya alphabet is based on Roman alphabet symbols and has 31 graphemes (compared to 26 in English). The app was designed to teach children how to segment and blend syllables and phonemes and to identify common words as well as suffixes used in the language. However, the development was not straightforward, and the impact of the linguistic, cultural and educational challenges could not have been predicted. Amongst these was the inherent variation in the language, including glottal stops, the pronunciation of stops, the focus on syllables as a decoding strategy for literacy development and challenges of finding one-syllable words such as those initially used with English-speaking children. Another challenge was identifying culturally appropriate images which the children could relate to and which were not copyrighted. In this paper, we discuss these plus a range of other issues that emerged, identifying how these problems were addressed and resolved by the interdisciplinary and intercultural team.

Effects of Clinician-Guided Emergent Literacy Intervention Using Interactive Tablet Technology for Preschool Children With Cochlear Implants

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 195-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Brouwer ◽  
Hannah Downing ◽  
Sara Westhoff ◽  
Ryann Wait ◽  
Lavin K. Entwisle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Emergent Literacy ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Print Knowledge

The purpose of this study was to investigate if intervention based on a mobile application would improve the print knowledge and vocabulary of preschool children with and without hearing loss. This was a multiple baseline study that included four preschool children. Two of the children had hearing loss and utilized cochlear implants, while the other two had normal hearing. Clinicians utilized a mobile application to facilitate print knowledge (i.e., sound-symbol relationships) and to acquire new vocabulary. By the end of the study, all four children demonstrated improved familiarity with the targeted letter sounds and improved knowledge of the vocabulary words that were utilized during the study. The results of this study indicate that the mobile application, in combination with clinician scaffolding, was an effective tool for facilitating early literacy skills in preschool children. Prior print knowledge and vocabulary development appeared to be stronger indicators of response to treatment than hearing status.

Early Literacy Intervention for Preschoolers Who Need Tier 3 Support

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth A. Kaminski ◽  
Kelly A. Powell-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Early Literacy ◽  
Phonemic Awareness ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Early Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Interventions ◽  
Early Literacy Intervention ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Tier 3

Phonemic awareness has been consistently identified as an essential skill for as well as an important predictor of later reading achievement. Children who lack these early literacy skills at kindergarten entry are more likely to demonstrate both short- and long-term reading difficulties. Despite the importance of providing intervention early, there is a paucity of research on Tier 3 early literacy interventions in preschool. A single-case multiple baseline across subjects design was used to examine the effects of a Tier 3 phonemic awareness intervention with preschool children who were identified as needing Tier 3 support in early literacy skills. The intervention was conducted individually with children, 5 to 10 min a day over an 8-week period. The results show gains in phonemic awareness for all children; however, the intervention was clearly more effective for some students than others. Factors that may have affected children’s learning are discussed.

The Role of Literary Instruction in the Development of Reading and Writing Skills in Spanish as a Heritage Language during Childhood

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-123
Author(s):  
Alejandro Cuza ◽  
Lauren Miller ◽  
Adrian Pasquarella ◽  
Xi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Learning Program

The present study examines the role of instruction in the development of reading and writing skills in Spanish as a heritage language during childhood. Sixty-six (n=66) Spanish heritage speakers in K-4th grade participated in an 18-week Spanish intervention. The curriculum included the development of phonological awareness, reading fluency and accuracy as well as vocabulary via cognate instruction. Undergraduate students majoring in Spanish conducted the intervention as part of a service-learning program. Standardized measures given to the students before and after the intervention included phonological awareness, receptive vocabulary knowledge, word reading accuracy, and word reading fluency. The treatment group was compared to a group of twenty-five children (n=25) who did not participate in the program. The two groups were matched by age and non-verbal reasoning. Results from pre and post-tests showed significant gains for the treatment group in vocabulary growth, word reading fluency and word reading accuracy. Phonological awareness developed significantly for both groups, but there was no advantage for the experimental group. Overall, the intervention was effective at promoting both Spanish language and literacy skills (Rhoades, 2009). Contextualized and explicit instruction on word reading and decoding, as well as oral language and vocabulary knowledge in Spanish, helped Spanish heritage learners develop academic language and literacy skills in their first/minority language. Furthermore, the results provide strong evidence supporting the efficacy of a service-learning program aimed at facilitating the development of literacy skills among child heritage language learners.

scholarly journals Avaliação da linguagem oral e escrita no pré-escolar e nos primeiros anos de escolaridade

2021 ◽  
pp. 40-53
Author(s):  
Joana Batalha ◽  
Maria Lobo ◽  
Antónia Estrela ◽  
Bruna Bragança
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Awareness ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Word Reading ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Syntactic Awareness ◽  
Reading And Writing

In this article, we present an assessment instrument aimed at diagnosing oral language and reading and writing skills in children attending pre-school (5 years) and the early years of primary school. The instrument was mainly designed for the school context, and it was developed in collaboration with kindergarten educators and primary teachers who participated in PIPALE - Preventive Intervention Project for Reading and Writing, a project which is integrated in the National Program for the Promotion of School Success. The instrument covers the assessment of phonological and syntactic awareness, comprehension of syntactic structures, early literacy, and reading and writing skills (word reading, word and sentence writing, text comprehension, and text production). Besides offering a detailed description of the structure and tasks of the instrument, the present study includes the results of the first implementation of this tool to a total of 495 students in pre-school, first grade and second grade. The results show significant differences between the three groups (pre-school, first grade and second grade) in phonological awareness (identification of initial syllable, initial phoneme and final rhyme) and between the younger groups and the second graders in syntactic awareness (acceptability judgement task) and early literacy skills. As for reading and writing skills, the results show better performance in reading tasks than in writing tasks, a strong significant correlation between phonological awareness and word reading and word writing, and between literacy skills and word reading and writing. We also found a milder correlation between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension, as well as text writing. These results suggest that the instrument is effective for an early diagnosis and early intervention of reading and writing skills.

scholarly journals Performance in the accuracy task in children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech after an integrated intervention of literacy and motor skills

CoDAS ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Carlesso Pagliarin ◽  
Marileda Barichello Gubiani ◽  
Rafaela Rossini Rosa ◽  
Márcia Keske-Soares
Keyword(s):  
Motor Skills ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Direct Relationship ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Childhood Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Therapy Sessions

ABSTRACT Difficult in literacy skills are often seen in children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). This occurs because oral language has direct relationship with reading and writing learning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance in the accuracy task of an integrated phonoarticulatory awareness, motor skills and literacy intervention of three children with CAS. Three boys between 5;3 and 5;8 years of age, with CAS, were offered 2 hours per week of therapy sessions based on literacy and motor skills. The children were assessed before and after therapy and at a maintenance assessment 1 month after the treatment ceased. The children improved on the accuracy task considering their deficits level. Improvement was maintained at the maintenance assessment. Therapy based on literacy considering phonoarticulatory awareness and motor skills can help children with CAS, but the severity of the children’s communication problems must be taken into consideration.

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