Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Promoting alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness in low socioeconomic child care settings: a quasi experimental study in five New Zealand centers

  • Published:
Reading and Writing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined if professional development with teachers would increase children’s literacy skills in low socioeconomic early childhood settings in New Zealand and would lead to changes in teachers’ beliefs and practices and children’s abilities over an 8 week intervention period. Research indicates that children who have alphabetic and phonological awareness on school entry are well positioned to transition from emergent to conventional literacy (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998). Although most children develop requisite knowledge and skills as part of early education in New Zealand, about 25 % of children do not (Nicholson, 2005) and struggle with beginning reading. One of the challenges is how teachers can foster emergent literacy within a holistic curriculum such as Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996), the New Zealand early childhood curriculum. A quasi experimental design was used in which teachers’ and children’s knowledge was pre and post tested in five early childhood centers. Teachers’ (n = 32) beliefs and phonemic awareness were tested using a questionnaire. A range of literacy measures which tested alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, ability to recognise and write their own name and the British Picture Vocabulary Test were used with children aged 3–5 years (n = 103). Professional development was offered to teachers at the beginning of the study in four centers; the fifth center was a control. In addition, teachers’ logbooks of how they promoted literacy were collected. Some changes in children’s skills were found, along with some differences in teachers’ beliefs and practices. The results suggest professional development with teachers to support children’s literacy needs to involve more intensive coaching and guiding.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anthony, J. L., & Francis, D. J. (2005). Development of phonological awareness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 255–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, A. W. (2007). Potential precursors to the development of phonological awareness in preschool children. Unpublished Doctoral thesis, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

  • Blaiklock, K. (2004). The importance of letter knowledge in the relationship between phonological awareness and reading. Journal of Research in Reading, 27(1), 36–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyer, N., & Ehri, L. C. (2011). Contribution of phonemic segmentation instruction with letters and articulation pictures to word reading and spelling in beginners. Scientific Studies of Reading, 15(5), 440–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, B. (1998). The foundation of literacy: The child’s acquisition of the alphabetic principle. Hove: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, B., & Fielding-Barnsley, R. (1991). Evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 451–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell, J. W. (2002). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullen, J. (2006). Literacy education in the early years: Policies, polemics and practices. Keynote speech to the Politics of Early Childhood Education Symposium, 26 September, Auckland.

  • Cunningham, A. E., Perry, K. E., Stanovich, K. E., & Stanovich, P. J. (2004). Disciplinary knowledge of K-3 teachers and their knowledge calibration in the domain of early literacy. Annals of Dyslexia, 54(1), 139–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doubek, M. B., & Cooper, E. J. (2007). Closing the gap through professional development: Implications for reading research. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(3), 411–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, L. M., Dunn, L. M., Whetton, C., & Burley, J. (1997). The British picture vocabulary scale (2nd ed.). Berkshire: National Foundation for Educational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Education Review Office. (2011). Literacy teaching and learning in early childhood. Wellington, NZ: ERO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehri, L. C. (2005). Phases of development in learning to read words by sight. Journal of Research in Reading, 18(2), 116–125.

    Article  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, 163–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foorman, B. R., Chen, D.-T., Carlson, C., Moats, L., David, J. F., & Jack, M. F. (2003). The necessity of the alphabetic principle to phonemic awareness instruction. Reading and Writing, 16, 289–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foote, L., Smith, J., & Ellis, F. (2004). The impact of teachers’ beliefs on the literacy experiences of young children: A New Zealand perspective. Early Years: Journal of International Research and Development, 24(2), 135–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedges, H. (2003). A response to criticism and challenge: Early literacy and numeracy in Aotearoa/New Zealand. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education, 6, 13–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hindson, B., Byrne, B., Fielding-Barnsley, R., Newman, C., Hine, D. W., & Shankweiler, D. (2005). Assessment and early instruction of preschool children at risk for reading disability. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 687–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Justice, L. M., Kaderavek, J. N., Fan, X., Sofka, A., & Hunt, A. (2009). Accelerating preschoolers’ early literacy development through classroom-based teacher-child storybook reading and explicit print referencing. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, 40, 67–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Justice, L. M., Pence, K., Bowles, R., & Wiggens, A. (2006). An investigation of four hypotheses concerning the order by which 4-year-old children learn the alphabet letters. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 21, 374–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Justice, L. M., & Pullen, P. C. (2003). Promising interventions for promoting emergent literacy skills: Three evidence based approaches. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 23(3), 99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kane, R. (2005). Initial teacher education: Policy and practice. Final report. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lonigan, C. J., Burgess, S. R., & Anthony, J. L. (2000). Development of emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool children: Evidence from a latent-variable longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 36, 596–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan, C., & Arrow, A. (2011). Literacy in the early years in New Zealand: Policies, politics and pressing reasons for change. Literacy, 45(3), 126–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan, C., Carvalho, L., de Lautour, N., & Kumar, K. (2006). Literacy in early childhood settings in New Zealand: An examination of teachers’ beliefs and practices. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 31(2), 31–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLachlan-Smith, C. J. (1996). Emergent literacy in New Zealand kindergartens: An examination of policy and practices. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Massey University, Palmerston North.

  • Ministry of Education. (1994). English in the New Zealand curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: he whāriki matauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa: early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (2003a). Effective literacy practice in years 1 to 4. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (2003b). Learning to read. New Zealand Education Gazette, 82, 8–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (2005). Kei tua o te pae. Assesment for learning: Early childhood exemplars. Wellington: Learning Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (2006). Effective literacy practice: Years 5–8. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (2007a). Literacy learning progressions: Meeting the reading and writing demands of the curriculum. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (2007b). The New Zealand curriculum. Wellington, NZ: Learning Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Education. (2010). The literacy learning progressions: Meeting the reading and writing demands of the curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

  • Ministry of Education. (2012). Participation in ECE. Retrieved 18 March 2013 from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/ece2/participation.

  • Mitchell, L., & Cubey, P. (2003). Professional learning in early childhood settings: Best evidence synthesis. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moats, L. C. (2000). Speech to print: Language essentials for teachers. Baltimore, MD: Paul H Brookes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muter, V. (1994). Influence of phonological awareness and letter knowledge on beginning reading and spelling development. In C. Hulme & M. Snowling (Eds.), Reading development and dyslexia (pp. 45–62). London: Whurr.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Early Literacy Panel. (2009). Developing early literacy: Report of the national early literacy panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

    Google Scholar 

  • New Zealand House of Representatives. (2001). Let’s all read. Report of the education and science select committee into the teaching of reading in New Zealand. Wellington, NZ: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, T. (2005). At the cutting edge: The importance of phonemic awareness in learning to read and spell. Wellington, NZ: NZCER Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noel Foulin, J. (2005). Why is letter-name knowledge such a good predictor of learning to read? Reading and Writing, 18, 129–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nuttall, J. (2005). Looking back, looking forward: Three decades of early childhood curriculum development in New Zealand. Curriculum Matters, 1, 12–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, R. E., Notari-Syverson, A., & Vadasy, P. F. (1996). Ladders to literacy: The effects of teacher-led phonological activities for kindergarten children with and without disabilities. Exceptional Children, 63, 117–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, B. M., Clancy-Menchetti, J., & Lonigan, C. (2008). Successful phonological awareness instruction with preschool children. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 28(1), 3–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, G., McNaughton, S., & MacDonald, S. (2002). Picking up the pace. Effective literacy interventions for accelerated progress over the transition into decile 1 schools. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piasta, S. B., & Wagner, R. K. (2010). Developing early literacy skills: A meta-analysis of alphabet learning and instruction. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(1), 8–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, D. R., Diamond, K. E., Burchinal, M. R., & Koehler, M. J. (2010). Effects of an early literacy professional development intervention on head start teachers and children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 299–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, W., Kuspert, P., Roth, E., Vise, M., & Marx, H. (1997). Short- and long-term effects of training phonological awareness in kindergarten: Evidence from two German studies. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 66, 311–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sénéchal, M. (2006). Testing the home literacy model: Parental involvement in kindergarten is differentially related to grade 4 reading comprehension, fluency, spelling, and reading for pleasure. Scientific Studies of Reading, 10, 59–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Share, D. L., & Gur, T. (1999). How reading begins: A study of preschoolers’ print identification strategies. Cognition and Instruction, 17, 177–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sprenger-Charolles, L., & Casalis, S. (1995). Reading and spelling acquisition in French first graders: Longitudinal evidence. Reading and Writing, 7, 39–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuart, M. (2005). Phonemic analysis and reading development: Some current issues. Journal of Research in Reading, 28, 39–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tagoilelagi-Leota, F., McNaughton, S., MacDonald, S., & Ferry, S. (2005). Bilingual and biliteracy development over the transition to school. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8(5), 455–479.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, N. E., Blum, I. H. & Logsdon, D. M. (1986). The development of written language awareness: Environmental aspects and program characteristics. Reading Research Quarterly, Spring, 132–149.

  • Timperley, H., & Robinson, V. (2001). Achieving school improvement through challenging and changing teachers’ schema. Journal of Educational Change, 22, 281–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treiman, R., & Rodriguez, K. (1999). Young children use letter names in learning to read words. Psychological Science, 10, 334–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tunmer, W. E., Chapman, J. W., & Prochnow, J. E. (2004). Why the reading achievement gap in New Zealand won’t go away: Evidence from the PIRLS 2001 international study of reading achievement. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 39(1), 127–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tunmer, W. E., Chapman, J. W., & Prochnow, J. E. (2006). Literate cultural capital at school entry predicts later reading achievement: A seven year longitudinal study. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 41, 183–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wasik, B. A., Bond, M. A., & Hindman, A. (2006). The effects of a language and literacy intervention on head start children and teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(1), 63–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69, 848–872.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong Fillmore, L., & Snow, C. E. (2000). What teachers need to know about language? Special report. Washington, DC: Eric Clearinghouse on Language and Linguistics.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Education, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Claire McLachlan & Alison Arrow

Authors
  1. Claire McLachlan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alison Arrow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claire McLachlan.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McLachlan, C., Arrow, A. Promoting alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness in low socioeconomic child care settings: a quasi experimental study in five New Zealand centers. Read Writ 27, 819–839 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-013-9467-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-013-9467-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation