Learning to Read

How Young is too Young?

Contents

Chapter 1

A video of Luke learning how to read using a crosswords app.

Analysis of skills and capabilities using the ‘4 resources model’.

Chapter 2

The ideologies of literacy learning for young children.

Chapter 3

Emergent Literacy perspectives.

Chapter 4

Teaching reading before school.

Chapter 1

Luke learning how to read

Link - www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpccBMonVW4

Analysis of the video using the 4

resources model

Luke is approximately 4 years of age. He is engaging with a Montessori phonics app called ‘crosswords’ using his ipad.

Description of Text:

The adult filming Luke’s interactions with the app provides explicit instruction to guide his learning. However, Luke has some understanding of phonemes and applies this to interact with the app. When Luke correctly chooses each letter to complete a word he is visually rewarded with bursts of colourful stars or flowers which explode into his computer screen.

Observations:

To interact effectively with the app Luke needs to choose a letter from the alphabet (lower case) shown at the bottom of his screen. A picture appears in the top right hand corner of his screen which indicates the word he needs to solve. He is then presented with three blank boxes, in the top left hand corner of his screen. Luke needs to identify the correct letters using letter sound relationships to complete the word.

Analysis of Skills and Capabilities using the ‘4 Resources model.

4 Resources Model (Luke & Freebody, 1999)

Code

breaking

practices• Using the graphnophonic cueing system Luke is able to recognise some phonemes as units of sound which

are represented by letters of the alphabet. He identifies the letters and sounds of – j, g, l, b and i

independently. To complete the words Luke needs explicit instruction.

• Drawing on his semantic knowledge of what a bib, leg and jug look like Luke labels the visual cue correctly

when it appears on his screen.

• Luke successfully draws on interrelated cues which form relationships within the text. He identifies the image

of the bib, he listens to the auditory cue of the ladies voice saying ‘bib’, he repeats ‘bib’, says ‘b’ and looks at

the lower case letters of the alphabet at the bottom of his screen and touches the letter ‘b’.

• Luke understands that the structure of a word flows from left to right. He demonstrates this understanding

by placing the first letter in the first box to begin constructing a word.

Making

meaning

practices

Luke draws on his cultural and phonological knowledge of the English language to form his

understanding of how to interact with the multimodal text.

Luke may have previous experience interacting with this app and may be applying his existing knowledge

to make meaning of the app.

Text user

practices

Luke understands the purpose of the text is to complete the word by identifying the correct letters.

To interact affectively with the app, Luke understands he needs to visually navigate around the site and

touch on the correct images to make the app work.

Text analyst

practices

Luke draws on his social and cultural knowledge of phonics, reading and social cues to assist him to

interact successfully with the text whilst drawing on the assistance of an adult when needed.

Reference list:

Ludwig, C. (2003). Making sense of literacy. Newsletter of the Australian Literacy

Educator’s Association. Queensland Studies Authority. Retrieved from, http://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/53

The four resources model (n.d.). Retrieved from,

https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/courses/1/EAN616_14se2/content/_5501782_1/Four%20 Resources%20Model%20-

%20question%20sheet%201.pdf

Chapter 2

Ideologies of Literacy Learning for Young Children

The example of explicit teaching of phonics presented in the video is in stark contrast to the ideologies of literacy learning suggested by renowned theorists, such Marie Clay who developed the emergent literacy theory and Piaget who developed the cognitive development theory. Theorists agree that before children begin school, the most effective way for young children to begin to develop literacy skills takes place through the child interacting with their immediate environments to construct meaning through authentic literacy learning experiences (Barratt-Pugh & Rohl, 2000). The explicit teaching of reading is more successful during the school years as learning to read requires children to use cognitive, hierarchal skill sets which do not develop until the ages of five to six years (Elkind, n.d.).

One component of phonics which needs to be developed in young children before they enter school, is phonological awareness. The ability to distinguish sounds in speech has been heavily researched and evidence suggests that the development of phonological skills in the early years contributes positively to children becoming competent readers in primary school (Yopp & Yopp, 2009). Embedded in the following pages is evidence to conclude that the explicit teaching of reading in the early years can be detrimental to children’s developing literacy skills and the practices of emergent literacy perspectives support children’s developing literacy skills to assist children become competent readers in future years.

Research suggests the explicit teaching of reading is more effective when children begin school.

Chapter 3Emergent Literacy Perspectives

The emergent literacy theory proposes that children begin learning literacy at birth and this learning continues throughout life, involving the child as an active participant in the learning process, in which children construct their knowledge through experiences and interactions which are culturally and socially relevant to their everyday lives (Barratt-Pugh & Rohl, 2000). It is through emergent literacy that children form the foundations for future academic learning of literacy. For example, children acquire knowledge of literacy and how it works, that written text conveys meaning and is different from illustrations. Learning of literacy concepts occur through authentic literacy experiences which are relevant to the child’s life, such as, shared reading with adults and exploring books independently. Through learning to write their own names children begin to develop an understanding of letter sound relationships, by engaging in meaningful conversations with teachers and family members children extend their vocabulary and form an understanding that what they write sends a message to others. Concepts of writing begin by exploring invented writing and using invented spelling techniques (Campbell, Torr & Cologon, 2014).

An important aspect of the emergent literacy theory is children’s development of phonological awareness. An ability Luke demonstrates on the video clip as he identifies that words are composed of individual units of sound (Zygouris-Coe, 2001). Research suggests that children becoming phonologically aware prepares them for beginning reading instruction in school as this skill assists children to form the understanding of how words are represented in print (Zygouris-Coe, 2001). Even though Luke displays an understanding of phonological awareness this skill can be better developed through experiences which are consistent with the emergent literacy theory. Authentic learning experiences could be presented as recognising rhyming words, exploring nursery rhymes, reading books with rhyming words or exploring the letters in his name. In fact, research indicates that the provision of language rich environments is one of the major factors in predicting children’s future success in learning literacy at school and components of the emergent literacy theory are embedded in language rich environments (Campbell, Torr & Cologon, 2014).

The most effective way young children learn literacy

skills is reading with family members.

Chapter 4

Teaching Children to Read before School

“Those who believe in academic training for very young children make a fundamental error: they fail to recognise that there are different levels of understanding in reading” (Elkind, n.d.). Recognising the sounds in words is a totally different skill to learning letter sound relationships and how to decode words to read a text. Competent readers display numerous complex skills, such as, the alphabetic principle, letter sound relationships, extended vocabulary, grammatical knowledge and schematic knowledge about how literacy works in social and cultural contexts and how to apply this knowledge to interpret different texts (Campbell, Torr & Cologon, 2014). Skills which children in the preschool years have not developed. Even though Luke displays an understanding of some letter sound relationships he relies on the adult to provide explicit instruction.

Additionally, recent research reveals that the explicit teaching of reading n the preschool years can have a detrimental effect on children later in their primary school years, leading to children being put off reading as children may see themselves as less than competent readers if they are unable to successfully engage in learning to read through explicit instruction (Lilian Katz, 2007, cited in Curtis 2007). Research results indicate that children become more competent readers if they begin formal reading instruction at the age of seven. European countries, such as The Netherlands where children do not start to read until the age of six or seven, have much higher literacy levels than Western Countries (Curtis,2007).

Conclusion

Research clearly indicates that children develop the skills to become competent literacy learners through experiencing environments which offer components of emergent literacy theories, including both home and early childhood settings. Teaching reading explicitly to children before they begin primary school can have detrimental effects on children and can inhibit their development of learning how to read in later years.

Children use their knowledge of literacy learned in early childhood and their developing cognitive skill sets

to learn how to read at school.

Reference List

• Barratt-Pugh, C., & Rohl, M. (Eds.). (2000). The socio-cultural context of literacy learning. Crows Nest. New South Wales: Allen & Unwin.

• Campbell, S., Torr, J., & Cologon, K. (2014). Pre-packaging preschool literacy: What drives early childhood teachers to use commercially produced phonics programs in prior to school settings. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 15(1), 40. doi:10.2304/ciec.2014.15.1.40 Curtis, P. (2007). Under-sevens ‘to young to learn to read’. The Guardian. Retrieved from, http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/nov/22/earlyyearseducation.schools

• Elkind, D. (n.d.). Much too early. Education Next. Retrieved from, http://educationnext.org/much-too-early/

• Yopp, H., K. & Yopp, R. H. (2009). Phonological awareness is child’s play. The National Association for the Education of Young Children. Retrieved from, https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200901/BTJPhonologicalAwareness.pdf

• Zygouris-Coe, V. (2001). Emergent Literacy. FLaRE: University of Central Florida. College of Education. Retrieved from, https://education.ucf.edu/mirc/Research/Emergent%20Literacy.pdf