Key Messages
The term emergent literacy denotes a developmental continuum along which children’s literacy is acquired. Literacy is not an all-or none phenomenon that begins when children start school. Rather, it has origins early in the life of a child (Harvard Family Research Project, 2003).
Emergent literacy consists of the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are developmental precursors to more established forms of literate behaviour (Whitehurst and Lonigan, 1998). It develops not only as a result of direct instruction, but also as a product of a stimulating and responsive environment (Arzubiaga, Rueda, and Lilia, 2002). Research shows that good emergent literacy skills are likely to enhance children’s school experiences and help them get started on the path to reading success (Senechal and LeFevre, 2002). Furthermore, it has been found that pro-active approaches are more effective than remediation.
The components of emergent literacy include:
Children at risk for difficulty in acquiring basic emergent literacy skills may exhibit one or more of the following indicators:
The Early Literacy Alliance of Waterloo Region is committed to develop children’s literacy skills as noted above, through early identification and intervention practices, working collaboratively to help parents and other caregivers who work with young children by:
Emergent literacy consists of the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that are developmental precursors to more established forms of literate behaviour (Whitehurst and Lonigan, 1998). It develops not only as a result of direct instruction, but also as a product of a stimulating and responsive environment (Arzubiaga, Rueda, and Lilia, 2002). Research shows that good emergent literacy skills are likely to enhance children’s school experiences and help them get started on the path to reading success (Senechal and LeFevre, 2002). Furthermore, it has been found that pro-active approaches are more effective than remediation.
The components of emergent literacy include:
- Oral language development (ie. receptive and expressive vocabulary skills)
- Concepts about print (ie. left-to-right progression for English, understanding the functions of writing, book handling behaviours, etc)
- Letter recognition (ie. upper and lower case) and sound symbol correspondence
- Phonological awareness (ie. rhyming, segmenting words, initial sound awareness)
- Narrative skills (ie. listening to and expressing stories, conversational skills)
- Print motivation
Children at risk for difficulty in acquiring basic emergent literacy skills may exhibit one or more of the following indicators:
- A developmental disability, including communication delay
- A parent with a history of reading disability or low literacy skills
- A situation where a child speaks a language or dialect which differs from the local academic curriculum and/or lives in a household with infrequent experiences with oral and written languages. (Justice, L and Pullen, P, 2003)
- Other factors known to cause a risk for healthy child development, including poverty, stress, abuse or neglect
The Early Literacy Alliance of Waterloo Region is committed to develop children’s literacy skills as noted above, through early identification and intervention practices, working collaboratively to help parents and other caregivers who work with young children by:
- supporting them with information and best practices regarding literacy
- encouraging them to develop strong relationships and positive interactions with their young children
- fostering a love of literacy, to promote lifelong reading for pleasure
