This study critically examines my classroom practice in teaching young learners aged four-and-a-half to six years old. It focuses on the following research question: How can I create a stimulating environment in my classroom to promote awareness of and a love for reading? My classroom-based action research methodology places me, the practitioner, at the centre of the investigation. The work examines closely my professional values and my strong belief in the capacity of learners to be curious, absorb and make sense of what they encounter and experience in a stimulating environment. It investigates how such an environment develops the potential of learners to love and embrace reading. The process of engaging reflectively and analytically in practitioner research has helped me to gain a better understanding of my learners’ needs and to improve the ways in which I promote reading in the reception year of formal schooling. I claim that the creating of a stimulating environment in my classroom is grounded in my ability to motivate, model and scaffold the learners to engage in reading confidently. Together, the learners and I have created a living theory of education, one that is open to further reflection and development. Ongoing interaction between theoretical discourse and practical experiences enable me to develop my professional knowledge and to synthesize my values and practice. The investigation continuously confirms the advantages of a print-rich environment and how it can be used to promote a love for reading amongst young learners. The claims and knowledge generated in this study are personal and true for me, while the living transformational process demonstrates how I have developed professionally.

The first study examined the development of reading, spelling and syntactic skills in English speakers (L1) and children with English as a Second language (ESL) from kindergarten to grade 3. This longitudinal study also investigated procedures for identifying reading difficulties in the early grades of elementary school for both English speakers and children with ESL. Reading, spelling, phonological processing, syntax, lexical access and working memory skills were assessed in kindergarten. Additional tasks were incorporated into the battery to assess cognitive and reading processes in grade 3. By the end of grade 3, the L1 and ESL normally achieving readers performed in similar ways on all tasks except on the spelling, arithmetic and syntactic awareness tasks. The ESL normally achieving readers performed better than the L1 on spelling and arithmetic tasks, however the L1 normally achieving readers performed better than the ESL on the syntactic awareness task. Similar cognitive and reading components predicted word reading and reading comprehension in grade 3 for both language groups. The results show that learning English as a second language is not an impediment to successful literacy learning, and may even be an advantage. In the second part of this study we examine whether the first language of children with ESL affected the reading, spelling and syntactic awareness in English. Seven language groups, Chinese, Farsi, Slavic, Japanese, Romance, Tagalog, and native English speakers groups, were compared in a cross sectional study. This study included all the children with ESL in kindergarten and grades 1, 2 and 3. The results demonstrated positive as well as negative effects in spelling and syntactic skills, resulting from the transfer to English for members of different language groups. Differences across language groups reflect the nature of the native language. Specifically, a positive transfer occurred when the L1 grammar system was more complex than the L2 grammar system. When investigating second language it is necessary to consider the native language and effect on the acquisition of a second language. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This study examined the early reading development of native English speaking (L1) and children who speak English as a second language (ESL) who are receiving instruction in English. The study addressed whether there are original differences in pre-reading and language skills between L1 and ESL-speaking children, and whether similar patterns of reading development in English from kindergarten to grade 2 exist across language groups. As well, the study examined which skills in kindergarten identify those children at-risk for reading failure from all language backgrounds. The participants of the study were 978 grade 2 children who were seen as part of a longitudinal study that began in their kindergarten year. Within the sample, there were 790 children who are L1 speakers and 188 children who have a first language other than English and who spoke little or no English upon entry to kindergarten (ESL). In kindergarten, participants were administered standardized tasks of reading and memory as well as experimental tasks of language, phonological awareness, letter identification, rapid naming, and phonological memory. At the end of grade 2, children were administered various tasks of reading, spelling, language, arithmetic, and memory. All children received phonological awareness instruction in kindergarten and systematic phonics instruction in grade 1 in the context of a balanced early literacy program. In kindergarten, 23.8% of L1 speakers were identified as at-risk for reading failure and 37.2% of ESL speakers were identified as at-risk for reading failure. In grade 2, 4.2% of L1 speakers were identified as reading disabled and 3.72% of ESL speakers were identified as reading disabled. By the end of grade 2, the majority of the ESL speakers had attained reading skills that were similar to the L1 group. Although there were differences on each of the measures of reading, reading comprehension, spelling, phonological processing and arithmetic between average and disabled readers in grade 2, the ESL and L1 speakers had similar scores on all these tasks. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: According to the results of the Annual National Assessment, ANA, the reading skills (reading ability, reading comprehension and fluency in reading) of children in South African schools are not up to standard (Department of Basic Education, 2011:20). Only 28% of Grade 6 learners and 35% of Grade 3 learners achieved the standardized levels for literacy and language in their respective grades. Further research (De Witt, 2009:619) also proved that only 35% of Grade R learners reached the minimum requirements for the development of literacy according to their age (5-6 years). The focus of this research is the advancement of Emergent Literacy through multimedia as preparation for elementary reading to ensure reading ability, comprehension and fluency. To promote Emergent Literacy the researcher should: - determine through research at what stage the natural developmental pattern of the learn to read process starts with toddlers - determine the process to follow for the development of literacy - determine the necessary skills required for reading fluently and with comprehension up to an age related standard - develop a multimedia program based on and guided by the process of literacy development - observe, record and analyze the effect of such a multimedia program for toddlers/learners. The research approach adopted in this thesis includes a case study with pre-school children between the ages of 2 and 5 years old. A learner aged 13, who had not yet achieved the required literacy levels for her age, was also included in the study. Data collection was done through interviews with and observations of toddlers/learners using a multimedia program that consisted of Foundation Skills for Emergent Literacy and General Reading Standards for Early Literacy. The multimedia program was designed based on an in-depth literature review of existing research. This research was focused on determining at which stage natural literacy development begins and what process should be followed to facilitate such development. The multimedia program covers the aspects of Phonological Processing, Print Awareness, Oral Language Skills, Emergent Reading, Print Knowledge and Early Word Recognition, Language Development and Listening and Reading Comprehension. The findings from this research provide evidence that highlights the value of reading, singing and repeating rhymes, songs and stories to children. The different methods of reading to children, the print–reference style to teach letters and sounds as well as inferencing that leads to comprehension, are proven by this research to be very important. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die standaard van leesvaardigheid (leesvermoë, -begrip en –vlotheid) in Suid-Afrikaanse skole is ondergemiddeld volgens die uitslag van die verslag oor die Jaarlikse Nasionale Assessering (in Engels: Annual National Assessment of afgekort ANA), wat aandui dat net 28% van alle Gr. 6-leerders en net 35% van alle Gr. 3-leerders die standaardvlakke vir geletterdheid en taal vir die betrokke grade behaal het (Departement van Basiese Onderwys, 2011:20). Verdere navorsing het egter ook bewys dat slegs 35% van Gr. R-leerders die minimum vereistes van geletterdheidsontwikkeling vir hulle ouderdom (5-6 jaar) bereik. Dit impliseer dat die meerderheid leerders Gr. 1 begin sonder die nodige vooraf vaardighede om te kan leer lees (De Witt, 2009:619). Die fokus van hierdie studie is om Vroegtydige Geletterdheid te bevorder deur middel van multimedia as voorbereiding vir aanvangslees om leesvermoë, -begrip en -vlotheid te verseker. Om Vroegtydige Geletterdheid te kan bevorder, moet vasgestel word volgens navorsing: - op watter stadium die natuurlike ontwikkelingspatroon van leer-lees by die kleuter begin - die proses om te volg vir geletterdheidsontwikkeling - watter vaardighede aangeleer behoort te word om op standaard, vlot en met begrip te kan lees volgens ouderdom - om ‘n multimediaprogram volgens die geletterdheidsontwikkelingsproses op te stel - wat die uitwerking van ’n multimediaprogram op kleuters/leerders is. In hierdie navorsing word ‘n gevallestudie as die navorsingsstrategie gebruik met kleuters/leerders vanaf 2 jaar tot 5 jaar oud en een 13-jarige leerder wat ingesluit word omdat sy nog nie die ontwikkelingsvlak vir lees volgens haar ouderdom bereik het nie. Die data vir die Grondslagvaardighede vir Vroegtydige Geletterdheid en Algemene Leesstandaarde vir Geletterdheid word ingesamel deur onderhoudvoering en waarneming. ‘n Multimediaprogram is saamgestel na aanleiding van 'n in-diepte literatuuroorsig van bestaande navorsing spesifiek gerig op watter stadium geletterdheidsontwikkeling begin en die bepaling van die proses om te volg vir geletterdheidsontwikkeling. Deur hierdie multimediaprogram word Fonologiese Prosessering, Skrifbewustheid, Mondelinge Taalvaardighede, Vroegtydige Leesgedrag, Letterkennis en Vroeë Woordherkenning, Taalontwikkeling, Luister- en Leesbegrip bevorder. Die gevolgtrekking van die navorsing dui daarop dat daar baie waarde opgesluit is in die voorlees en herhaling van rympies, liedjies en stories. Die voorleesmetode van stories deur middel van die skrifverwysingsstyl-leesmetode wat verwys na die uitwysing van letters tydens die voorlees van ‘n storie, bevorder die aanleer van letters en klanke. Deur die kleuter of leerder te lei om afleidings te maak, word begrip gevorm.

Thesis (Ed. S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Psychology, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 22-25).

Full thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master in Education in the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences at the CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 2014 / This study investigates the quality of Grade R teachers’ subject knowledge of Visual Perceptual Skills (VPS). This knowledge includes their competence in visual-training design, which they need in order to give their learners access to early reading. Literature reviewed covers areas pertaining to the knowledge specialization required by Grade R teachers in order to impart VPS to young learners in the pre-reading or pre-alphabetic phase. These areas are: Visual Perception (VP), cognitive development, early reading, teacher knowledge and the Grade R policy framework. The mainly qualitative data collected over a period of ten months was derived from various potential or actual sources of teacher subject knowledge of VP. The most important source was the existing knowledge base of the four Grade R teachers in the sample. The connections between the data provided a picture of the accuracy and explicitness of the VP conceptual-content in the sources. For the Grade R teachers to be competent in visual training design, they would need suitable subject knowledge capacitation in VP. The findings revealed that training undergone by most Grade R teachers is VP deficient; the Grade R curriculum is VP vague; teacher training requires more infusion of Grade R curriculum; the regional Grade R diagnostic test is VP rich, albeit semi-concrete and not concrete in the assessment activities’ learning levels; finally, the Grade R teachers in the sample are highly motivated, and they are hungry for professional development. Key words: subject knowledge; Visual Perceptual Skills (VPS)/Visual Perception (VP); visual-training design; pre-reading/pre-alphabetic phase; professional development.

Thesis (MEd)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / A qualitative investigation into the emergence of literacy among five adult socio-economically disadvantaged subjects in a semi-rural setting complements concerns that a lack of specific forms of cognitive input during pre-school years has a negative impact on later progress in formal schooling. The subjects achieved levels of literacy that enabled them to play leadership roles in their communities although they had experienced limited or no formal education during their formative years. Using a GTM process the researcher identifies seven common themes that emerge from analysis of data from interviews and focus groups that explore the subjects’ perceptions of conditions that had promoted their literacy. These themes suggest that the subjects’ competence in literacy was facilitated by non-cognitive conditions including personal aspirations; resilience; disciplinary regimes in the home; voice; a nurturing mentor; community resources and ability to exercise agency. The researcher concludes that these themes could be important in contributing towards an understanding that developing children’s agency during early childhood may be more significant to achieving effective levels of literacy than the current focus on attaining academic skills at standards that disadvantaged children have difficulty in achieving.

A thesis submitted to the Wits School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg 2016. / This study examines literacy experiences of grade 3 learners as they transition into grade 4 in two primary schools in Gauteng. In the first school IsiZulu and Sepedi are the languages of teaching and learning in the foundation phase and learners transitioned to English in grade 4, while English is the language of learning and teaching in the second school. The study poses four questions. The first explores whether reading and writing in the foundation phase adequately prepare learners for the academic and cognitive demands of the intermediate phase. The second and third questions investigate the strategies used by learners and teachers to negotiate the transition and how those strategies could be understood and explained in relation to the increasing academic and cognitive demands of the literacy curriculum. The fourth question examines the role of language as children transition into grade 4. The study draws on the ecological systems theory by Bronfenbrenner (2005) and adopts a socio-cultural orientation to literacy, drawing on scholarship in New Literacy Studies (Street, 2007). The research design was a collective case study in the qualitative paradigm. Classroom observation, interviews and document analyses gathered over 9 months comprise the data. Two grade 3 classes were observed for three months in each school before ten focus learners were identified and these children were followed into grade 4. One grade 4 class was studied in each school for six months. What emerges from the data is that, at a macrosystemic level, curriculum change is a major factor in what happens to learners as they move across grades. The time of this study coincides with a curriculum transition from the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) to the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) of 2011 and 2012. When curriculum transition was not clear to teachers, and they did not buy into it, the effect on the mesosystem was confusion, anxiety and frustration on both teachers and learners that resulted in negative attitudes and poor delivery. The choices of language of learning and teaching schools make for the literacy instruction of their learners an important factor in transition. Language alone is a huge demand and resource factor (Bronfenbrenner, 2005) in learner literacy learning. In both schools the majority of learners accessed literacy through languages that were different from their home languages. This compromised learners’ access to and conception of academic texts. There are complex physical, structural, psychological and academic transitions a learner must deal with at the mesosystemic level on reaching grade 4. Inadequate literacy skills impact negatively on learners’ academic and social transition from one phase to another in multiple ways. Psychologically, learners had a sense of fear of the next grade and when their fears were confirmed it made transition challenging when dealing with grade 4 work. Structurally, the organisation of teaching changed from one teacher to many teachers, and hence many subjects with different expectations on learners. Some teachers had inadequate pedagogical knowledge, did not communicate within and across grades, and had generally autonomous conceptions of literacy, resulting in learners’ literacy development being compromised. At the microsystemic (classroom) level learners were confronted by grade 4 academic and literacy demands that the foundation phase did not equip them for. Reading and writing practices changed in grade 4. Vocabulary, fluency and comprehension skills learners brought from grade 3 became inadequate for the demands of grade 4 work. Also absent in grade 4 was the environmental print and other supports learners had in grade 3. When learners’ complex, challenging situations were compounded by poor teaching, inconsistent literacy practices, lack of resources, large classes and timetabling issues some learners lost interest, accepted their fate and developed negative attitudes to schooling. Carelessness surfaced, written work was not prioritised and often not completed, while other learners sought support from the exosystem in the form of parents and siblings to hedge the challenges of transition. Consequent to this study there was a realisation among teachers in the two schools that they could do something about transition and literacy. An appetite for knowledge and revisiting of pedagogical practices was rekindled among some teachers. Transition and literacy became topical issues in both formal and informal teacher conversations. This raises questions about the coordination and smooth cooperation between systems which further research may tap into. / MT2017

In this study, the researcher investigated how computer use functions as an aspect of literacy development within a second-grade classroom. The researcher sought to gather data to help define the role that computer use plays in the literacy development of elementary school students by concentrating on how computers are actually used in the classroom being studied, and by looking for relationships revealed by students' and teacher's beliefs about computer use in the classroom.

Professionals in education continue to explore technology as a way to instruct young students, and there is an accompanying belief that this technology can make an educational and academic difference. Despite the high percentage of young students in classrooms using technology, the impact of this technology on the early literacy skills of young children remains largely unknown. Guided by Vygotsky’s social learning theory, this study reports a 24-week investigation on whether regular use of Istation®, an integrated learning system used by approximately 3,000,000 students in the United States, had an effect on the early literacy achievement of children in twelve kindergarten classrooms. A mixed-method, quasi-experimental design was constructed using propensity scores. Also investigated were the effects of the level of teacher literacy support on early literacy achievement and the interaction between Istation® use and the level of teacher literacy support. A descriptive discriminant analysis was performed to determine the main effect of Istation®. The level of teacher support and the interaction effect was then tested using a multivariate between-subject analysis. Results indicated that Istation® did have a statistically significant effect on the early literacy skills of the 72 kindergarten students studied and was able to explain 17.7% of the variance in group differences. Hearing and recording sounds and letter sound knowledge were the main contributors to group differences. Teacher literacy support and the interaction between teacher support and Istation were not significant. This study considers the relationship between technology and early literacy and concludes that Istation® can serve as a more knowledgeable other as students develop some early literacy skills; however, teachers are still needed to provide complete literacy instruction for young students.