Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilka metoder och arbetssätt förskollärare förhåller sig till för att främja barns språkutveckling genom läsning i förskolan.Denna studie görs utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och baserar sig på grundtesen att människors interaktion, möten med varandra, är betydelsefullt för hur språkinlärning och lärandet sker i samspelet med andra i olika situationer och med olika verktyg. Detta har undersökts genom en kvalitativ metod där fem förskollärare från fem olika förskolor har intervjuats.Studiens resultat visar att läsning förekommer i verksamheten varje dag på alla fem förskolorna men att det skiljer sig åt i vilken utsträckning läsning sker mellan förskollärare och barngrupp. De äldre barnen tar del av kapitelböcker för att skapa en djupare förståelsen för orden och de yngre barnen får möjligheten att själva kunna skapa sig en bild av sagan. Barnen lär sig på det sättet nya ord i samspel med andra som de sedan själva använder i sina lekar. Läsning sker initierat av både barn och vuxna och valet av litteraturen beror på om tillfället är planerat eller spontant.

Early identification and targeted intervention during the preschool years can help to prevent later reading difficulties among school-age children. The GRTR! was developed by the Applied Research Partners and the National Center for Learning Disabilities. It is a quick, reliable measure developed for paraprofessionals to assess deficits in pre-literacy skills among preschoolers. Most of the research on this measure has been limited to preschoolers primarily from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and authored by the developers of the GRTR! The current study examined the Get Ready to Read! (GRTR!) screening tool as an assessment of emergent literacy skills of 206 preschoolers attending either a private preschool (M range = 38.04 - 71.04) or a public preschool (M range = 41.04 - 72) and relating their performance to standardized measures of language skills (vocabulary and print knowledge) and phonological awareness. The effects of SES, age, school, and gender on the performance of GRTR! were assessed. Students attending the private preschool outperformed those from the public preschool and those from the standardization GRTR! sample, although the public preschool group scored within the average range. Age was a significant predictor of GRTR! scores for participants ages three through five years. The GRTR! correlated positively and significantly with more comprehensive measures of language abilities. Results demonstrate that the GRTR! is a valid and reliable tool for screening children's emergent literacy skills in preschool centers. Results underscore the notion that SES does not necessarily dictate a child's competence in a specific area. Further research linking the GRTR! to strategic and cost-effective interventions, which include parental involvement and teacher support is needed. Studies including a wider range of SES, racial/ethnic, and linguistic groups would also improve upon the measure's validity.

Studiens syfte är att få fördjupad förståelse för förskollärares och barnskötares uppfattningar och erfarenheter av barnlitteraturens betydelse i förskolans lärmiljö i avseende att främja alla barns läslust. Studien utgick från en kvalitativ metod och det empiriska material som samlats in är baserat på beskrivningar av förskollärares och barnskötares arbete med barnlitteratur. Analysen av studiens resultat tar utgångspunkt i ett allmändidaktiskt perspektiv och teorin om litteracitet. Resultatet tyder på att samtliga pedagoger har en uppfattning om att litteracitetarbete är en viktig del av förskolans utbildning. Samtidigt visar resultatet på att arbetet med barnlitteratur varierar. Därmed kan vi konstatera att barnen ges olika förutsättningar till att utveckla läslust och litteracitetskompetens.

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Early Childhood educators agree on the significant influence of a parent on a child’s literacy development. The environment a parent provides, in addition to the opportunities a child has in the early years, have a major influence on a child’s literacy development. This study sought to determine how parents in a low-income socioeconomic group perceived literacy development and how their preschool-age children performed on an emergent literacy assessment. The 64 study participants were recruited from a Head Start program in the central Appalachian Mountains. An overwhelming majority of participants were mother/child dyads, every participant spoke English as a primary language, and the majority of the participants identified their race as white. Participants were asked to complete a demographic survey and a questionnaire. The questionnaire was used to identify parents as either having a more emergent or more traditional perception of literacy development. This data was used to determine if identifying characteristics, such as education level or caregiver role, have an influence on a parent’s perceptions (emergent or traditional) of literacy development. Additionally, parents were asked to document the 5 most important things they are doing to help their child become a successful reader. It was concluded that no significant relationship exists between the parental perceptions and the child’s emergent literacy skills. The significance of this finding is two-fold. First, parent trainings in literacy development must focus on specific skills or methods that parents need to encourage literacy development, instead of the theoretical approach behind literacy development. Additionally, the sample overwhelmingly reported “reading to their child” as something they value; therefore, parent trainings should focus on how to share stories with a child, instead of simply asserting the necessity of reading to a child.

This study investigated the use of storytelling in order to support children's emergent literacy in Malawi's resource deprived Community Based Childcare Centers (CBCCs). It focused on the professional development of four caregivers from four CBCCs following a Formative and Design Experiment model, and using qualitative methods of inquiry. The professional development on storytelling was designed following an informative two-week observation period. Following the observation, a daylong professional development was organized to train the caregivers. In the seven-week intervention period that followed the professional development, the main focus of the study was on the perceptions of the caregivers about their participation in a professional development on storytelling in CBCCs, their responses to using storytelling, and their perceptions about children's responses to using storytelling in CBCCs. Data that informed the study comprised caregivers' reflective notes in their journals, individual caregiver weekly interviews, weekly focus group discussions, and research reflective field notes that were collected over seven weeks after the professional development. Findings suggested that the four caregivers found the professional development beneficial to them all. However, out of the four caregivers, three of them and their respective children demonstrated benefit from storytelling, growth in knowledge and development of storytelling skills. The three caregivers reported becoming more connected with the children, understood them better, found storytelling to be a teaching approach, and felt that their teaching was made easier and enjoyable. The children taught by these three caregivers enjoyed their learning and even resourced stories from their communities. They too, became storytellers. In the end, the caregivers felt that they were ready to share their experiences with other caregivers in Zomba District in Malawi. These findings suggest that storytelling could be used in support of emergent literacy at a larger scale, as well as serve as springboard for pedagogical training of the caregivers culminating in the development of locally available teaching and learning resources in the Malawian CBCC. / Ph. D.

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This dissertation presents the results of an intervention study examining whether electronic picturebook applications on a tablet computer support the development of print knowledge in preschool age children in low literacy childcare environments. Print knowledge is one of the earliest literacy skills to develop and there is evidence that children who enter kindergarten without this skill are less likely to be reading on grade level two years later (Piasta et al., 2012; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998). Since print knowledge is so critical for later literacy development, it is important to make sure that all children acquire this capacity. The sample for this study consisted of 3 and 4 year old children who attended six low literacy classrooms in four childcare centers located in Delaware and Chester Counties. Classrooms were randomly assigned as either experimental or control. A tablet computer preloaded with interactive electronic picturebooks was added to the experimental classroom for children to interact with during free play. Teachers were told not to use the tablet for individual, small or large group reading and there were no other changes to the literacy environment. Children were allowed to play with the tablet as a free choice activity. There were no changes to the literacy environment of the control classrooms. A pre-test/post-design using the Get Ready To Read Screening tool measured changes in children’s print knowledge learning over the three month period of time in which the study was conducted. The quality of the literacy environment was measured at the beginning and end of the study. Additional data were gathered through teacher and family questionnaires and classroom observation. The frequency and duration of tablet use was also tracked. The results indicate that there were no positive significant differences in print knowledge from pre to post test. This indicates that the teacher is still the most critical component of the emergent literacy environment. / Educational Psychology