Participants for this study were 56 four-year-old children and their parents. All children were enrolled or on a waiting list to be enrolled in a preschool program in the Cache Valley area. A parent questionnaire and environmental assessment were utilized to determine whether a) the physical environment, b) behaviors of parents, and c) birth order of children is related to development of print awareness as measured by a print awareness test.
A variety of statistical analyses was used to explore relationships among the above variables. Major findings suggest that the behaviors that reflect parents' attitudes regarding literacy are most important in the development of their children's print awareness. Fathers' use of the library and mothers' education are significantly related to their children's performance on the print Awareness Test. The amount of time that children spend watching videos is also significantly correlated to their print Awareness Test scores. Significant differences were found in what mothers and fathers do to prepare their children for reading, with mothers taking a more active role in reading to the children and teaching them literacy skills.
Other notable findings suggest that the reading pleasure of each parent is important to their children's enjoyment in being read to and to creating positive feelings about reading. Parents tend to predict that their children will learn to read at about the same ages as they themselves learned to read.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-3353 |
| Date | 01 May 1990 |
| Creators | Glover, Barbara Ann Bybee |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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