CEL4

Communication and Emergent Literacy:
Early Intervention Issues
What Is Emergent Literacy?

Session 4
Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers With Visual
Impairments
FPG Child Development Institute, 2005
Objectives
After completing this session, participants will
1. define emergent literacy as the
developmental process that begins at birth
whereby children acquire the foundation for
reading and writing.
2. describe two important models of emergent
literacy.
Early Intervention Training Center for

Infants and Toddlers With Visual Impairments
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4A
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
August 1, 2005
Objectives
3. identify six key components of emergent
literacy for children with disabilities: oral
language, phonological awareness,
concept development, knowledge of the
conventions of print/braille and of
print/braille intentionality, alphabetic
knowledge, and environmental factors.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4B
August 1, 2005
Objectives
4. define oral language, including listening
comprehension, vocabulary, and narrative
knowledge, and describe how it is related to
reading and writing.
5. define phonological awareness, including
phonemic awareness, as a metalinguistic
process that contributes to emergent
literacy and literacy.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4C
August 1, 2005
Objectives
6. discuss concept development, including the
formation of schemas, and how it relates to
emergent literacy.
7. describe knowledge of the conventions of
print/braille and print/braille intentionality
and their relationship to reading and writing.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4D
August 1, 2005
Objectives
8. define alphabetic knowledge and describe
its contribution to reading and writing.
9. describe the relationship between
environmental factors, including the
communicative, situational, and
sociocultural contexts within which literacy
develops, and literacy.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4E
August 1, 2005
Objectives
10.describe effective early intervention
practices for facilitating emergent literacy as
collaborative and family-centered,
developmentally appropriate, and based on
evidence-based and recommended
practices to achieve functional outcomes
within naturally occurring learning
opportunities.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4F
August 1, 2005
Objectives
11.describe strategies and interventions to
facilitate emergent literacy—play, routines-
based literacy, responsive literacy
environments, shared storybook reading
(especially dialogic reading, storybook
preview, and storybook sounds),
storytelling, and dialogue and how they
facilitate the development of six key
components of emergent literacy for young
children with disabilities.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4G
August 1, 2005
Objectives
12.describe assessments that can be used to
identify, plan, and implement emergent
literacy interventions.
13.discuss the potential impact of visual
impairments on emergent literacy, the
challenge of determining whether children
will be print or braille readers, and
considerations for providing appropriate
adaptations that will facilitate emergent
literacy in these children.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4H
August 1, 2005
Emergent Literacy
Begins at Birth
• Emergent literacy is the developmental
process that begins at birth whereby children
acquire the foundation for reading and writing.
• “The term ‘emergent literacy’ is used to
denote the idea that the acquisition of literacy
is best conceptualized as a developmental
continuum, with its origins early in the life of a
child, rather than as an all-or-none
phenomenon that begins when children start
school” (p. 848).
Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4I
August 1, 2005
Emergent Literacy is
Appropriate for all Children
• Disability, as well as the reactions of others
to disability, can result in fewer opportunities
for children to experience literacy.
• Children with disabilities, including children
with visual impairments, can and do
experience literacy success when provided
with appropriate support and modifications.
Koppenhaver, Coleman, Kalman, & Yoder, 1991
Marvin & Mirenda, 1993

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4J
August 1, 2005
Family Literacy
• Families are essential to emergent literacy
development.
• Reading and writing are usually first
introduced to children in the home.
• Researchers have repeatedly found that the
home literacy environments of toddlers and
preschoolers have measurable effects on
later literacy skills.
Marvin & Mirenda, 1993;
Payne, Whitehurst, & Angell, 1994;
Rosenkoetter & Barton, 2002; Weinberger, 1996
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4K
August 1, 2005
Family Literacy
Characteristics
Family and environmental characteristics that
are related to literacy include
• a variety of literacy activities in the home
(e.g., many books and writing materials that
are used regularly),
• language and vocabulary used in the home,
• opportunities for children to learn about
people and activities, and
• high parental expectations for child literacy.
Bennett, Weigel, & Martin, 2002
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4L
August 1, 2005
Concurrent and Interrelated
Development of Literacy
Emergent literacy is based on the idea “that
reading, writing, and oral language develop
concurrently and interdependently from an
early age from children’s exposure to
interactions in the social contexts in which
literacy is a component, and in the absence of
formal instruction” (p. 849).

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4M
August 1, 2005
The Interrelationships of
Literacy Development

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4N
August 1, 2005
Interrelated Development of
Communication and Literacy
Young children’s abilities to
• listen,
• read,
• write, and
• speak (or use augmentative communication
devices)
develop concurrently and interrelatedly.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4O
August 1, 2005
Function and Form
• Literacy tasks have both functions and forms.
• The function of writing a note to a family
member can take many forms, such as
writing with a pen or brailling with a slate and
stylus.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4P
August 1, 2005
Functional Literacy Events
• Functions and forms of literacy are equally
important in the development of reading and
writing.
• Young children learn the forms and functions
of literacy concurrently through functional
literacy experiences (e.g., writing a grocery
list with a parent before going grocery
shopping).
• Isolated practice of literacy forms (e.g., writing
the letter g repeatedly on the braille writer)
would not be as meaningful as writing a note
to a beloved family member.
Koppenhaver et al., 1991
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4Q
August 1, 2005
Two Important Models
of Emergent Literacy
• Whitehurst and Lonigan (1998, 2002)
• Sénéchal, LeFevre, Smith-Chant, and Colton
(2001)

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4R
August 1, 2005
Whitehurst and Lonigan’s Two
Domains of Emergent Literacy
Whitehurst and Lonigan (1998) propose that
emergent literacy consists of two
interdependent sets of skills and processes:
• outside-in
• inside-out
as well as a third group of “other factors.”
Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998; 2002

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4S
August 1, 2005
Outside–in Domain
The outside-in domain refers to children’s
knowledge of the context (i.e., the meanings of
words, concepts about the world, how
narratives are structured) in which reading and
writing exist.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4T
August 1, 2005
Inside-out Domain
The inside-out domain refers to children’s
understanding of the rules (i.e., that letters form
words, that letters represent sounds, that
punctuation marks carry meaning) for
translating print into sounds or sounds into print.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4U
August 1, 2005
Whitehurst and Lonigan’s
Domains of Emergent Literacy
• Outside-in domain
 Knowledge about the conventions of print
 Emergent reading (pretending to read)
 Narrative knowledge
 Language (vocabulary)
• Inside-out domain
 Alphabetic knowledge
 Letter-sound knowledge
 Emergent writing (pretending to write)
 Phonological awareness (metalinguistic skills)
Early Intervention Training Center for Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998, p. 850
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4V
August 1, 2005
Whitehurst and Lonigan’s
Model of Emergent Literacy
“Other factors” include
• phonological memory (short-term memory for
phonologically coded information),
• rapid naming (ability to quickly say aloud a
list of letters, numbers, or colors), and
• print motivation (interest in reading and
writing).
Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998, p. 850

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4W
August 1, 2005
Whitehurst and Lonigan:
Environmental Factors
Whitehurst and Lonigan also emphasize the
relationships of the home literacy environment
to later reading and writing, particularly early
shared reading and components of emergent
literacy, such as
• language development,
• conventions and intentionality of print, and
• print motivation.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4X
August 1, 2005
Sénéchal, LeFevre,
Smith-Chant, and Colton
Sénéchal et al. (2001) propose that literacy
evolves from skills and abilities that form three
separate, but related, constructs:
• emergent literacy,
• language, and
• metalinguistic skills.
Sénéchal, LeFevre , Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4Y
August 1, 2005
Sénéchal et al. Versus
Whitehurst and Lonigan
• Aspects of Sénéchal et al.’s model of literacy
closely resemble those of Whitehurst and
Lonigan’s.
• Whereas Whitehurst and Lonigan propose
outside-in and inside-out domains, Sénéchal
et al. propose emergent conceptual
knowledge and emergent procedural
knowledge.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4Z
August 1, 2005
Sénéchal et al.’s Model of
Emergent Literacy
• Emergent conceptual knowledge (i.e., knowing why)
 Knowledge about the acts of reading and writing
 Knowledge about the functions of literacy
 Self-perception of learning to read
 Emergent reading in context
• Emergent procedural knowledge (i.e., knowing how)
 Preconventional spelling in a variety of situations
 Letter knowledge
 Letter-sound knowledge
 Word reading (with help)

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4AA
August 1, 2005
Sénéchal et al. Versus
Whitehurst and Lonigan
Whereas Whitehurst and Lonigan include such
categories as language (vocabulary) and
phonological awareness (metalinguistic skills)
as components of emergent literacy, Sénéchal
et al. identify two constructs as distinct from
emergent literacy:
• language and
• metalinguistic skills.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4BB
August 1, 2005
Language and Metalinguistic
Skills Constructs
Language Metalinguistic
• Narrative Skills
knowledge • Phonological
• Vocabulary awareness
• Listening • Syntactic
comprehension awareness
Senechal et al., 2001, p. 448

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4CC
August 1, 2005
National Early Literacy Panel
(NELP)
The mission of the NELP is to
• summarize research on early literacy
development that will contribute to education
policy and practice decisions and
• evaluate the role of teachers and families in
supporting language and literacy development in
order to create literacy-specific materials and
staff development programs for families,
educators, and family literacy practitioners.
Strickland & Shanahan, 2004
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4DD
August 1, 2005
NELP’s 11 Predictors
of Literacy Success
• oral language/ • phonemic awareness
vocabulary • phonological short-
• listening term memory
comprehension • rapid naming
• print knowledge • visual perceptual
• environmental skills
print • visual memory
• alphabetic Strickland & Shanahan, 2004
knowledge
• invented spelling
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4EE
August 1, 2005
Key Components of
Emergent Literacy for Young
Children With Disabilities
• Oral language (especially listening
comprehension, vocabulary, and narrative
knowledge)
• Phonological awareness
• Concept development
• Knowledge of the conventions of print/braille
and of print/braille intentionality
• Alphabetic knowledge
• Environmental factors
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4FF
August 1, 2005
Oral Language
• Oral language is spoken communication.
• Children’s mastery of oral language is most
often measured by
 listening comprehension or
 size of vocabulary.
• Oral language can also be measured by
degree of mastery of grammar and syntax.
Strickland & Shanahan, 2004

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4GG
August 1, 2005
Grammar and Syntax
• Grammar refers to the system of rules that
govern a language.
• Syntax refers to the system of rules that
govern, for a given language, how words are
arranged to make meaningful sentences.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4HH
August 1, 2005
Listening Comprehension
Listening comprehension
• is the understanding of spoken communication,
including vocabulary and syntax.
• is associated with the ability of preschoolers and
kindergartners to decode texts and read with
comprehension.
• can be facilitated through conversations with
children and through their active engagement
during storybook reading.
Strickland and Shanahan, 2004

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4II
August 1, 2005
Vocabulary
• Vocabulary refers to the words used and
understood by a language user.
• Vocabulary development in children is related
to the conversation of caregivers and to
storybook reading—opportunities that promote
oral language.
• Vocabulary can be facilitated through direct
experiences that develop concepts.
• Vocabulary is related to reading success and
reading comprehension in school.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4JJ
August 1, 2005
Narrative Knowledge
• Narrative knowledge is a set of expectations,
or knowledge, about the ways in which stories
conventionally proceed.
• For example, through experience, young
children learn that stories often begin with
“Once upon a time” and end with “The end.”
• Narrative knowledge is also called “narrative
schema” or “story schema.”

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4KK
August 1, 2005
Oral Language
Young children’s oral language, including
listening comprehension, may be influenced by
environmental factors such as
• family values, socio-economic status, and
culture;
• family’s vocabulary and language use;
• maternal education and IQ;
• number of books in the home;
• frequency of visits to library; and
• active participation in storybook reading.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4LL
August 1, 2005
Oral Language
Oral language
• is related to concepts about the world and
vocabulary that will help with reading
comprehension in second grade and beyond.
• promotes narrative knowledge.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4MM
August 1, 2005
Phonological Awareness
• Phonological awareness is the ability to
detect and manipulate the sound structures of
oral language.
• It includes the recognition that sentences are
composed of words and that words are
composed of sound units (syllables,
phonemes).
• Phonological awareness is metalinguistic.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4NN
August 1, 2005
Metalinguistics
• Metalinguistics is the study of language, not
just as a means of communication, but as its
own abstract entity.
• Metalinguistics involves consciously
observing or reflecting upon language use.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4OO
August 1, 2005
Phonological Awareness
• Phonological awareness includes children’s
ability to identify rhymes, delete or add
syllables or phonemes from words, and count
the phonemes in a word.
• Phonological awareness is related to the later
ability to decode words and to read fluently.
• Phonological awareness is also called
“phonological sensitivity.”

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4PP
August 1, 2005
Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is
• the ability to detect and manipulate the
smallest units of sound within words.
• a component of phonological awareness.
• demonstrated through the ability to isolate,
add, or delete phonemes from words.
• related to later ability to decode words and to
use invented spelling.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4QQ
August 1, 2005
Concept Development
• A concept is a general idea that develops
through repeated experiences with specific
events.
• Children need repeated experiences with

specific examples to generalize concepts.
Warren & Hatton, 2003

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4RR
August 1, 2005
Schema
Schemas
• are meaningfully organized cognitive templates
or frameworks, typically derived from
experience, that represent knowledge about
objects, people, events, activities, or situations.
• help organize concepts so that they can be
retrieved efficiently; schemas assist in
predicting what is likely to happen in a given
context.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4SS
August 1, 2005
Concepts About the World
Gaining concepts about the world (schemas)
helps children understand concepts in books.
Making bread teaches children
many concepts. A book about
cooking will be enjoyed more
if children have previous
experiences with the concepts.
Rosenkoetter & Barton, 2002

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4TT
August 1, 2005
Conceptual Understanding
• Exposure to events in the home and
community is essential for building concepts
that support literacy.
• Frequent exposure to meaningful and
functional objects and experiences provides
the foundation for concept development,
communication, language, and literacy
development.
• Children with visual impairments may need
assistance in generalizing concepts.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4UU
August 1, 2005
Conventions of Print/Braille
• Knowledge of the conventions of print/braille
refers to children’s understanding of standard
text formats (e.g., that texts are read from left
to right and from top to bottom; that books are
read from front to back; that pages are turned
during reading).
• Knowing the conventions of print/braille

facilitates literacy acquisition in young
children.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4VV
August 1, 2005
Books
• are generally made of paper, but can be
made of other materials;
• have pages to be turned;
• may contain words or pictures; and
• have pictures that represent familiar objects.
Harley, Truan, & Sanford, 1997

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4WW
August 1, 2005
Books
• have a top, bottom, front, and back.
• provide pleasure and information.
• have language that is consistent from page to
page.
• have print or braille symbols that read from
left to right and from top to bottom.
• have print or braille symbols that tell the
reader what to say.
Harley et al., 1997

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4XX
August 1, 2005
Print/Braille Intentionality
• Knowledge of print/braille intentionality refers
to children’s understanding of the functions
of texts—for example, that texts can tell
stories, give directions, and provide
information.
• Knowing why people read may facilitate

literacy acquisition in young children.
Senechal, LeFevre, Smith-Chant, & Colton, 2001

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4YY
August 1, 2005
Print/Braille Intentionality
Print/braille intentionality (also called print/braille
knowledge)
• is influenced by exposure to environmental
print, storybook reading, direct parent
teaching, and active involvement with
storybooks.
• is related to motivation to read and
understanding the process of reading.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4ZZ
August 1, 2005
Alphabetic Knowledge
• Alphabetic knowledge is the ability to name
the letters of the alphabet based on their
shapes.
• Children’s alphabetic knowledge may be

influenced by
 exposure to the alphabet in their natural
environments and
 direct teaching by adults.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4AAA
August 1, 2005
Alphabetic knowledge
• is related to the later ability to decode words
and to use invented spelling.
• may also be called “letter-name knowledge,”
“knowledge of graphemes,” and “knowledge
of letters.”

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4BBB
August 1, 2005
Emergent literacy is influenced by
environmental factors, or the contexts of
children’s lives.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4CCC
August 1, 2005
Literacy success in older children has been
linked to
• higher family socio-economic status,
• higher maternal education and IQ,
• high parental vocabulary and complex
language, and
• more books and literacy materials in
homes.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4DDD
August 1, 2005
Literacy success in older children has been
linked to
• frequency of shared storybook reading,
• active child participation in storybook
reading,
• trips to the library,
• parental enthusiasm for reading, and
• high family expectations.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4EEE
August 1, 2005
A Contextual Perspective of
Communication and Literacy
Adapted from
Koppenhaver, D.A.,
Pierce, P.L.,
Steelman, J.D., &
Yoder, D.E. (1995).
Speaking/Signing/AAC Contexts of early
literacy intervention
for children with
Writing
Concept
Reading
developmental
Development
disabilities. In M.E.
Fey, J. Windsor, &
Listening/ S.F. Warren (Eds.),
Watching Signs Language
intervention:
Communicative Context Preschool through
the elementary years
Situational Context
(pp. 241-274).
Baltimore: Paul H.
Sociocultural Context Brookes.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4FFF
August 1, 2005
Three Contexts
Three contexts influence communication
development:
• Communicative context—linguistic and
nonlinguistic interactions among children
and adults
• Situational context—physical characteristics
of children’s living and learning environments
• Sociocultural context—societal and cultural
values, expectations, beliefs, and resources
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4GGG
August 1, 2005
Communicative Context
The four interrelated modes of communication,
• listening/watching signs,
• reading,
• writing, and
• speaking/ signing/ using AAC devices,
depend heavily on concept development.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4HHH
August 1, 2005
Emergent Literacy and
IDEIA 2004
The individualized family service plan (IFSP) for
infants and toddlers with disabilities should
include
measurable results or outcomes for infants or
toddlers and family, including preliteracy and language
skills, as developmentally appropriate for the child,
and the criteria, procedures, and timelines used to
determine the degree to which progress toward
achieving the results or outcomes is being made and
whether modifications or revisions of the results or
outcomes or services are necessary. (IDEIA
2004, Part C, Section 631)

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4III
August 1, 2005
Recommended Practices
To facilitate emergent literacy in young children
with disabilities, early interventionists should
provide collaborative, family-centered support
that is developmentally appropriate and based
on evidence-based and recommended
practices that result in functional outcomes
within naturally occurring learning opportunities.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4JJJ
August 1, 2005
Family-Centered and
Collaborative Practices
Interventions to facilitate emergent literacy
should be family centered:
• involve shared responsibility and
collaboration among all team members,
• strengthen family functioning,
• include individualized and flexible practices,
and
• employ strengths- and assets-based
practices.
Trivette and Dunst, 2005
FPG Child Development Institute What is Emergent Literacy? 4KKK
September 29, 2020
Developmentally Appropriate
Practices
• Although most definitions of emergent
literacy recognize that it begins at birth, very
little is known about emergent literacy in
infants and toddlers.
• Consequently, many professionals and
families try to adapt information and research
about preschoolers and kindergarteners for

FPG Child Development Institute What is Emergent Literacy? 4LLL
September 29, 2020
Practices
Therefore, until we have more empirically
based information, families, caregivers, and
professionals should
• use developmentally appropriate activities
that are functional and fun,
• use recommended practices from early
intervention and early childhood special
education, and
• carefully consider research and evidence-
based practices that may be appropriate for
FPG Child Development Institute What is Emergent Literacy? 4MMM
September 29, 2020
Recommended Practices for
Child-Focused Interventions
Intervention that is child focused includes
• designing safe and accessible
environments that promote active and
interactive engagement,
• adapting practices to meet the individual
and changing needs of each child, and
• systematically promoting children’s learning
within and across environments, activities,
and routines.
Wolery, 2005
FPG Child Development Institute What is Emergent Literacy? 4NNN
September 29, 2020
Recommended Practices for
Child-Focused Interventions
Child-focused interventions should promote
functional outcomes as identified by the Early
Childhood Outcome Center (2005):
• social interactions that provide the context
for meaningful communication and that
provide motivation for development across
domains,
• active engagement in the world around
them, and
• independence and self-efficacy.
FPG Child Development Institute What is Emergent Literacy? 4OOO
September 29, 2020
Emergent Literacy
Interventions
Strategies and interventions to facilitate
emergent literacy facilitate the development of
the six key components of emergent literacy for
young children with disabilities:
• oral language,
• phonological awareness,
• concept development,
• knowledge of the conventions of print/braille
and print/braille intentionality,
• alphabetic knowledge, and
• rich literacy environments.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4PPP
August 1, 2005
Strategies and Interventions to
Facilitate Emergent Literacy
Developmentally appropriate strategies and
interventions that promote functional outcomes
include
• play;
• routines-based literacy;
• responsive literacy environments;
• shared storybook reading (especially dialogic
reading, storybook preview, and storybook
sounds);
• storytelling, including decontextualized
language; and
• dialogue/conversation.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4QQQ
August 1, 2005
Play
• Many emergent literacy interventions can be
encouraged through play.
• Play is process oriented, not product oriented.
• Children learn through the process of playing,
not by creating a product or accomplishing a
task.
• Play provides a developmentally appropriate
context for learning about the functions of reading
and writing.
McLane & McNamee, 1991
Roskos, Christie, & Richgels, 2003

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4RRR
August 1, 2005
Routines-Based Literacy
Lawhon and Cobb describe a literacy routine as
“the regular use of a variety of techniques to
enhance children’s abilities
• to listen,
• to observe,
• to imitate, and
• to develop their language, reading and writing skills”
(2002, p. 113).
Literacy routines should be integrated into the
context of daily routines.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4SSS
August 1, 2005
Responsive Literacy
Environments
Responsive literacy environments include
experiences in which children
• observe adults modeling literate behaviors,
• interact with adults in reading and writing
situations, and
• explore literacy actively (self-initiated, hands-
on, and independent exploration).
Teale & Sulzby, 1986

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4TTT
August 1, 2005
Responsive Literacy
Environments
• The appropriateness, accessibility, and
number of literacy resources or artifacts
within children’s environments enhance
literacy modeling, interactions, and active
exploration.
• Responsive literacy environments help
children learn about the function of reading
and writing within day to day activities.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4UUU
August 1, 2005
Examples of Active and
Interactive Engagement
Seventeen-month-old Here, at 22 months,

Allysandra and her mother Allysandra explores a
share a storybook. book actively.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4VVV
August 1, 2005
Shared Storybook Reading
Shared storybook
reading is
• evidence based,
• family centered,
• child centered, and
• developmentally
appropriate.
NAYEC, 1998

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4WWW
August 1, 2005
Shared Storybook Reading
Shared storybook reading helps children acquire
• oral language,
• the conventions of print/braille and print/braille
intentionality, and
• alphabetic knowledge.
Shared storybook reading helps children to
develop a positive attitude about reading (i.e.,
gain print motivation).
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4XXX
August 1, 2005
Dialogic Reading
• Dialogic reading is a shared-reading technique
in which the adult assumes the role of an
active listener, and the child learns to become
a storyteller.
• In dialogic reading, the adult reader asks
questions, adds information, and prompts the
child to increase the sophistication of
descriptions in the book.
• The child’s responses are encouraged through
praise and repetition.
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Dialogic Reading
• Dialogic reading produces greater effects on
children’s language skills than typical picture
book reading in which children listen
passively.
• It has been used successfully with children of
varying ages and abilities.

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August 1, 2005
Storybook Preview
• Storybook preview is the shared exploration
of the content of a book without
consideration of the storyline.
• Children are given the opportunity to label
or describe illustrations of interest, ask
questions, and make comments to increase
narrative knowledge and vocabulary.
• The caregiver’s role is to identify and
scaffold children’s communicative attempts.
McCathren & Allor, 2002

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August 1, 2005
Storybook Sounds
• Storybook sounds is an intervention that
focuses on the development of phonological
awareness.
• During shared storybook reading, caregivers
point out rhyming words or initial sounds.
• If children show an interest, caregivers can
make up little games to reinforce
phonological concepts.
McCathren & Allor, 2002

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August 1, 2005
Storytelling
Children who are told stories, whether fictional
ones or ones based on real-life experiences,
gain familiarity with decontextualized language.
For example, a parent who has just come home

from work uses decontextualized language to
describe what happened at the office earlier in
the day.

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August 1, 2005
Decontextualized Language
Decontextualized language refers to the
expression of ideas and concepts that are
removed from the immediate situation or
physical context.
Exposure to decontextualized language

facilitates children’s ability to recall events,
make predictions, ask and answer questions,
and problem-solve.
Bardige & Segal, 2004

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August 1, 2005
Dialogue/Conversation
• Young children who are exposed to a wide
variety of words in meaningful conversation
learn new words each day.
• When adults use a wide variety of descriptive
language, children pick up on the words and
learn their meaning in appropriate contexts.

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August 1, 2005
Dialogue
• Children with larger vocabularies as
preschoolers become better readers and
writers.
• Children exposed to decontextualized
language often become more adept learners
in elementary school.

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August 1, 2005
Assessment of Emergent
Literacy
• Current level of functioning descriptions of
communication and language can be used to
identify emergent literacy intervention goals for
children.
• Assessment of family priorities, concerns, and
resources can also be used to identify
communication, language, and emergent
literacy priorities and goals.
• Sensory assessments describe current levels
of visual and sensory functioning and sensory
preferences that can help guide intervention.
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August 1, 2005
Sensory Assessments and
Emergent Literacy
• Functional vision assessments, conducted by
teachers of children with visual impairments,
describe functional use of vision across
settings that can be used to identify
appropriate and accessible literacy media.
• A developmentally appropriate learning media
assessment (DALMA) consists of interviews
and observations and is used to describe
children’s sensory behaviors and preferences.

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August 1, 2005
Learning Media Assessment Tools
• The Individual Sensory Learning Profile
Interview or ISLPI (Anthony, 2003a) includes
questions for caregivers about how a child with
visual impairments uses sensory information
during activities and routines.
• The Observational Assessment of Sensory
Preferences of Infants and Toddlers With Visual
Impairments or OASP (Anthony, 2003b)
provides a framework for direct observations of
the child’s sensory behaviors.
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August 1, 2005
Individual Sensory Learning
Profile Interview (ISLPI)
The ISLPI is used to secure information about
children’s sensory use through interviews with
caregivers and other team members. It provides
information about:
• response to visual stimuli;
• latency of visual response;
• preferences for auditory, vestibular, and
kinesthetic stimuli; and
• positioning preferences that support overall
sensory responsiveness.
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August 1, 2005
Observational Assessment of
Sensory Preferences (OASP)
• Notes child’s sensory preferences through
observations across activities, settings, and
time
• Provides observational information about
how the child uses senses
• Compares sensory use in structured and
unstructured situations
• Notes motivating objects and activities and
preferences for certain toys and activities
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August 1, 2005
The Adult/Child Interactive
Reading Inventory (ACIRI)
The ACIRI
• is an authentic observation tool that
assesses interactions during shared
storybook readings.
• helps interventionists identify intervention
goals and strategies.
DeBruin-Parecki, 2000

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August 1, 2005
The Adult/Child Interactive
Reading Inventory (ACIRI)
The ACIRI assesses the following three
literacy categories through observation:
• enhancing attention to text,
• promoting interactive reading and
supporting comprehension, and
• using literacy strategies.
DeBruin-Parecki, 2000

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August 1, 2005
Kaderavek-Sulzby Bookreading
Observational Protocol (KSBOP)
The KSBOP is used to observe joint reading
behaviors of children and caregivers.
The KSBOP isolates four areas of shared
storybook reading:
• storybook selection,
• parent scaffolding,
• social-emotional climate, and
• verbal responsiveness.
Kaderavek & Sulzby, 1998
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August 1, 2005
Impact of Disabilities and VI on
Emergent Literacy
Early interventionists should carefully consider
children’s unique abilities and the impact they
may have on
• oral language (listening comprehension and
vocabulary development in particular),
• knowledge of the conventions of print/braille
and of print/braille intentionality, and
• alphabetic knowledge.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4OOOO
August 1, 2005
Concept Development
• Children with disabilities may have fewer
concepts about the world.
• They may not readily grasp cause-and-effect
relationships, and they may not be motivated
to explore because they are unable to see the
enticing objects, people, and activities around
them.
• Conceptual knowledge helps children
understand the content of stories and
conversation and is related to reading
comprehension in the second and later
grades.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4PPPP
August 1, 2005
Responsive Caregiving
• Parents of children with disabilities are more
at risk for depression (Wheeler, Hatton,
Reichardrt, & Bailey, 2005).
• Caregivers who are depressed are typically
not as responsive; therefore, children with
disabilities may have fewer literacy
opportunities.
• Children with visual impairments often
provide subtle communication cues that are
difficult to interpret, thereby impeding
responsiveness.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4QQQQ
August 1, 2005
Print/Braille Intentionality and
• Children with disabilities, and children with
visual impairments in particular, may not be
aware of the books, magazines, and writing
tools in their homes.
• They may not be tuned into the literacy
activities that family members engage in, such
as reading the paper or writing checks.
• Providing access to literacy materials in the
appropriate media and facilitating literacy
experiences promote print-braille intentionality
and alphabetic knowledge.
FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4RRRR
August 1, 2005
Learning Media and
Emergent Literacy
• Determining a child’s primary literacy medium
or media is a complex process.
• Intervention teams should carefully and
thoughtfully consider recommendations for
children’s primary literacy media.
• If young children with visual impairments have
access to print and braille, the primary literacy
medium or media will probably emerge
naturally.
Craig, 1996

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4SSSS
August 1, 2005
Learning Media and
Emergent Literacy
• If children have a visual condition that results
in progressive vision loss or that may lead to
future vision loss, early exposure to braille
and tactile experiences should be provided.
• The developmentally appropriate learning
media assessment (DALMA) should be used
to provide ongoing guidance regarding
children’s current sensory preferences and
primary literacy medium or media.

FPG Child Development Institute What Is Emergent Literacy? 4TTTT
August 1, 2005

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Communication and Emergent Literacy:

Early Intervention Issues

What Is Emergent Literacy?

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