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1EMERGENT LITERACY

LIZA ISQKI BINTI RAMLI

Lecturer

Jabatan Ilmu PendidikanIPG Kampus Ilmu Khas

Mommy, listen- I am going to read Little Red Riding Hood. --- Why is a three-year old

Alisha so interested in reading and writing? She loves to pretend reading and scribble writing.

She also always asks her mother to read for her and imitate her mother reading the story.

The situation above describes emergent literacy where young children interact with

books (when reading and writing) even though they could not read or write in the

conventional sense. It is a gradual process that takes place over time from birth - until a child

can read and write in what we consider to be a conventional sense. Machado (2010) believes

that the act of printing shapes with an underlying logic and the behavior of childrens

pretending to read are viewed as early forms of reading and writing. Hence, a key to the term

literacy is the interrelatedness of all parts of language: speaking, listening, reading,

writing, and viewing (Omrod 2010).

Literacy often develops from the need in real life situations to get something done or

to read so that they can learn. Therefore, literacy is not a set of isolated skills, but rather a set

of processes that children see as a means to achieve goals. Children learn literacy through

active engagement with books and writing opportunities. Children reconstruct their

knowledge by rereading favorite books and by using invented spelling. Most children can

identify common signs and logos by the age of 2-3. They will begin to experiment with

written forms of communicating by scribbling long before they can read. This is because

reading and writing develop at the same time and are interrelated. Children do not learn

how to read first and then learn how to write. The functions of reading often promote the

learning of reading.

Emergent literacy is a term first used by Marie Clay (1966) to describe the early

stages in childrens development toward literacy; emergent literacy precedes the

conventional reading of print. According to Omrod (2010), emergent literacy is knowledge

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and skills that lay a foundation for reading and writing; typically develops in the preschool

years from early experiences with written language. Early exposure to reading and writing

will promote written language as the children learn through prints that has meaningful

information. Machado (2010) also agrees that young learners language arts behaviours,

concepts and skills that precede and can develop into a literacy that includes reading,

conventional writing and a larger body of literary knowledge at later ages.

There are many ways to promote emergent literacy. Listening to books plays a

very important role in the literacy development of children. Reading to children each day is

one of the most beneficial ways in which a parent can promote literacy. Children develop a

feel for the nature of written language at a very early age by listening to books read aloud.They begin to understand the function of reading and develop a positive attitude towards it.

Children pass through the stages of emergent literacy in different ways and at different ages.

These developmental stages lead to the skills needed for both reading and writing

acquisition.

Therefore, parents who frequently read to their child learn to read more easily once

they reach elementary school than do young children without the exposure ( Myberg &

Rosen 2009; Senechal &Le Ferve, 2002; Whitehurst et.al., 1994). Based on the studies

carried out by L.Baker, Scher & Mackler, 1997 and Huebner & Payne, 2010, reading to

children regularly encouraged emergent literacy. Accessibility to reading and writing

materials also contributes to emergent readers as parents can model reading and writing

behavior, taking their children to the library and even talk about the things they have read

and written. Parents may ask questions, invite responses and connect story concepts to

events in childrens lives (Huebner & Payne, 2010).

In conclusion, the concept of emergent literacy helps teachers and parents see the

relationship between language activities in preschool and kindergarten and formal reading

programs in primary grades. Learning to read should be a natural extension of other

language activities in early childhood classes. Teachers should be alert of the strengths and

the level of childrens language abilities. Such awareness is important to individualize the

approaches in order to teach children in line with their level of literacy readiness. Thus, it is

never too early to begin reading to a child.

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