Background

Studies have reported a strong association between children's early literacy skills at preschool and their reading and writing skills at primary school. However, it is unclear whether this association is affected by language and curriculum practices.

Objective

The study investigates (i) whether early literacy skills are influenced by orthographic consistency and by preschool curriculum, and (ii) how early skills are related to later literacy skills across countries.

Method

Three countries, Italy (n = 73), Romania (n = 65), and Belgium (n = 109) were involved in the study, for a total of 247 children. Language and early literacy in preschool were assessed using a novel assessment tool (the ‘Talk’). Early visual-phonological and manual aspects integration were investigated using rapid automatized naming and grapho-motor tasks. The children’s reading and writing skills nine months later were assessed using standardized tests.

Results

Results showed higher early literacy scores for the groups of children speaking languages with more transparent orthographic systems and for the group taking part in preschool activities designed to enhance literacy acquisition. Later reading and writing skills were predicted by early competences, albeit with differences across countries.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that literacy acquisition trajectories are not only associated with early skills but are also influenced by language characteristics and curriculum practices. The study also presents preliminary findings relative to the ‘Talk’, an assessment tool that may have important implications for early identification and intervention of language and literacy difficulties, as well as for improving cross-country curriculum practices.

中文翻译：

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各国的早期识字技能和后来的读写成绩：拼写一致性和学前课程的影响

背景

研究表明，儿童在学龄前的早期识字能力与他们在小学的读写能力之间有着很强的联系。但是，尚不清楚这种关联是否受语言和课程实践的影响。

客观的

这项研究调查（i）早期识字能力是否受拼字法一致性和学前课程的影响，以及（ii）早期识字能力如何与各个国家的后期识字能力相关。

方法

意大利（n  = 73），罗马尼亚（n  = 65）和比利时（n  = 109）这3个国家参与了这项研究，共有247名儿童。使用一种新颖的评估工具（“对话”）评估了学龄前儿童的语言和早期识字率。早期的视觉语音和手动方面集成进行了调查，使用快速的自动命名和图形运动任务。9个月后，对儿童的读写能力进行了标准化测试。

结果

结果显示，使用更透明的拼字系统的儿童说英语的小组和参加旨在提高识字能力的学前活动的小组，其早期识字得分更高。尽管各国之间存在差异，但较早的能力可以预测后来的阅读和写作技能。

结论

研究结果表明，识字能力的发展轨迹不仅与早期技能有关，而且还受语言特征和课程实践的影响。该研究还提出了有关“对话”的初步发现，该评估工具可能对早期识别和干预语言和识字困难以及改善跨国课程实践具有重要意义。