What can be Learned about Reading Acquisition in the Finnish Language

Abstract

Three case studies investigated the process of learning to read and write in the Finnish language when emergent literacy principles were applied to literacy instruction in a first grade classroom and two kindergarten classrooms. The subjects were nine first graders (age 7) and 16 and 17 kindergarten children (ages 5-6); In contrast to typical beginning reading instruction which is characterized by synthetic drill instruction, letters and their sounds were introduced in the context of meaningful words. Also invented spelling was emphasized. The children were assessed prior to each intervention and after it. But observational notes, video and audio tapes were the main data source. The results revealed that children's strategies gradually changed from memory based strategies to alphabetic strategies. All the first graders and most of the kindergarten children learned to read by recoding. But some children used partial alphabetic strategies and one child recognized only a few familiar words. The findings suggest that the regular phonetic spelling of the Finnish language may allow children to acquire literacy without phonic drills.