The contribution of emergent literacy skills for early reading and writing achievement

Abstract

Studies in the English language suggest that emergent literacy skills promote success in literacy. This longitudinal study investigated whether and which emergent literacy skills contribute to initial reading and writing performance in a sample of 34 Brazilian children from public schools. The participants underwent tests on phonological awareness, oral comprehension, vocabulary and knowledge of letters at the end of Early Childhood Education. The participants’ skills in writing and reading words as well as reading comprehension were evaluated in the 1st year of elementary school. Data were analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. Results showed that emergent literacy skills presented significant positive correlations with reading and writing performance. Multiple regression analyses indicated significant and independent contributions of phonological awareness and knowledge of letters for writing, however, only phonological awareness significantly and independently contributed to reading of words and reading comprehension skills. It was concluded that emergent literacy skills related to the coding domain are the most important for literacy.