Linguistic Games As a Way To Introduce Reading and Writing in Preschool Groups.

In the Nordic countries, interest in studying young children's literacy has increased over the last 10 to 20 years. Different education traditions in the region have influenced the debate about literacy instruction in preschools and in primary schools. One tradition--with its roots in the whole language approach--argues that letters and words should be introduced in a meaningful context (Liberg, 1990; Soderbergh, 1979), and suggests that reading and writing should be introduced during the preschool years. Another tradition argues that preschool should prepare children for learning to read and write, and that formal instruction should not begin until primary school (Arnqvist, 1991; Lundberg, 1984). The first approach implies that letters and words should be part of preschool activities, so that children can work with words and letters in a playful way. The second approach implies that one should not introduce letters and words until the child is linguistically prepared to learn reading and writing. This article illustrates how these two approaches have influenced literacy teaching in Nordic preschools, kindergartens, and primary schools.

These different opinions about reading and writing are reflected in research and practice. Liberg (1990) and Soderbergh (1979) both found that young children are able to read and write long before they enter school. They argue that written language is acquired in the same way as spoken language. On the whole, their studies were performed with small samples of children and few attempts were made to evaluate their suggestions in a preschool context. The results did have a significant impact, however, on the Swedish preschool curriculum, which clearly states that letters and words should be introduced in a playful way.

Lundberg and Torneus (1978) focused on the stages before children start to read and write, and investigated the role of linguistic competence and cognitive ability. The researchers explored whether general cognitive abilities were necessary preconditions for developing reading and writing competence. The results did not support the argument that general cognitive ability has a direct influence on reading and writing. Instead, a clear link between general linguistic competence and reading and writing emerged. One important result was that an awareness of sub-lexical units, such as phonemes and syllables, was crucial to learning to read and write.

When researchers investigated the specific relationship between linguistic abilities and reading and writing, they found that all aspects of language competence in some way influenced children's reading and writing abilities. Of vital interest was the finding that awareness of the phonological structure of language was related to the ability to read and write (Olofsson, 1985).

Other studies (Arnqvist, 1991; Lundberg, Frost, & Petersen, 1988; Olofsson, 1985) clearly show that it is possible to stimulate preschool children's linguistic awareness, and that this stimulation influences the child's ability to read and, especially, to spell words three to four years after the intervention. These results not only are applicable in the Nordic countries, but also have been duplicated in a great number of other countries (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).

The question now is whether these results have had an impact upon practice in preschools and primary schools. Several research projects conducted in Sweden may provide an answer. The first project focused on language stimulation of young children ranging from 2 to 5 years of age. The second project, with children of the same age, focused on linguistic awareness. A third project involved 6-year-olds and school readiness (Lidholt, 1999). The results shed some light on how reading and writing are viewed in the preschool context, and also on some important changes over the last 10 years.

In the first project, staff members in 10 preschool groups stimulated different language abilities: words and concepts, rhyming, music and rhythm, narratives, and storytelling. The results from the observations revealed clear developmental trends. Of special interest was the finding that children below the age of 3 had great difficulties with rhyming, and that a distinct relationship existed between general language development and an interest in letters, words, and listening to stories. Children with a less developed vocabulary did not show much interest in reading and writing activities. In addition, the parents' interest in their children's language development increased during the project. This was partly an effect of the staff's focus on language abilities in group sessions.

The second project focused on linguistic awareness, and it was assumed that the stimulation of language abilities would foster reading and writing development. The teachers observed the children's progress and also reflected upon their own practice. As predicted, the children made progress in both rhyming and their awareness of different sublexical units, such as syllables and phonemes. A lot of children, however, had severe problems with the phonological level of the language. It was suggested that problems with phonemes could be a consequence of children not yet being aware of all linguistic levels. Interviews carried out with staff members focused on language stimulation in the preschools. The teachers were all aware that stimulating children's language development could foster other aspects of language, such as reading and writing. Many of the teachers said that after conducting exercises to stimulate the awareness of syllables and phonemes, many children began asking questions about how to read and write. In response, letters and written words were introduced in the preschool groups.

The last project focused on children ages 6 and 7. Since 1998, local authorities in Sweden have been required to provide activities for 6-year-old children, which have been organized into "preschool classes." In these preschool classes, children work with linguistically and cognitively demanding activities in a playful setting. The programs strive to help children develop the ability to learn and reflect upon their experiences. For example, teachers can, during circle time, talk about what you do when you read and why you should learn to read. Another goal of the preschool program is to integrate activities with the primary schools. Such integration is supposed to foster reading and writing, and help more developed children begin reading and writing earlier. One possible outcome of the cooperation is that preschool teachers will influence the teaching methods in the primary school, so that primary school teachers might focus on each child's individual learning.

These three integrated school groups differed according to the time spent on integrated activities with children of differing ages. An analysis clearly shows great differences among the groups. In one group, which started one year ago, there was little cooperation between the preschool and the primary school teachers, which clearly affected children's activities. Few children were observed reading or writing; many activities were replications of traditional kindergarten activities. The 6-year-olds seldom met the primary school teacher.

In the second project, cooperation between the preschool teachers and the primary school teachers was more developed. The children spent approximately 25 percent of their time with the primary school teacher and the rest of the time with the preschool teacher. The primary school teacher taught reading, writing, and mathematics. The preschool teacher organized activities traditionally found in kindergarten classes. These activities were organized in a thematic way. Language, mathematics, art, and music also were integrated in a thematic form. One could say that the primary school teacher focused on the subject, while the preschool teachers focused on the child.

Cooperation among the different staff categories was most developed in the last project. Activities for all of the children (ranging in age from 6 to 9) were organized as themes that continued for 5 to 10 weeks. The themes ranged from Winnie-the-Pooh to the Vikings. During theme work, the children could choose to read or write a story, carry out an experiment, or sing or dramatize stories. The child had many opportunities to choose from among different types of activities. The teachers also valued literacy to a greater extent than in the other groups. As a consequence, the children worked with different types of written materials during the day. Some of the 6-year-olds wrote their own stories, while others started to read books.

Conclusions

What conclusions can be drawn from these observations? First, one important precondition for starting to read and write is that children must reach a certain level of linguistic ability. This level can differ among children. The child's level of linguistic ability can, in some cases, be related to his or her home environment. Making parents aware of their important role in the child's development could be one way of stimulating reading and writing. Second, working to stimulate linguistic awareness seems to foster the development of reading and writing. Making children aware of sub-lexical units also makes them aware of letters and written words. This tendency implies that the stimulation of reading and writing development could start long before the child starts school. Third, the change from entering school at age 6 to 7 seems to have influenced the preschool activities. As a result of this change, activities that stimulate children's linguistic awareness are now common in preschools. It also seems to be common to let preschool children read and write.

Finally, one could say that over the last 10 to 20 years there has been a change in attitude about when and how young children should learn to read and write. Snow, Burns, and Griffin (1998) distinguish between whole language, embedded phonics instruction, and phonics instruction. The preschool activities could best be described as using the embedded form of phonics instruction. Instruction and teaching are characterized by embedding phonics and sound spelling patterns in connected text. In an exception, however, sound-spelling activities can be exchanged for playing with phonemes, such as counting phonemes in words, listening to the beginning of words, etc.

The projects presented above give some indication about how reading and writing development can be fostered in young children. These projects clearly show that stimulation of reading and writing could start long before children begin primary school. Young children's vocabulary could be stimulated by using books and rhyming activities. Having opportunities to listen to books being read aloud seems to be one important factor in becoming literate. Different kinds of linguistic games (such as counting words and syllables in sentences) could be introduced to children as young as 4 and 5. Finally, it is possible to introduce the phonological level of language to 5- and 6-year-olds. These kinds of stimulation activities are examples of how to prepare children for the more systematized teaching of reading and writing in the primary school.

References

Arnqvist, A. (1991). Phonemic awareness in preschool children: Four studies on the relationship between phonemic awareness, reading ability and short-term memory. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University, Department of Psychology.

Liberg, C. (1990). Learning to read and write. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University, Department of Linguistics.

Lidholt, B. (1999). Rapport till regeringen. Integration frskola--grundskola. Stockholm, Sweden: Skolverket.

Lundberg, I. (1984). Sprak och lasning. Malmo, Sweden: Liber Forlag.

Lundberg, I., Frost J., & Petersen, O. L. (1988). Effects of an extensive program for stimulating phonological awareness in preschool children. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 263-284.

Lundberg, I., & Torneus, M. (1978). Nonreaders' awareness of the basic relationship between spoken and written words. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 25, 404-412.

Olofsson, A. (1985). Phonemic awareness and learning to read: A longitudinal and quasi-experimental study. Umea, Sweden: Umea University, Psykologiska Institutionen.

Snow, C., Burns, S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Soderbergh, R. (1979). Barnets tidiga sprakutveckling. Lund, Sweden: Liber-Laromedel.

Anders Arnqvist Anders Arnqvist is Senior Lecturer, Department of Educational Science, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.