1-006 - Beyond book reading: new data on young children's language and literacy in Latin America

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Policymakers and researchers around the world recognize the urgency of improving literacy skills for all ages and are attending to the ways early childhood experiences support the necessary foundational skills (GPE, 2013; Schady et al., 2006; Uccelli & Páez, 2007). Much research on language and early literacy development has focused on the important role played by adult-child book reading, yet in Latin America this practice is not as common as in the U.S. Books are expensive and children’s literature is not extensive (Fundación La Fuente/ Adimark GFK, 2010; Yoshikawa et al. 2014). The three papers presented in this symposium explore the development of language and literacy skills in other, more typical, home and school contexts in Latin America. The first paper examined the nature of parent narrative styles during shared reminiscing with prekindergarten children in Chile and identified a “co-narrator” style that predicted growth in language skills, but not emergent literacy skills. The second paper investigated the print knowledge of bi-lingual Mayan preschoolers in Mexico, who have limited experience with books. Modest levels of print knowledge and signs of cross-language transfer of this skill between Spanish and Maya were noted. The third paper analyzed the nature of explicit vocabulary instruction in Chilean kindergartens and highlighted the importance of providing rich, conceptual information about word meanings. There will be a discussant and 20 minutes will be reserved for a discussion of the implications of the findings for policy and practice in Latin America.

Sub Unit

• Language, Communication

Chair

• Jocelyn Bonnes Bowne, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Discussant

• Paola Uccelli, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Individual Presentations

• Does Narrative Scaffolding Predict Pre-Kindergarteners’ Language and Literacy Skills in A Sample of Low-Income Chilean Families? - Presenting Author: Diana Leyva, Davidson College

• Print knowledge in bilingual Mayan children: An initial inquiry - Presenting Author: Laura M. Justice, Ohio State University; Amy Pratt, Ohio State University

• Chilean teacher language and explicit vocabulary instruction: What predicts children’s vocabulary growth during Kindergarten? - Presenting Author: Jocelyn Bonnes Bowne, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University; Catherine Snow, Harvard School of Ed