Allyssa McCabe

The Comprehensive Language Approach to Early Literacy: The Interrelationships Among Vocabulary, Phonological Sensitivity, and Print Knowledge Among Preschool-Aged Children

This article describes 2 points of view about the relationship between oral-language and literacy skills: The phonological sensitivity approach posits that vocabulary provides the basis for phonological sensitivity, which then is the key language ability supporting reading, and the comprehensive language approach (CLA) posits that varied language skills interact with literacy knowledge and continue to play a vital role in subsequent reading achievement. The study included 533 Head Start preschool-aged children (M 4 years 9 months) in 2 locations and examined receptive vocabulary, phonological awareness, and print knowledge. Partial correlational and regression analyses found results consistent with the CLA approach and evidence of a core deficit in phonological sensitivity, interpreted in a manner consistent with the CLA perspective.

Bringing It All Together: The Multiple Origins, Skills, and Environmental Supports of Early Literacy

In the final three decades of the 20th century one of the exciting developments in the field of educational research was the emergence of theoretically grounded empirical research into the origins of literacy in the preschool years. This work has led to a growing relationship between two fields that previously had existed in relative isolation from each other: reading research and early childhood education. The result of this research has been the investigation of the emergence of literacy, and environmental factors that support its emergence, and a new awareness of the relevance of literacy for early childhood educators. A manifestation of the potential of these converging efforts was the release of a joint position statement on early literacy by the National Association of Educators of Young Children and the International Reading Association in 1998. The investigation of early literacy has resulted in findings of considerable importance for social policy because it made evident that, even before children commence formal instruction in reading and writing, they display differences that mirror some of the divisions in our society, with children from less economically advantaged and non-English speaking homes being at a disadvantage (Zill, Collins, West, & Hausken, 1995). These early differences are remarkably stable as they have consistently been found in cross-sectional examinations of children aged 9, 13, and 17 on national assessments of literacy (Campbell, Hombo, & Mazzeo, 2000, p. 33). Longitudinal studies also provide evidence of considerable consistency within individual children from first grade to the later elemen-

Cross-language transfer of phonological awareness in low-income Spanish and English bilingual preschool children

This study investigated the phonological awareness of low-income Spanish‐English bilingual children, because phonological awareness has been found to be an important prerequisite for literacy acquisition and because such children have been identified as at risk for successful literacy acquisition. Our sample included 123 Spanish‐English bilingual preschool children (M = 49.1 months) attending Head Start programs. Children’s receptive vocabulary was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test— 3rd Edition and the Test de Vocabulario en Imagines Peabody. We assessed phonological awareness using English and Spanish versions of the Early Phonological Awareness Profile, which includes deletion detection and rhyming tasks. Emergent literacy was assessed in the child’s stronger language using the Emergent Literacy Profile, which includes tests of environmental print knowledge, printed word awareness, alphabet knowledge, and early writing. Spring levels of phonological awareness in each language were most strongly related to development of phonological awareness in the other language. Final models accounted for 68% of the variance in spring English and Spanish phonological awareness. Educational implications are discussed.

Assessment of Preschool Narrative Skills

The assessment of discourse skills in young children is an important responsibility facing clinicians today. Early identification of problems in discourse skills and, more specifically, narrative a...

Parental styles of narrative elicitation: effect on children's narrative structure and content

Two contrastive studies of personal experience narration in two mother-child pairs are reported. The relationship between patterns of narrative elicitation and the childrens developing narrative skill are investigated. Three sets of data were analysed: mothers utterances during mother-child elicitation, childrens spontaneously provided contextual orientation in narratives elicited by a neutral researcher when the children were between 27 and 44 months of age, and the overall structure of the childrens narratives at age 44 months. The two mothers differed substantially in the kinds of questions they asked: one focused on context (i.e., who, where, when, what and why), while the other emphasized event elaboration (i.e., what happened). The formers child was more likely to spontaneously include contextual orientation but showed less sophisticated plot structure. In contrast, the narratives of the second child showed better structural organization although she spontaneously included less contextual information. These results are discussed in terms of Vygotskian theory.

Narrative skills following traumatic brain injury in children and adults

Personal narratives serve an important function in virtually all societies (Peterson & McCabe, 1991). Through narratives individuals make sense of their experiences and represent themselves to others (Bruner, 1990). The ability to produce narratives has been linked to academic success (Feagans, 1982). Persons who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at risk for impaired narrative ability (Dennis, 1991). However, a paucity of information exists on the discourse abilities of persons with TBI. This is partly due to a lack of reliable tools with which to assess narrative discourse. The present study utilized dependency analysis (Deese, 1984) to document and describe the narrative discourse impairments of children and adults with TBI. Ten children (mean age 12;0) and 10 adults (mean age 35;2) were compared with matched controls. Dependency analysis reliably differentiated the discourse of the individuals with TBI from their controls. Individuals with TBI were significantly more dysfluent than their matched controls. Furthermore, their performance on the narrative task revealed a striking listener burden.

Rice balls and bear hunts: Japanese and North American family narrative patterns

In past research, the form of Japanese childrens personal narratives was found to be distinctly different from that of English-speaking children. Despite follow-up questions that encouraged them to talk about one personal narrative at length, Japanese children spoke succinctly about collections of experiences rather than elaborating on any one experience in particular (Minami & McCabe, 1991). Conversations between mothers and children in the two cultures were examined in order partly to account for the way in which cultural narrative style is transmitted to children. Comparison of mothers from the two cultures yielded the following salient contrasts: (1) In comparison to the North American mothers, the Japanese mothers requested proportionately less description from their children. (2) Both in terms of frequency and proportion, the Japanese mothers gave less evaluation and showed more verbal attention to children than did North American mothers. (3) Japanese mothers pay verbal attention more frequently to boys than to girls. In addition, at five years, Japanese children produce 1.22 utterances per turn on average, while North American children produce 2.00 utterances per turn, a significant difference. Thus, by frequently showing verbal attention to their childrens narrative contributions, Japanese mothers not only support their childrens talk about the past but also make sure that it begins to take the shape of narration valued in their culture. The production of short narratives in Japan is understood and valued differently from such production in North America.

Narrative assessment profile: Discourse analysis for school-age children

The assessment of narrative skills of school-age children is described using a comprehensive discourse analysis approach, the Narrative Assessment Profile. The following dimensions of narration are evaluated: topic maintenance, event sequencing, explicitness, referencing, conjunctive cohesion, and fluency. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of these six dimensions and their symptoms in impaired narrative discourse. Assessment and intervention guidelines are presented.

Haiku as a discourse regulation device: A stanza analysis of Japanese children's personal narratives

Conversational narratives of 17 Japanese children aged 5 to 9 were analyzed using stanza analysis (Gee 1985; Hymes 1982). Three distinctive features emerged: (1) the narratives are exceptionally succinct; (2) they are usually free-standing collections of three experiences; (3) stanzas almost always consist of three lines. These features reflect the basic characteristics of haiku , a commonly practiced literary form that often combines poetry and narrative, and an ancient, but still ubiquitous game called karuta , which also displays three lines of written discourse. These literacy games may explain both the extraordinary regularity of verses per stanza and the smooth acquisition of reading by a culture that practices restricted, ambiguous, oral-style discourse. The structure of Japanese childrens narratives must be understood within the larger context of omoiyari “empathy” training of Japanese children. Empathy training may account for the production, comprehension, and appreciation of ambiguous discourse in Japanese society. (Cultural differences in discourse style, the relationship among oral language, literacy, and literature)

Cultural Background and Storytelling: A Review and Implications for Schooling

In this article I synthesize research on the importance of stories in classrooms, on storytelling form and how it differs from culture to culture, and on some implications of these different traditions of storytelling. I draw on qualitative and quantitative research. I conclude by proposing some ideas teachers might consider as they plan instruction on world literature and by offering directions for future research.