Martina Norling

Engagement and emergent literacy practices in Swedish preschools

Childrens ability to express thoughts, ideas, and needs is vital to their full participation in a democratic society. In the preschool environment, multiple opportunities to engage in emergent literacy practices may stimulate this ability. The study used an ecological development approach to investigate the language environment in Swedish preschools, focusing on the relationships among seven classroom quality dimensions. Childrens engagement was measured by observing their active participation in emergent literacy practices. The results showed that positive climate, instructional learning formats and language modeling were the most significant contributors to engagement in emergent literacy practices. To conclude, childrens engagement in emergent literacy practices seems to benefit from a positive climate and needs and uses instructional discussions and activities in the everyday situations in preschool.

Preschool staff's view of emergent literacy approaches in Swedish preschools

This study aims to investigate preschool staffs view of emergent literacy approaches in Swedish preschools with the following research question: How do preschool staff describe and explain the approaches they use in the emergent literacy environment of preschool? Focus-group interviews were conducted with 52 participating preschool units. Manifest content analyses were used and the interviews were systematically analysed relying on socio-cultural theory and the ecological development approach [Barton, D. (2007). Literacy an introduction to the ecology of written language. London: Blackwell; Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Boston, MA: MIT Press], in accordance with Whitehurst and Lonigans [1998. Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69, 844–872] components of emergent literacy. The results show that preschool staff apply both outside-in and inside-out approaches; however, outside-in approaches such as play and supportive communication are described most frequently in the focus-group interviews.