Young Children's Written Language Knowledge: What Environmental and Functional Print Reading Reveals

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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe attempts by nonword readers, novice word readers, and expert word readers to read environmental and functional print items. Eighty-one children aged 3 to 6 years were included in the study. Children were assessed for word-reading ability and letter-naming knowledge. They were then categorized into reader groups based on ability to read preprimer and primer words in isolation. Next, children were shown nine print items and asked, “What can you read here?” Responses were judged for whether they maintained the communication contract by showing an attempt to read. Attempts to read were then judged for whether they included text from the print item, were meaningful, and/or indicated attention to graphic detail. The results revealed that children attempted to read more frequently than they renegotiated the task or refused to respond. Over 75% of the attempts to read were meaningful, more than 35% included text from the print items, and nearly 50% indicated attention to graphic detail. Differences were found between attempts to read a potato chip bag (environmental print item) and attempts to read functional print items. Despite similarities in letter-naming ability, expert word readers and novice word readers differed in their attempts to read and in their attention to graphic detail.