Even before they can read, children as young as three are beginning to understand how a written word, such as the word “dog,” is different from a simple drawing of a dog. The nuance could offer an important early indicator for children who may need extra help with reading lessons, new research suggests.
“Based on the results, it may be possible to determine at an early age which children are progressing well in the learning of emergent literacy skills and which children may need extra attention,” says study co-author Rebecca Treiman, professor of child developmental psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.
Published in the journal Child Development, the study is based on two experiments with 114 children ages 3 to 5 years old who had not yet received any formal instruction in reading or writing.
The children were tested to see how well they understood that a written word, such as dog has one specific pronunciation (“dog”) as compared with a simple drawing of a dog, which could be correctly labelled as the image of a dog, or a puppy. In the first test, experts read the written word “dog” to the children. Later, when a puppet employed in the experiment read the word “dog” as “puppy,” many children picked up on the mistake. In a similar task with drawings, children were more likely to say that the puppet was correct in using the alternative label.
The different results in the writing and drawing conditions indicate that young pre-readers have some understanding that a written word stands for one specific linguistic unit in a way that a drawing does not. While a written word should be read the same way each time, it is sometimes appropriate to use different labels for a drawing, the researchers say.
Most children don’t begin formal instruction in reading and writing until they turn 5, but these findings suggest that children as young as 3 can be tested to see how well their understanding of basic language concepts is.
Source: www.futurity.org
