A Decade of Early Literacy Research Trends in Turkey: A Thematic Review

Abstract

Early literacy skills, which are the processors of literacy skills, set down roots during the early childhood period. In general, the developed countries apply home-based and school-based programs for the purpose of raising the next generations as competent literate individuals in the preschool period. Many studies have been performed all around the world in order to monitor the developments of early literacy skills and to examine the effect of different programs carried out. It is observed that in Turkish National Preschool Education Programs (PEP), the importance given to the emergent literacy skills and acquisitions of Turkish Language activities has been gradually on the increase. While the number of studies conducted within this field is likewise increasing, to our knowledge, no studies concerning thematic analyses carried out regarding early literacy skills were encountered in national context. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to examine the research trends in the field of early literacy in the last decade in Turkey. In this study, a thematic review approach was used to examine the articles and the theses published between the years of 2006 and 2016 regarding early childhood education programs. The study sample consisted of 99 theses and 112 articles. A publication classification form was used to examine the studies. The publication classification form consists of three dimensions: descriptive characteristics, methodological features, and content features. Whitehurst and Lonigan’s (1998) conceptual model was used to examine the content of the articles and theses. The findings showed that the number of early literacy studies has increased in the last decade. Those skills identified as “inside-out” have been studied more in recent years, however there are fewer studies in general. The findings are discussed in the related literature and recommendations were addressed for further studies.

Keywords

• early literacy skills,thematic review,early childhood education programs

References

1. Ahi, B., & Kıldan, A. O. (2013). Türkiye'de okul öncesi eğitimi alanında yapılan lisansüstü tezlerin incelenmesi (2002-2011) [An overview of postgraduate thesis within the field of pre-school education in Turkey (2002-2011)]. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 1(27), 23-46.
2. Altun, D., Şendil, Ç. Ö., & Sahin, İ. T. (2011). Investigating the national dissertation and thesis database in the field of early childhood education in Turkey. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 12, 483-492.
3. Altun, D. (2013). An investigation of the relationship between preschoolers’ reading attitudes and home literacy environment (Unpublished MA thesis), Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Available from National Council of Higher Education Thesis Center. Altun, D., & Tantekin-Erden, F. (2015). Okuryazarlık süreci açısından ev-içi okuryazarlık ortamı: çocukların ilkokula başlamadan önce ev-içi okuryazarlık deneyimlerinin incelenmesi. 14th National Primary Teacher Education Symposium (USOS), Bartın, Türkiye.
4. Altun, D. (2016). A multilevel analysis of home and classroom literacy environments in relation to preschoolers‘early literacy development (Unpublished PhD dissertation), Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Available from National Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
5. Altun, D., Erden, F. T., & Snow, C. E. (2016). Filizlenen okuryazarlık: Okul öncesi dönem ses ve yazı farkındalığı becerilerini besleyen ev-içi kaynakların incelenmesi [Emergent literacy: an examination of the source of phonological and print awareness skills at home literacy environment]. In Ö. Demirel & S. Dinçer. Eğitim Bilimlerinde Yenilikler ve Nitelik Arayışı, (p. 505-530). doi.org/10.14527/9786053183563b2.031
6. Aktan, E. (1996). Çocuğun dil gelişiminde fonolojik duyarlılığın (ses birimi duyarlılığı) karşılaştırılmalı olarak incelenmesi. (Unpublished MA thesis), Marmara University. Available from National Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
7. Akyol, H. (2012). Türkçe ilk okuma yazma öğretimi [Teaching Reading and Writing in Turkish]. Ankara: Pegema.
8. Anthony, J. L. & Francis, D. J. (2005). Development of Phonological Awareness. American Psychological Society, 14, 5.

9. Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2003). Put reading first. Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA). Retrived from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED458536.pdf.
10. Arnold, David H., & Greta L. Doctoroff. (2003)The early education of socioeconomically disadvantaged children. Annual Review of Psychology 54 (1), 517-545.
11. Bağcı, B., & İvrendi, A. (2016). Preschool math skills and training research in Turkey: synthesis study. Necatibey Eğitim Fakültesi Elektronik Fen ve Matematik Eğitimi Dergisi, 10 (2), 391-424.
12. Balla-Boudreau, N., & O’Reilly, D. (2002). Early Childhood Literacy Programs in Canada: A National Survey. Retrieved from http://readtome.ca/research/ national_survey _ex_summ.pdf
13. Cabell, S. Q., Justice, L. M., Logan, J. A. R., & Konold, T. R. (2013). Emergent literacy profiles among prekindergarten children from low-SES backgrounds: Longitudinal considerations. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28, 608-620.
14. Can Yaşar, M., & Aral, N. (2011). Türkiye'de okul öncesinde drama alanında yapılan lisansüstü tezlerin incelenmesi [An overview of postgraduate theses within the field of drama at early childhood education in Turkey]. Mehmet Akif Ersoy Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 1(22), 70-90.
15. Check J., & Schutt R. K. (2012). Survey research. In: J. Check, R. K. Schutt., editors. Research methods in education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; pp. 159–185.
16. Christ, T., & Wang, X. C. (2010). Bridging the vocabulary gap: What the research tells us about vocabulary instruction in early childhood. Young Children, 65(4), 84-91.
17. Clay. M. M. (2000). An observation survey of early literacy achievement. Auckland, New Zealand: Heinemann.
18. Coltheart, M., (2010). “Modeling Reading: The Dual-Route Approach” in Snowling, M., J., & Hulme, C. (Eds.) The Science of Reading, A Handbook (p.6) USA: Blackwell Publishing.
19. Coşkun, L., & Deniz, Ü. (2016). Okul Öncesi Dönemdeki Çocukların Yazmaya Hazırlık Becerilerini Değerlendirme Kontrol Listesi İçin Geçerlik Güvenirlik Çalışması [Validity and Reliability Study for the “Control List for the Evaluation of the Writing Readiness Skills of Pre-School Children]. Journal of Kirsehir Education Faculty, 17(1), 147-161.
20. Council of European Union. (2012). EU high level group of experts on literacy. Retrieved from September 20, 2012 http://ec.europa.eu/education/ literacy/what-eu/high-level-group/documents/literacy-report.pdf.
21. Cunningham, A. E. (1990). Explicit versus implicit instruction in phoeneme awareness. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 50, 429–444.
22. Dickinson, D. K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2010). Speaking out for language: Why language is central to reading development. Educational Researcher, 39(4), 305-310.
23. Demirtaş İlhan, S. (2017). A content analysis of early childhood education graduate theses written in Turkey. Unpublished MA thesis), Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Available from National Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
24. Ergül, C., Karaman, G., Akoğlu, G., Tufan, M., Sarıca, A. D., & Kudret, Z. B. (2014). Early childhood teachers‘knowledge and classroom practices on early literacy. İlköğretim Online, 13(4), 1449-1472.
25. Evangelou, M., & Sylva, K. (2003). The effects of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) on children’s developmental progress. London: DfES research report 489.
26. Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
27. Gillon, G. T. (2004). Phonological awareness: From research to practice. New York: The Guilford Press.
28. Goktas, Y., Kucuk, S., Aydemir, M., Telli, E., Arpacik, O., Yildirim, G., & Reisoglu, I. (2012). Educational technology research trends in Turkey: A content analysis of the 2000-2009 decade. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 12(1), 191-199.
29. Grubb, W. N. (2006). Vocational education and training: Issues for a thematic review. Manuscript, OECD. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/13aa/9fedd50684384164a152c8f16516203e1fd6.pdf
30. Gul, S., & Diken, I. (2014). A review of master and doctoral dissertations in the field of early childhood special education in Turkey. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 1(1), 46-78.
31. Güneş, F. (2007). Ses temelli cümle yöntemi ve zihinsel yapılandırma [Sound-based sentences method and mental configuration]. Ankara: Nobel.
32. Haktanır, G. (2007). Okulöncesi Eğitimi ve Öğretmen Eğitimi Sempozyumu (1-3 Şubat 2007 Antalya) Bildiriler Kitabı [Proceedings of a symposium on early childhood education and teacher education (1-3 February 2007 Antalya)] (pp. 65- 82). İstanbul: Türkiye Özel Okullar Birliği Derneği Yayınları.
33. Joffe, H., & Yardley, L. (2004). Content and thematic analysis. Research Methods for Clinical and Health Psychology, 56-68.
34. Israel, S.E. (2007). Early reading first and beyond. London: Corwin Press.
35. Kadam, P., & Bhalerao, S. (2010). Sample size calculation. International Journal of Ayurveda research, 1(1), 55-57.
36. Karaman, G. (2006). Anasınıfına devam eden farklı sosyo-kültürel seviyedeki çocukların fonolojik duyarlılıklarının incelenmesi [Analysis phonological awareness of children who attends preschool in different socio-cultural level] (Unpublished MA thesis), Hacettepe University, Ankara.
37. Karaman, G., & Üstün, E. (2011). Anasınıfına devam eden çocukların fonolojik duyarlılıklarının bazı değişkenlere göre incelenmesi [Phonological awareness analysıs of chıldren who attends preschool to dıfferent varıables]. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi [H. U. Journal of Education], 40, 267-278.
38. Kargın, T, Güldenoğlu, B., & Ergül, C. (2017). Anasınıfı çocuklarının erken okuryazarlık beceri profili: Ankara örneklemi [Early Literacy Profile of Kindergarten Children: Ankara Sample]. Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Özel Eğitim Dergisi [Ankara University Faculty of Educational Sciences Journal of Special Education], 18(01), 61-87.
39. Kaytez, N., & Durualp, E. (2014). Türkiye’de okul öncesinde oyun ile ilgili yapılan lisansüstü tezlerin incelenmesi [An overview of postgraduate theses within the field of play at early childhood education in Turkey] Uluslararası Türk Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 2(2), 110-122.
40. Kirby, A., Gebski, V., & Keech, A. C. (2002). Determining the sample size in a clinical trial. Medical Journal of Australia, 177(5), 256-257.
41. Kurnaz, M. A., & Çalık, M. (2009). A thematic review of ‘energy’ teaching studies: focuses, needs, methods, general knowledge claims and implications. Energy Education Science and Technology Part B: Social and Educational Studies, 1(1), 1-26.
42. Lane, H. B., & Pullen, P. C. (2004). A Sound Beginning: Phonological Awareness Assessment and Instruction. Boston, USA: Pearson Education, Inc.
43. Lonigan, C. J., Farver, J. M., Nakamoto, J., & Eppe, S. (2013). Developmental trajectories of preschool early literacy skills: A comparison of language-minority and monolingual-English children. Developmental Psychology, 49(10), 1943-1957.
44. Ministry of National Education, (2006). 36-72 Aylık Çocuklar için Okul Öncesi Eğitim Programı. Öğretmen Kılavuz Kitabı-1.[ Preschool Education Program for Children 36-72 Months. Teacher's Guide-1]
45. Ministry of National Education, (2013). 36-72 Aylık Çocuklar için Okul Öncesi Eğitim Programı [Preschool Education Program for Children 36-72 Months]. Retrieved from: https://tegm.meb.gov.tr/dosya/okuloncesi/ooproram.pdf
46. Morrow, L. M. (2009). Literacy development in the early years: helping children read and write (6th ed.). USA: Pearson.
47. Muter, V., Hulme, C., Snowling, M. J., & Stevenson, J. (2004). Phonemes, rimes, vocabulary, and grammatical skills as foundations of early reading development: evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental psychology, 40(5), 665. NAEYC Position. Retrieved from: https://www.naeyc.org/files /naeyc/file/ positions/ PSDAP. pdf.
48. National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Executive Summary. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
49. Nutbeam, D. (2008). The evolving concept of health literacy. Social Science and Medicine, 67(12), 2072-2078.
50. Ogelman, H. G. (2014). Türkiye’deki okul öncesi dönem sosyal beceri araştırmaları: 2000-2013 yılları arasındaki tezlerin incelenmesi [Researches on preschool social skills in Turkey: examination of the theses between 2000-2013]. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 11(2), 41-65.
51. Ogelman, H. G., & Güngör, H. (2015). Türkiye’deki okul öncesi dönem çevre eğitimi çalışmalarının incelenmesi: 2000-2014 yılları arasındaki tezlerin ve makalelerin incelenmesi [Investigating the Studies on Environmental Education in Preschool Period in Turkey: investigating the articles and dissertations between 2000-2014. Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 12(32), 180-194.
52. Özen Uyar, R., & Ormancı, Ü. (2016). Türkiye'de okul öncesi dönem fen eğitimi araştırmalarında güncel eğilimler: bir tematik analiz çalışması [Trends in preschool science education research in Turkey: A thematic analysis study]. In Ö. Demirel & S. Dinçer. Eğitim Bilimlerinde Yenilikler ve Nitelik Arayışı (pp. 559-584). doi.org/10.14527/9786053183563b2.034
53. Ormanci, U., Cepni, S., Deveci, I., & Aydin, O. (2015). A thematic review of interactive whiteboard use in science education: rationales, purposes, methods and general knowledge. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 24(5), 532-548.
54. Otto, B. (2006). Language development in early childhood. New Jersey: Pearson. http://www. oecd.org/els/soc/PF3_2_Enrolment_in_ childcare_and_ preschools.pdf
55. Turan, F. & Akoğlu, G. (2011). Okul öncesi dönemde sesbilgisel farkındalık eğitimi [Phonological awareness training in pre-school period]. Eğitim ve Bilim [Education and Science], 36(161), 64-75.
56. Paris, A., & Paris, S.G. (2003). Assessing narrative comprehension in young children. Reading Research Quarterly, 38(1), 36-76.
57. Plomp, T. (2013). Preparing education for the information society: the need for new knowledge and skills. International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments, 1(1), 3-18.
58. Ponto, J. (2015). Understanding and evaluating survey research. Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, 6(2), 168–171.
59. Press, F., & Hayes, A. (2000). OECD thematic review of early childhood education and care policy. Australian Background Report, Canberra, Commonwealth Government of Australia.
60. Pullen, P. C., & Justice, L. M. (2003). Enhancing phonological awareness, print awareness, and oral language skills in preschool children. Intervention in School and Clinic, 39(2), 87-98.
61. Ouellette, G. P. (2006). What's meaning got to do with it: The role of vocabulary in word reading and reading comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98(3), 554-566.
62. Ramazan, O., & Balat, G. U. (2007). Çeşitli üniversitelerde okul öncesi dönem ve eğitimi ile ilgili yapılmış olan yüksek lisans tezlerinin konu alanı açısından incelenmesi [Examination of master theses related to preschool period and education in various universities in terms of subject area], II. Graduate Education Symposium, Anadolu University, Eskişehir.
63. Rayner, K., Pollatsek, A., Ashby, J., & Clifton Jr, C. (2012). Psychology of reading. New York: Psychology Press.
64. Riedel, B. W. (2007). The relation between DIBELS, reading comprehension, and vocabulary in urban first‐grade students. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(4), 546-567.
65. Sarı, B., & Aktan Acar, E. (2013). Erken çocukluk dönemi fonolojik duyarlılık ölçeğinin (EÇDFDÖ) geliştirilmesi ve psikometrik özellikleri [The phonological awareness scale of early childhood period (pasecp) development and psychometric features]. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri [Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice], 13(4), 2195-2215.
66. Sarıca, A. D., Ergül, C., Akoğlu, G., Deniz, K. Z., Karaman, G., Bahap-Kudret, Z., & Tufan, M. (2014). The reliability and validity of the home early literacy environment questionnaire. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 6(2).
67. Scarborough, H. S. (2001). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: Evidence, theory, and practice. In S. Neuman, & D. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook for research in early literacy (pp. 97-110). New York: Guilford Press.
68. Sever, S. (1995). Türkçe öğretiminde tam öğrenme [Mastery learning in Turkish education]. İstanbul: Ya-Pa.
69. Simon, L., & Daneback, K. (2013). Adolescents’ use of the internet for sex education: A thematic and critical review of the literature. International Journal of Sexual Health, 25(4), 305-319.
70. Snow, E. (2017). Early literacy development and instruction: An overview. Kucirkova, N., Snow, C. E., & Grover, V. (Eds.). (2017). The Routledge international handbook of early literacy education: A contemporary guide to literacy teaching and interventions in a global context. Taylor & Francis.
71. Stein, N. L. (1978). How children understand stories: A developmental analysis. Center for the Study of Reading Technical Report. Retrieved from: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/17672/ctrstreadtechrepv01978i00069_opt.pdf?sequence
72. Su, M., Peyre, H., Song, S., McBride, C., Tardif, T., Li, H., & Shu, H. (2017). The influence of early linguistic skills and family factors on literacy acquisition in Chinese children: Follow-up from age 3 to age 11. Learning and Instruction, 49, 54-63.
73. Şimşek, Ö. (2011). 60-72 aylık çocukların yazı farkındalığı ve yazmaya hazırlık becerilerinin gelişiminde okuma yazmaya hazırlık programının etkisinin incelenmesi. (Unpublished PhD dissertation), Gazi University, Ankara. Available from National Council of Higher Education Thesis Center.
74. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). New York: Allyn and Bacon.
75. Taştepe, T., Öztürk, G., Yurdakul Y., Altıntaş, T., T., & Ayhan, A. (2016). Türkiye'de okul öncesi dönemde kaynaştırma konusunda yapılan lisansüstü tezlerin incelenmesi [The analysis of postgraduate theses about inclusion in preschool period in Turkey]. The Journal of Academic Science Studies, 49, 501-514.
76. Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (1986). Emergent literacy: Writing and reading. writing research: multidisciplinary ınquiries into the nature of writing series. Ablex Publishing Corporation, 355 Chestnut St., Norwood, NJ 07648.
77. Tourangeau, K., Nord, C., Lê, T., Sorongon, A.G., Hagedorn, M.C., Daly, P., & Najarian, M. (2015). Early childhood longitudinal study, kindergarten class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K: 2011), user’s manual for the ECLS-K: 2011 kindergarten data file and electronic codebook, public version. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
78. Turan, F., & Akoğlu, G. (2014). Okul öncesi dönemde ev okuryazarlık ortamı ve fonolojik farkındalık becerileri [Home literacy environment and phonological awareness skills in preschool children]. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 29(3), 153-166.
79. Turan, F. & Gül, G. (2008). Okumanın erken dönemdeki habercisi: Sesbilgisel farkındalık becerisinin kazanımı [Early precursor of reading: acquisition of phonological awareness skills]. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri [Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice], 8(1), 265-284.
80. Tyner, K. (2014). Literacy in a digital world: Teaching and learning in the age of information. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
81. Ültay, N., & Çalık, M. (2012). A thematic review of studies into the effectiveness of context-based chemistry curricula. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 21(6), 686-701.
82. White, B. (2007). Are girls better readers than boys? Which boys? Which girls? Canadian Journal of Educatıon 30(2), 554‐581.
83. Whitehurst, G. J. & Lonigan, J. C. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69(3), 848-872.
84. Whitehurst, G. J. & Lonigan, J. C. (2002). Emergent literacy: development from prereaders to readers. In Neuman, S. B. & Dickonson, D.K. (Ed.), Handbook of Early Literacy Research Volume 1 (pp. 11-29). New York, USA: The Guilford Press.
85. Vaismoradi, M., Turunen, H., & Bondas, T. (2013). Content analysis and thematic analysis: Implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study. Nursing & health sciences, 15(3), 398-405.
86. Yıldız, M., Ataş, M., Aktaş, N., Yekeler, A. D., & Dönmez, T. (2015). Çocuklar ne yazıyor? Okul öncesi dönemde yazı algısının gelişimi [What are the chıldren wrıtıng? development of wrıtıng perceptıon durıng preschool stage]. Electronic Turkish Studies, 10(3), 1131-1152.
87. Yilmaz, K., & Altinkurt, Y. (2012). An examination of articles published on preschool education in Turkey. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 12(4), 3227-3241.
88. Yopp, H. Y. & Yopp, R. H. (2009). Phonological awareness is child’s play! Beyond the journal Young Children, 61(1), 12-21. Retrieved from: http://caligrafix.cl/files/Phonological-Awareness-is-Childs-Play.-Hallie-Kay-Yopp-Ruth-Helen-Yopp.pdf