A Phenomenological Approach towards Early Literacy Development Practices of Early Childhood Teachers

Öz

The purpose of this research is to make early childhood teachers acquire an inno- vative approach towards their early literacy development practices by introducing them the use of three different techniques of creative story-writing and storytelling to be used within their classrooms, making them incorporate these techniques in the implementation sessions by writing and telling their own stories, evaluating the challenges and successes that they faced in the learning-teaching process, and finally, taking a deeper insight into their perceptions towards the use of the techniques within their classroom environment. The qualitative research includes the introduction of three story-writing and storytelling techniques and implementation of them through collaborative group work. The data was comprised of semi-structured interviews, diaries kept by the participants, and observations of the whole workshop program by the researcher which were all video recorded. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that such new techniques could not only support kindergarten children’s early literacy development but also make it fun for the children which could activate them and increase their engagement within the activities. The techniques also yielded some developmental areas for early childhood teachers togeth- er with the strengths they offer when used in storytelling and story writing.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Early literacy development
• Storytelling
• Story Writing
• Language Acquisition
• Teaching Language Skills
• Phenomenological Research

Kaynakça

1. Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: Thinking and learning about print. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
2. Blachman, B., Tangel, D., Ball, E., Black, R., & McGraw, D. (1999). Developing phonological awareness and word recognition skills: A two-year intervention with low-income, inner-city children. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 11, 239–273
3. Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
4. Bos, C., Mzther, N., Dickson, S. Podhajski, B., & Chard, D. (2001). Perceptions and Knowledge of Preservice and Inservice Educators About Early Reading Instruction. Annals of Dyslexia, 51, 97–120.
5. Cashiola, E. B., Bulotsky-Shearer, R. J., & Greenfield, D. B. (2020). Bidirectional associations between preschool classroom behavior and language and literacy skills. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 40(3), 143–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271121420948603
6. Cherry-Cruz, Teresa. (2001). Tell me a story! Enhancing literacy through the techniques of storytelling. ASHA Leader. 6 (23), 4-7.
7. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.
8. Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

9. Cunningham, A. E., Perry, K. E., Stanovich, K. E., & Stanovich, P. J. (2004). Disciplinary Knowledge Of K-3 Teachers and Their Knowledge Calibration in The Domain of Early Literacy. Annals of Dyslexia. 54(1), 139–167.
10. Cunningham, J. E., Hemmeter, M. L., & Kaiser, A. P. (2020). The relation between teachers’ positive behavior support and language support. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 40(3), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 0271121420943653
11. Davis, A. N., & Qi, C. H. (2020). A longitudinal examination of language skills, social skills, and behavior problems of preschool children from low-income families. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 40(3), 172–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271121420946104
12. Downing, J. (1986). Cognitive clarity: A unifying and cross-cultural theory for language awareness phenomena in reading. In D. B. Yaden, Jr. & S. Templeton (Eds.), Metalinguistic awareness and beginning literacy (pp.13-29). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
13. Ersoy, A. F. (2016). Fenomenoloji. Ahmet Saban & Ali Ersoy (Eds.), Eğitimde nitel araştırma desenleri. Anı.
14. Gallant, P. A. (2009). Kindergarten Teachers Speak Out: “Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast!” Reading Horizons, 49(3), 201–220.
15. Gay, L. R., Mills, G. E., & Airasan, P. (2006). Educational research. Competencises for analysis and applications. Pearson Education Ltd.
16. Gillen, J., & Hall, N. (2003). The Emergence of Early Childhood Literacy. In N. Hall, J. Larson, & J. Marsh (Eds.). Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy. (pp.1–12). London: Sage Publication.
17. Joyce, B., Hrycauk, M., & Calhoun, E. (2003). Learning To Read in Kindergarten: Has Curriculum Development Bypassed the Controversies? Phi Delta Kappan, 85(2), 126–132.
18. Lonigan, C. J., Schatschneider, C., & Westberg, L. (2008). Identification Of Children’s Skills and Abilities Linked to Later Outcomes in Reading, Writing, And Spelling. Report of the National Early Literacy Panel. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
19. Mayring, P. (2011). Nitel sosyal araştırmaya giriş. (Adnan Gümüş and M. Sezai Durgun, Trans.). Bilgesu.
20. McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2006). Research in education evidence-based inquiry. Pearson.
21. Mills, G. E. (2003). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (2nd ed.). Merrill Prentice Hall.
22. Moats, L. C. & Foorman, B. R. (2003). Measuring Teahers’ Content Knowledge of Language and Reading. Annals of Dyslexia, 53, 23–45.
23. Moon, J. (2000). Children Learning English. Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann.
24. Morris, D. (1981). Concept of word: A developmental phenomenon in the beginning reading and writing processes. Language Arts, 58, 659-668.
25. Moustakas, C. 1994. Phenomenological Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
26. Neuman, W. L. (2012). Toplumsal araştırma yöntemleri: Nicel ve nitel yaklaşımlar I‐II. Cilt (5th Ed.). Yayın Odası.
27. Phillips, Louise. (2000). The seeds of children's creativity. Australian Journal of Early Childhood. 25 (3), 1-6.
28. Qi, C.H., Kaiser, A.P., Marley, S.C., & Milan, S. (2012). Performance of African American preschool children from low-income families on expressive language measures. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 32, 175–184. doi:10.1177/ 0271121411415426
29. Rayner, K., Foorman, B. R., Perfetti, C. A., Pesetsky, D., & Seidenberg, M. S. (2001). How psychological science informs the teaching of reading. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2, 31–74.
30. Speaker, Kathryne. (2000). The art of storytelling: A collegiate connection to professional development schools. Education. 121 (1), 184- 187.
31. Spira, E. G., & Fischel, J. E. (2005). The Impact of Preschool Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity on Social and Academic Development: A Review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 755–773.
32. Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Sage.
33. Sulzby, E., & Teak, W. (1991). Emergent literacy. In R. Barr, M. L. Kamil, R. B. Mosenthal, & P. D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol.2, pp. 727-757). New York: Longman.
34. 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.
35. Vellutino, F. R., Scanlon, D. M., & Jaccard, J. (2003). Toward distinguishing between cognitive and experiential deficits as primary sources of difficulty in learning to read: A two-year follow-up of difficult to remediate and readily remediated poor readers. In B. R. Foorman (Ed.), Preventing and remediating reading difficulties: Bringing science to scale (pp. 73–120). Baltimore: York.
36. Whitehurst, G. J. & Lonigan, J. C. (1998). Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development, 69 (3), 848-872.