Oral language proficiency in kindergarten can facilitate the acquisition of reading and writing. However, in diglossic languages, like Arabic, the large gap between the spoken and the formal, modern standard (MSA) varieties of the language may restrict the benefits of oral language proficiency to subsequent literacy skills. Here, we tested, in a…

This study examined the relationship between nonmainstream American English (NMAE) dialect use and various emergent literacy skills among typically developing children in prekindergarten. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between children's production of NMAE forms (i.e., dialect variation [DVAR]) and their…

Shows that the architecture of a children's poetic text is based on systematic use of repetition and contrast at different levels of analysis, which allow the continuous flow of gesture to be segmented into structural units of different relative size. Suggests the study of poetry allows the isolation of universals of language. (Author/VWL)

The author shares activities for use in the primary classroom that require active participation with nursery rhymes through dramatization. The activities involve repeated readings, reading in context, and examining rhyming components, and help to develop young children's phonemic awareness and oral language skills.

Examines children's attraction to rhythm and rhyme of nursery rhymes and how these factors affect literacy. Discusses the connection between rhyme and reading and spelling acquisition. (HTH)

Discusses the value of rhymes in developing children's concepts of story and pleasure in reading. (HOD)

Informed by knowledge of linguistics, research findings in the areas of monolingual and bilingual acquisition, dyslexia and speech therapy clinical practice, five factors are proposed to argue that the acquisition of English by young non-native learners can be enhanced by learning activities which take into account factors of developmental…

Reports on longitudinal data from a group of three- to six-year-olds (N=64) that supports a hypothesis that acquaintance with nursery rhymes positively affects children's reading ability. Data showed a strong relation between early knowledge of nursery rhymes and success in reading and spelling, despite differences in social background,…

There has been an explosion of knowledge over the last few years about how children's earliest experiences set the stage for success in learning to read and write. Most experts agree that children who reach kindergarten with certain characteristics--an interest in books, a fondness for conversation, a curiosity about the world--are more likely to…

Considers the culturally patterned set of analogic renamings found in Huli baby talk, nursery rhymes, and children's verbal games. An analysis of socialization activities shows a marked concern with body motifs and appellations and inter-adult behavior involving talk about the body, and showing that such language sensitizes children to cultural…