Print referencing: an emergent literacy enhancement strategy and its clinical applications

Print referencing is an evidence-based strategy that may be used by speech-language pathologists and other early childhood specialists to enhance the emergent literacy skills of young children. Print referencing is a strategy implemented within the context of adult-child shared storybook reading interactions, and specifically refers to the use of verbal and nonverbal cues to encourage children's attention to and interactions with print. Print referencing increases the metalinguistic focus of storybook reading interactions. When print referencing is delivered within the children's zone of proximal development, clinicians can foster children's movement from dependent to independent mastery of key emergent literacy concepts. This clinical exchange provides suggestions for using print referencing as a clinical tool, including a theoretical overview of this approach and descriptions of clinical targets.