Emergent Literacy Support for Children from Marginalised Populations

The purpose of this paper is to describe the content and process of a literacy and language support model that was implemented with young children from marginalised communities, where no access to speech and language pathologist (SLP) services exists. The importance of language for literacy development is emphasised with explicit strategies for classroom application.

The SLP introduced an intervention programme to Early Childhood Development (ECD) kindergarten teachers, as part of a pre- and post-test literacy study. The strategies included oral reading, one-on-one reading and paired-reading. The participants provided informed consent. The intervention was presented to the experimental (Exp) group during the study process and to the comparison group after the study was completed.

Post-intervention findings revealed a significant improvement in the Exp group scores on concepts about print. The ECD teachers reported a difference in the children's awareness of printed materials, confirming that the approaches introduced by the SLP are central in teachers' instruction. This finding supports the contribution that emergent literacy and language support models would have for children, especially those from marginalised communities, where access to resources are limited. Furthermore, the collaboration between SLP and the ECD staff will strengthen these support structures. Thus, explicit early intervention develops skills for school-readiness and academic success; this forms part of the solution in providing early access to language and literacy programmes in developing countries.