Engagement and emergent literacy practices in Swedish preschools

Abstract

Children's ability to express thoughts, ideas, and needs is vital to their full participation in a democratic society. In the preschool environment, multiple opportunities to engage in emergent literacy practices may stimulate this ability. The study used an ecological development approach to investigate the language environment in Swedish preschools, focusing on the relationships among seven classroom quality dimensions. Children's engagement was measured by observing their active participation in emergent literacy practices. The results showed that positive climate, instructional learning formats and language modeling were the most significant contributors to engagement in emergent literacy practices. To conclude, children's engagement in emergent literacy practices seems to benefit from a positive climate and needs and uses instructional discussions and activities in the everyday situations in preschool.

Keywords:

• preschool engagement
• preschool quality
• emergent literacy
• language
• social environment

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by The Swedish Research Council 2008-31337-61896-69.