Early Social Communication Predictors of Preschool Emergent Literacy Skills in Toddlers 18-24 Months of Age

• Other Authors: Reinhardt, Vanessa Panetta (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Developmental psychology; Communication; Language and languages
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_FA2016_Reinhardt_fsu_0071E_10751

Learning to read is a major developmental achievement with wide ranging societal, educational, and economic costs associated with low literacy attainment. A robust body of literature has documented the stability and persistence of reading difficulties in early elementary school, underscoring the importance of identifying and intervening with children at risk early in development, before they enter formal education. Current efforts to identify children early in development who will require specialized educational support are missing a significant segment of children, and in turn, the opportunity to intervene early. This study evaluated competing models of the factor structure of emergent literacy skills and examined predictive relations between social communication skills in the second year of life and later emergent literacy skills using structural equation modeling (SEM) within a longitudinal sample of preschool children (4–5 years) with diverse early developmental skills. A similar latent structure of emergent literacy skills was found for children with typical development (TD) and early developmental delay (EDD), yet differences in how specific emergent literacy skills relate to one another were documented between groups, possibly reflecting differences in emergent literacy development between children with TD and EDD. Analyses also documented predictive relations between early social communication and preschool emergent literacy skills, supporting the characterization of literacy development as a continuous developmental process beginning early in life. This study extends the current literature by documenting relations between early social communication skills in the second year of life and later preschool emergent literacy skills using a well-characterized longitudinal sample of young children with diverse early developmental abilities. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Fall Semester 2016. === October 19, 2016. === Includes bibliographical references. === Amy Wetherby, Professor Directing Dissertation; Hugh Catts, University Representative; Christopher Lonigan, Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member; Jeanette Taylor, Committee Member.