Chapter 3: Creating Opportunities For Discourse: Language and Literacy Development in Economically Disadvantaged Children

Literacy development is a complex process that begins long before children engage in formal reading instruction (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; Teale & Sulzby, 1986; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998). Pre-literacy skills such as phonological and linguistic awareness, letter recognition, and familiarity with the function of print in literature and in the environment, establish a solid foundation for literacy learning. However, the most important variable that contributes to success in literacy is the development of language skills (Snow et al., 1998; Wells, 1986). As they approach the task of reading, children with well-developed vocabularies and strong oral language skills are equipped to understand the meaning of individual words and, by extension, entire texts (Metsala & Ehri, 1998).