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Literacy Development

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Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development

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Synonyms

Reading development; Writing development

Definition

Literacy typically includes the two areas of reading and writing. Literacy development refers to the on-going development of skills needed to successfully communicate through written communication.

Description

Communication through written texts is a two-sided conversation. Writers capture their thoughts and ideas in written text and the reader actively receives and responds to written texts. Reading for understanding requires an active thinking process that is influenced by the reader’s prior knowledge and experiences [6]. This active thinking process develops over time in a natural state that “mimics children’s natural development of oral language skills” [7].

Literacy development is reported to be a natural process that begins at birth. The “pre-reading stage” [3] or stage 0, involves caretakers reading to, speaking to, and modeling writing. Chall describes this stage as the moment in literacy development where children...

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References

  1. Adams, M. J. (1990). Beginning to read: thinking and learning about print. Cambridge: MIT Press.

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  2. Barr, R. (1984). Beginning reading instruction: from debate to reformation. In P. D. Pearson (Ed.), Handbook of reading research. New York: Longman.

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  3. Chall, J. (1983). Stages of reading development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

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  4. Holdaway, D. (1979). The foundations of literacy. Sydney, Australia: Ashton Scholastic. Distributed by Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.

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  5. Morrow, L. M. (2001). Literacy development in the early years (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

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  6. National Excellence in Reading Initiative. (2000). Report of the national reading panel: teaching children to read. Washington: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

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  7. Tracey, D. H., & Morrow, L. M. (2006). Lenses on reading: an introduction to theories and models. New York: Guilford.

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  8. Smith, F. (2004). Understanding reading (6th ed.). Mahwah: Erlbaum.

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  9. Venezky, R. L. (1995). Literacy. In T. L. Harris & R. E. Hodges (Eds.), The literacy dictionary: the vocabulary of reading and writing. Newark: International Reading Association.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, TX, USA

    Roberta Simnacher Pate

  2. Department of Teacher Education, University of the Incarnate Word College of Education, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 4049 O Grady, Corpus Christi, TX, 78413, USA

    Stephanie A. Grote-Garcia Ph.D

Authors
  1. Roberta Simnacher Pate
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  2. Stephanie A. Grote-Garcia Ph.D
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neurology, Learning and Behavior Center, 230 South 500 East, Suite 100, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84102, USA

    Sam Goldstein Ph.D.

  2. Department of Psychology MS 2C6, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Jack A. Naglieri Ph.D. (Professor of Psychology) (Professor of Psychology)

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© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Pate, R.S., Grote-Garcia, S.A. (2011). Literacy Development. In: Goldstein, S., Naglieri, J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_1668

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_1668

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-77579-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-79061-9

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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