Amanda Williams
November 1, 2007
Introducing/Questioning
The point I intend to make is that intelligence does not necessarily lead to illiteracy; however, the more literate someone is, the more they are likely to achieve most likely due to those literacy skills. I feel like children who were read to and developed other early literacy skills are more literate and therefore achieve more than those were not read to and did not successfully develop early literacy skills. I do not think that intelligence depends on literacy in the sense that people who are illiterate cannot be intelligent. However, I feel like achievement would be difficult to measure with a person who has poor literacy skills. I feel like early literacy skills like learning sounds, letters, and exposure to reading are important to ensure the typical development and future success of a child. For this reason, I think it is necessary to answer my question:Do adults who developed emergent literacy skills as preschoolers achieve more in adulthood? If my question yields the answer I expect, content standard objectives, laws, and the overall curriculum of early childhood education could all be affected. The foundation questions I am asking to lead to my essential question are:
1. What are emergent literacy skills?
2. How are emergent literacy skills encouraged?
3. When are emergent literacy skills developed?
4. What constitutes achievement in adults?
5. How many adults developed emergent literacy skills as preschoolers and are considered to be at a high level of achievement?
Searching
”Considerable research has shown children’s emergent literacy skills- the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that are necessary for the development of reading and writing…are important for later reading success” (Roberts, J., Jurgens, J., & Burchinal, M.,p.345,2005). Emergent literacy skills are developed through the use of early literacy activities, reading experiences, and the modeling of literacy skills by both caretakers and educators (Ortiz, 2000). “High achievement is a function of three categories of factors: (a) opportunity factors (e.g., coursework), (b) propensity factors (e.g., prerequisite skills, motivation), and (c) distal factors (e.g., SES)” (Byrnes, J., & Miller, D.,p.1,2007).
Concluding/Answering
Emergent literacy skills are those skills that are necessary for successful reading and writing, like knowing the sound for each orthographic letter. These skills are developed through reading experiences and the modeling of literacy activities by everyone in the child’s life. High achievement may be defined in many different ways; however, for the purposes of this research I am going to use what I found to be the most common characteristics of achievement: opportunity factors, propensity factors, and distal factors.
References
Byrnes, J., & Miller, D. (2007, October). The relative importance of predictors of math and science achievement: An opportunity–propensity analysis. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32(4), 599-629. Retrieved November 4, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Ortiz, R. (2000). The Many Faces of Learning to Read: The Role of Fathers in Helping Their Children to Develop Early Literacy Skills. Multicultural Perspectives, 2(2), 10-17. Retrieved November 4, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
Roberts, J., Jurgens, J., & Burchinal, M. (2005, April). The Role of Home Literacy Practices in Preschool Children’s Language and Emergent Literacy Skills. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 48(2), 345-359. Retrieved November 4, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.
2 comments
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November 7, 2007 at 11:46 pm
holliday10
Hey Amanda,
These are the ideas I thought of while reading your I-Search paper:
Voice: This is written in first person with the voice of a researcher who is searching for an answer to what she believes to be true.
Audience: I think this applies and is written to teachers, parents, and other individuals interested in literacy’s affect on young children and into adulthood.
Say Back: I think you are saying that emergent literacy skills are the basis for achievement in reading. These skills need to be continually taught and worked on throughout a child’s life so they can have success in adulthood.
Bless: I liked how you organized your essential and foundation questions and presented strong evidence of why you are interested in the topic. You obviously already have ideas about how literacy can have a positive effect of adult achievement. I’m not too sure how you connect intelligence with this research question so maybe you could make the connection between intelligence and your question a little more obvious. You make it clear what you are looking for and have a good start on finding answers to your foundation questions. You did a good job at applying your research findings to your conclusion. Eventually, you may even be able to refer back to specific research you have in your searching seciont within your conclusion.
Address: In the beginning, it may be beneficial to gradually lead into your main purpose and refer to your first six statements as hypotheses or what you actually know. You can back up your knowledge with experiences and examples so readers understand how you acquired this knowledge. “What you know” is really the only question from the handout that I see is unanswered. Also, in your first sentence, did you mean, “Intelligence does not necessary lead to literacy,” instead of “illiteracy”? Regarding references, try to make sure that the first letters of your titles are lowercase, excluding the first letter of the first word of the title and the word that follows a colon. I realized when I looked up APA format that we are supposed to add “the” before the name of the database, such as “from the Academic Search Premier database”.
I hope this helps! Let me know if anything is confusing.
Katie
November 9, 2007 at 10:40 pm
ellen16
Voice- The paper is in first person-Amanda’s voice
Audience- The paper appears to be written for those people interested in the relationship between the development of literacy and its affect on achievement in adulthood. Educators and parents could be the audience.
Say Back- You are saying that even though one may be considered unintelligent, with the ability to read one can function better than an individual who lacks both intelligence and literacy.
Bless- I like that you have an opinion about your research. Through your writing I get the sense that you are truly interested in your topic. As I’m sure you are aware, when the opposite occurs conducting research and writing a paper can be dreadful!
Address- In your introduction I found myself needing to read the first few sentences several times to ensure my understanding. Maybe you could revise it a bit to enhance readability. For instance, the first two sentences are quite long and your points seem to get lost in them. Perhaps shorter sentences would be beneficial. (I don’t want your points or opinions to get lost-they are too important!)