From Knowledge of Hiragana to Literacy Practices in Japanese Children: Functions of Literacy after Acquisition.
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science:Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Date (from‐to) : 2012/04 -2015/03
Author : MATSUMOTO Hiroo; ITO Takashi; TSUNEDA Miho; MATSUI Gota; MIHARA Natsuki
This study examined how letter knowledge and the home literacy environment are linked to the literacy practices of Japanese children. Fifty-four kindergarten-aged children (range: 54-83 months) were asked to create short books and describe them to an examiner, to measure their literacy skills. The children’s letter knowledge and the literacy environments at home were assessed via a parental questionnaire.
The results showed that 83.9% children used letters (sentences, phrases, or words) in their books, and 41.9% children could describe their book without the examiner’s help. Although these children knew 50 letters or more, they did not become interested in or begin to write letters earlier than the other children. The results suggest that creating an environment that allows children to gain letter knowledge facilitates the literacy skills of Japanese children.