ALPHABETIC AND PHONEMIC
AWARENESS
IN
TODDLERS
ALPHABETIC AND PHONEMIC AWARENESS IN TODDLERS
AWARENESS IN TODDLERS
Pamela Terrell, Ph.D.
Jan Norris, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-
Louisiana State University
University of Wisconsin-
Pamela Terrell, Ph.D.
Stevens Point
Pamela Terrell, Ph.D.
Theoretical Significance
University of Wisconsin
Stevens
Pointto be a
Written language
is thought
secondary ability that has to be
explicitly taught (van Kleeck, 1998; Justice & Ezell,
2004)

There are specific highly specialized
neural mechanisms for reading (Sakai, 2005;
Dehaene, 2004)

Jan Norris, Ph.D.
Method
Louisiana State University




Paul Hoffman, Ph.D.
Jan Norris, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Paul Hoffman, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University
Stevens Point
Paul Hoffman, Ph.D.
Are 20-24 month old toddlers capable of learning
letter and sound skills following six weeks of
exposure?
Letter
Awareness
Louisiana
State
UniversityScores
Experimental Group: Alphabet book-reading
3x/week
Control Group: Perceptual play 3x/week
Initial Pre-test, Mid-test at 6 weeks, Post-test at 12
weeks
Home Literacy Questionnaire


Deaf infants learn a visual language at
the same rate that hearing infants learn
oral language (Petitto, Holowka, Sergio, Levy, & Ostry,

What developmental and environmental factors
contribute to a 20-24-month old toddler’s ability to
learn letter and sound skills?
Yes, 15/16 had higher post-test than pre-test
scores, indicating that they had improved
their understanding of the target letters and
sounds
Both groups improved letter scores, but
environment likely played a role
Letter-sound correspondence was significantly
impacted by alphabet book reading


PLS-4, Direct Literacy experiences, and
Maternal Education all correlated to
increased understanding of letter sounds.
Children are capable of learning about
letters and sounds through their environments
before explicit instruction begins
Future Research
Assessment of all letters
 Classroom setting
 Phonic Faces versus other alphabet books
 Children with documented speechlanguage delays and disorders

2004)
Research Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.


Will 20-24 month old toddlers maintain any gains
following six weeks without specific exposure?
Task Analysis
16 toddlers (8 male, 8 female), ages 20-24 months
from 2 different daycare centers
Matched by age, gender, and daycare into two
groups
All children demonstrated normal language
development as determined by the PLS-4
Implications

Are 20-24 month old toddlers capable of
learning letter and sound skills following six
weeks of exposure?
Will 20-24 month old toddlers maintain any
gains following six weeks without specific
exposure?
What types of letter awareness and lettersound awareness skills can be demonstrated by
20-24 month old toddlers following six weeks
of exposure?
What developmental and environmental
factors contribute to a 20-24-month old
toddler’s ability to learn letter and sound skills?
Subjects

Sample Phonic Faces Alphabet Book
Page


Yes, the first experimental group demonstrated no
loss of skills following 6 weeks with no intervention.
May be due to additional mastery of “primed” letters
or overall increased interest in and awareness of
letters and sounds

Children as young as 20-months-old can learn
written language through alphabet bookreading
Evidence that written language may not be a
secondary ability, but may occur along a continuum
with oral language
References
Dehaene, S. (2004). Evolution of human cortical circuits for reading and
arithmetic: the “neuronal recycling” hypothesis. In Dehaene, S., Duhmale,
J. R., Hauser, M., & Rizzolatti, G. (Eds.), From Monkey Brain to Human
Brain. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Justice, L. M., & Ezell, H. L. (2004). Print referencing: An emergent literacy
enhancement strategy and its clinical applications. Language, Speech,
and Hearing Services in Schools, 35, 185-193.
Petitto, L. A., Holowka, S., Sergio, L. E., Levy, B., & Ostry, D. J. (2004). Baby
hands thatt move to the rhythm of language: Hearing babies acquiring
sign language babble silently on the hands. Cognition, 93, 43-73.
Sakai, K. L. (2005). Neuroscience: On language acquisition and brain
development. Science, 310. 815-819.
Van Kleeck, A. (1998). Preliteracy domains and stages: Laying the
foundations for beginning reading. Journal of Children’s Communication
Development, 20, 33-51.
Sound Awareness Scores
Pearson Correlations for Independent Variables
Compared to Letter and Sound Awareness Scores in the
Experimental Phase for Both Groups
Exp. Scores
PLS-4
Age
# Rdg
HLQ
Dir Lit
Ind Lit
Daycare
What types of letter awareness and letter-sound
awareness skills can be demonstrated by 20-24 month
old toddlers following six weeks of exposure?

Awareness
-0.241
0.093 -0.359
0.091
0.120
0.025
-0.372
-0.151


Sound
Awareness
* p < .05
0.624* 0.358
0.203
0.458
0.508* 0.256
0.121
Sample size
 Focus on only 9 phonemes
 Brief assessment

Mat Ed
Letter
Limitations
Pointing to a letter within a PF picture
Choosing a PF letter from a field of three
Producing the corresponding phoneme when
shown a PF card
0.578*
The production task demonstrated
understanding of all of the discrete skills