Print Awareness Skills and Home Literacy Environment of Turkish Preschoolers

Abstract

In the literature, the importance of early literacy experiences provided at home by parents to the development of early literacy skills is often expressed. Therefore, the study was aimed at identifying the possible relationships between home early literacy experiences and children's print awareness skills. The participants of the study comprised of 60 preschool children (48-68 months) whose native language is Turkish. The Home Early Literacy Environment Questionnaire (HLEQ) used for the assessment of home literacy skills were conveyed to the parents by the preschool teachers. The Early Childhood Print Awareness Checklist used for the assessment of children's print awareness skills were individually administered to each child. The results displayed a variation in early literacy skills within 48-68 months and indicated that variables pertaining to "writing" might have been effective in this variation. Another prominent finding was that demographic variables such as parental education and frequency of participation in social activities, as well as, most of the HLEQ variables correlated with each other at varying strengths. Similar studies specific to the Turkish language should be conducted in order to identify various predictors of both home literacy skills and print awareness. The study results were discussed in light of the existing literature.