Forms of n o n - v e r b a l r e s p o n d i n g , as used in t he CARR t e s t and in t he p r e s e n t study may have produced d i f f e r e n t r e s u l t s , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n h i s 1976 s t u d y .
However, Johns' s t u d i e s above appear t o suppor t p r e v i o u s f i n d i n g s which have l i n k e d " c o g n i t i v e c l a r i t y " t o r e a d i n g a ch i e v e me nt , and t o s t i m u l a t e f u r t h e r s p e c u l a t i o n as t o whether t he c h i l d ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n g of p r i n t - r e l a t e d concept s i s a cause or a consequence of r e a d i n g a c h i e v e m e n t .
Tovey (1976) conducted a study of c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of r e a d i n g , q u a n t i f y i n g t he c h i l d r e n ' s p e r c e p t i o n s of t he purpose f o r r e a d i n g by a sk i ng "What do you t h i n k you do when you. read?" Of t h e r esponses o b t a i n e d o n l y 287. i n d i c a t e d t h a t r e a d i n g was r e l a t e d t o meaning; 437. of t h e r esponses a s s o c i a t e d r e a d i n g wi t h l o o k i n g a t , pr o n o un c i n g , l e a r n i n g r e a d i n g or t h i n k i n g about wor ds; t he r e ma i ni n g 297. d e s c r i b e d r e a d i n g as s p e l l i n g , t a l k i n g , me mor i zi ng, b r e a t h i n g q u e s t i o n s e t c . Consequent l y Tovey c o n s i d e r s whether t he i dea of r e a d i n g f o r meani ng i s too d i f f i c u l t f o r young c h i l d r e n as suggested by P i a g e t ' s e g o c e n t r i c st age of dev el o pmen t , or whet her c h i l d r e n have been c o n d i t i o n e d thr ough t he use of t he "word r e c o g n i t i o n e qua l s r e a d i n g " model to t h i n k of r e a d i n g as t he naming of random words. Obvious e d u c t i o n a l i m p l i c a t i o n s ar e i m p l i c i t in t he q u e s t i o n of why t h e s e
c onf u s i o n s e x i s t .
In vi ew of t he r e s e a r c h o u t l i n e d i t would seem a p p r o p r i a t e to f u r t h e r i n v e s t i g a t e t he c o g n i t i v e c o n f u s i o n / c l a r i t y of t he b eg i n n e r r e a d e r i n r e f e r e n c e to t he n a t u r e and purpose of t he a c t i v i t y of r e a d i n g and c o n c e p t u a l i s a t i o n s about p r i n t , in r e l a t i o n to r e a d i n g a b i l i t y and t o o t h e r f a c t o r s p r e v i o u s l y c o n s i d e r e d i m p o r t a n t i n e a r l y r e a d i n g a c q u i s i t i o n , such as v i s u a l and a u d i t o r y d i s c r i m i n a t i o n a b i l i t y .
Communi cati ve s i m i l a r i t i e s i n l anguage processes
W h i l s t p r i n t , as a medium of communi cat i on, r e q u i r e s an approach which t a k e s i n t o account i t s p a r t i c u l a r c h a r a c t e r and f e e l , as suggest ed by r e s e a r c h o u t l i n e d above, f o r example Cl ay ( 1972, 1 9 7 5 ) , t he c ommuni cat i ve s i m i l a r i t i e s which e x i s t between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g and between r e a d i n g and spoken l anguage need- t o be under st ood by t he young c h i l d , as suggest ed by Downing ( 1977) i n r e f e r e n c e to t he i mpor t anc e of c h i l d r e n " un d e r s t a n d i n g t h e i r own l anguage p r o c e s s e s " , l e a d i n g t o communi cati ve competence n ec es s ar y f o r success i n r e a d i n g .
Communi cati ve s i m i l a r i t i e s between spoken l anguage and r e a d i n g
Ar nol d (1982) t akes t he l i n g u i s t i c awareness debate one step f u r t h e r i n a new emphasis on r e a d i n g r e a d i n e s s which f ocusses more on t he c h i l d ' s a b i l i t y to i n t e r a c t w i t h and make sense of e x p e r i e n c e s t hr ough o r a l l anguage from a ver y e a r l y s t a g e . Using t r a n s c r i p t s of t ape r e c o r d i n g s , Arnold- has demonst r at ed t h a t c h i l d r e n ar e more s k i l l e d in usi ng spoken
l anguage than was s us p e c t e d , p r e s e n t i n g e vi de nce of l i n g u i s t i c v e r s a t i l i t y , p r o j e c t i o n s i n t o t he f u t u r e , use of c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , usage of d i f f e r e n t t e n s e s , l anguage not c o n t e x t bound, use of s y n t a c t i c sequence, and u n d e r s t a n d i n g of s t o r y c o n v e n t i o n .
Arnoi d suggest s t h a t t e n t a t i v e c o n c l u s i o n s may he drawn about ways i n which spoken l anguage shar es some f e a t u r e s which a r e met i n r e a d i n g , and t h a t through l i s t e n i n g t o t he c h i l d t a l k i n g t he seeds of l i t e r a c y may be d e t e c t e d . Arnol d f u r t h e r suggest s t h a t t he c l o s e l i n k s between r e a d i n g and normal speech ar e demonst r at ed i n t he e a r l y t e a c h i n g of r e a d i n g .
Communi cati ve s i m i l a r i t i e s between r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g
F o l l o w i n g from t he i d e as of Chomsky ( 1968) and Goodacre ( 1971) and t he more r e c e n t emphasis on " communi cat i ve competence" and r e q u i r e m e n t of meaning in r e a d i n g , Warham's study (1982) concer ns t he t r a n s f e r of t a u g h t w r i t i n g s k i l l s to r e a d i n g s k i l l s . W h i l s t r e c o g n i z i n g , in t he l i n g u i s t i c t r a d i t i o n , t h a t a mismatch e x i s t s between spoken sound and w r i t t e n symbol , and t h a t communi cati ve d i f f e r e n c e s a l s o e x i s t , i n t h a t t he systems used i n speech and t e x t a r e q u i t e d i f f e r e n t , Warham sup p o r t s C l a y ' s vi ew (1975) t h a t t h e t e a c h i n g of e a r l i e r w r i t i n g s k i l l s i s b e n e f i c i a l f o r b e g i n n e r r e a d e r s because i t focusses a t t e n t i o n on t he n a t u r e of t he w r i t t e n t e x t and t hus i n c r e a s e s t he c h i l d ' s l i n g u i s t i c awareness. Mor eover , Warham uncover s s i m i l a r i t i e s between w r i t i n g and r e a d i n g in t erms of what w r i t e r s and r e a d e r s both need t o l e a r n about w r i t t e n communi cati on which t h e y do not a l r e a d y know from t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e of spoken c ommuni cat i on, f o r exampl e t h e need t o under st and t h a t t e x t i s o r g a n i s e d i n t o s en t en ce s which have
de f i n i n g f e a t u r e s .
The devel opment of t hese symbol i c and p r i n t - s p e c i f i c s k i l l s would t h e r e f o r e seem c r u c i a l t o success i n e a r l y r e a d i n g .
The Language E x p e r i e n c e approach to t he t e a c h i n g of r eadi ng
The Language E x p e r i e n c e approach t o t he t e a c h i n g of r e a d i n g was devel oped in response t o t he r e q u i r e m e n t f o r r e a d i n g t o be a meani ngf ul system of communi cati on f o r t he c h i l d , in t h a t t he words, sent ences and concept s i n c l u d e d have meaning and l i n g u i s t i c r e l e v a n c e f o r t he c h i l d , and have been heard or spoken by t he c h i l d p r i o r to t h e i r p r i n t e d p r e s e n t a t i o n .
The c h i l d ' s own l anguage s t y l e and e x p e r i e n c e s are t h e r e b y f o r m a l i s e d i n t he l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n , hence f u l f i l l i n g i n p a r t t he i deas advocat ed by
Tough (1973) and Cazden ( 1 9 7 7 ) ; and d i r e c t i n g t he c h i l d t owar ds
communi cati ve competence necessar y f o r success in r e a d i n g .
H a l l (1985) r e v i e w s c u r r e n t devel opment s in t he Language E x p e r i e n c e Approach, which have p a r t i c u l a r r e l e v a n c e t o the p r e s e nt s t u d y . These f ocus on t he emergent l i t e r a c y s t a g e , t he i n t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p of r e a d i n g and w r i t i n g , ana t he " e x p l o s i o n of a t t e n t i o n t o w r i t i n g " . H a l l w r i t e s :