Page 19 - The Inquiry into the Development and Implementation of a Multimedia Resource to Help Improve Parental Involvement in Their Child’s Reading Literacy During the Primary School Years.

(Evans & Saint-Aubin, 2005; Justice et al., 2005). From this study it can be

determined that at this stage in the child’s reading development, reading-aloud with a
young child will influence their oral development rather than written language.

Therefore, only reading aloud to a child does not normally promote the growth of
most of the mechanics of reading as we cannot expect young children to learn about

print when they are not looking at it (Massaro, 2015). Children whose parents read to

them will begin to absorb the rhythms and repetitive speech patterns they hear as the
words are more clearly enunciated, especially during repeated phrases within a

child’s storybook. The child will often mimic the expressive gestures and intonation
used by the parent.

According to Schickedanz (1999), children from the ages of 15-20 months will begin
to notice print in addition to illustrations and by the age of three, may verbalise a line

of text from memory. The child gains an awareness that the sounds they hear in
spoken words relate to individual letters. This phonological understanding is taught

in school to the younger primary school pupils. This practice can be further
promoted by the parent in the home, when they are provided with best practice

examples of the necessary teaching methods. The aim of phonics instruction is to

teach pupils the most common sound-spelling relationships so that they can sound
out words (Blevins, 1998). This ability to decode is a vital strategy in reading

development and will enable the reader to expand their vocabulary. Fluent readers
will rely on a number of reading strategies and skills to read, comprehend and

articulate their thoughts on a particular piece of text. At this stage in their reading

development, the parent and child will have used more than two reading strategies
such as the use of context and picture clues as well as phonological awareness.

According to the NCAA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment), phonics
is one of the initial stages in mastering the components of reading (Figure 2.1) and is

one of many skills needed to become a functional reader.

10