Early Literacy: What is The Scope and Why It is Important?
Children are active learners who try to make sense of the world around them to answer questions about the world (Ferreiro and Teberosky, 1983). They were born in a literate society and stepped into a written world (Justice and Sofka, 2010). Thus, children growing up with literacy experiences show typical literate behaviors. Although they do not start school as a reader who knows and applies the rules of literacy, it is known that many children learn how written language works and where it is used (Hall, 1987; Goodman, 1984). Clay's (1966) research with five-year-old children is the pioneer of research on early literacy (Constantine, 2004; Teale and Sulzby, 1986; Whitehurst and Lonigan, 1998; Williams, 2004). In research conducted in Auckland, New Zealand Clay (1966, as cited in Clay, 2015) observed the literate behaviors of five-year-old children until they reached the age of six. Observing the children every week in the classroom environment, Clay worked in collaboration with the mothers of the children to record their experiences at home. As a result of the research, it has been stated that children have literacy knowledge and acquire literate behaviors in the preschool period (Clay, 1966, cited in Clay, 2015, p. 11). Thus, the research carried out from the 1960s to the 1980s, as well as changing the thoughts and practices regarding how children begin to become literate, has brought with it more examination of the development of skills in the literacy process (Morrow, 2009).
Early literacy development forms the basis for children's literacy success in later years (Badian, 1995; Durkin, 1963; Ezell and Justice, 2000; Hart and Risley, 2003; Noble et al., 2006). Early language and literacy experiences are crucial for a child's reading comprehension skills. Without these experiences, children may struggle with comprehension even if they can read correctly. Ensuring equal access to quality early education for all children is important (Robertson, 2009; Schirmer, 2005; Vukelich and Christie, 2009). For this reason, developing skills such as oral language, phonological and print awareness, and conceptual knowledge about writing is critical for long-term success as a literate person.