COMD 7V86

Preliteracy Development
Spring 2006

Class Time: Monday, 1:00 – 3:45 p.m. Location: Callier J.204

Instructor: Anne van Kleeck, Ph.D. e-mail: annevk@utdallas.edu
Phone: 214-905-3147 Callier Dallas (voice mail) Office hours: Monday 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Office: Callier-Dallas A101 Thursday 2:00 – 3:00 PM
Other times by appointment

Course Description:

A great deal of research now documents that preschoolers with language delays manifested in their oral language skills are at very high risk
for exhibiting reading difficulties when they enter school. From nearly two decades of intensive research and from recent developments in
clinical practice, it has become clear that a great deal can be done to prepare preschoolers to help them make a smoother transition to later
learning how to read and using language for more academic purposes more generally. This course will focus on the preliteracy literacy skills
that lay the foundation for later reading achievement, their course of development, and ways to assess and use evidence-based practices to
effectively foster their development in natural contexts and daily routines and in more structured classroom kinds of activities. Emphasis will
be placed on historical, cultural, and socio-economic variability in literacy values, beliefs, and practices, and how this information might be
best used in working with families and children from diverse backgrounds.

Course Format:

The course will consist primarily of lecture, discussion, and videotape demonstration.

Course Objectives/Learning Outcomes:

1. Understand how form and meaning relate to language, reading, domains of preliteracy, general approaches to facilitating preliteracy
development, areas of difficulty in preliteracy development, subcategories of reading disability, and long-standing controversies
regarding how early reading should be taught.
2. Be familiar with ASHA guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of, and knowledge and skills needed by, speech-language
pathologists with respect to reading and writing in children and adolescents
3. Have knowledge of the myriad skills that provide the foundations for later reading development in children and the developmental
progressions of each
4. Understand the rationale for emphasizing both form (phonological awareness and letter knowledge) and meaning (skills related to
comprehension) in fostering preliteracy and early literacy development in preschool children To become aware of how profoundly
cultural factors differences can influence whether or not and how families engage in literacy practices
5. Become acquainted with the stages of development in the various domains of preliteracy in preschool children
6. Gain an introductory level of experience with both formal and informal techniques for assessing preliteracy skills in young children
7. Become aware of numerous kinds of experiences, specific activities, and interactions strategies within those activities that foster a
range of preliteracy skills in young children
8. Be able to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and apply information from research and other scholarly readings
9. Be able to pull important, clinically relevant information from published material

Grading and Assessment Procedures:

Two Exams 50% Tests are a combination of multiple choice, matching, and essay (Feb. 27; April 17)
Cumulative Final 25% Friday, April 28, 11 AM
Class Preparation 25% Show evidence of having carefully prepared for class by reading materials due, and by keeping an electronic
notebook of class readings that details information important to the clinical practice of speech-language
pathology, offers critical comment, and provides examples of exam questions that would cover the kind of
information you would consider relevant to take away from the reading. I will ask for these cumulative records
to be handed in at random times, so please bring the cumulative file to each class on a flash drive with your
name on it that is dedicated to this class for the semester, and doesn’t have other files on it. Label the file for
each reading just as I have labeled them on blackboard. It will be helpful to you in class discussions to have
hard copies of your notebook for the readings due that day with you.

Make thoughtful contributions to class discussions of readings due for that date or previously, and to other
ongoing topics.
OR

Two Exams 60% Tests are a combination of multiple choice, matching, and essay (Feb. 27; April 17)
Cumulative Final 30% Friday, April 28, 11 AM
Class Participation 10% Make thoughtful contributions to class discussions of readings due for that date or previously, and to other
ongoing topics.

As a group, students will decide on which grading option they prefer on the first day of class.
General University Guidelines:

• Students with documented special needs or disabilities, please see me during the first two weeks of classes to discuss and plan any
necessary modifications or accommodations. Please contact UTD Disability Services if you need additional information:
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/hcsvc.html
• Students who need help with study skills, or additional help with basic writing skills are encouraged to seek assistance at the UTD
Learning Resources Center: http://www.utdallas.edu/dept/ugraddean/lrc.html
• All academic work must meet the standards for academic honesty. Each student is responsible for being aware of these standards
before performing any academic work. Refer to the web page for details: http://www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/dishonesty.html
• If religious holidays interfere with your attendance or turning in an assignment, it is essential to let me know at least one week ahead
of time and to make arrangements to have assignments turned in before your absence.
• Please refer to your current UTD Graduate Catalog for details regarding drop/add, course withdrawal policies and procedures and any
other general UTD academic policies. Note in particular date deadlines for dropping a class.

Specific Course Guidelines:

• Since this class meets only once per week, class attendance is critically important. Attendance requires arriving on time and staying
until the scheduled ending time of class.
• Please remember to turn off cell phones. If you know you may need to be reached in an emergency, please use the silent options on
your phone and leave the classroom to answer the call. I would appreciate it if you would let me know prior to the start of class time
that you will need to have your phone on.
• If this option is chosen, notebooks will be collected at random times at the BEGINNING of class. In cases of illnesses and/or
emergencies, contact me before class and arrange to get your notebook to me.
• Make up exams will not be given.
• Please use APA style in your writing (see for example, how to cite references, and the specific ways to avoid using sexist language).
Some possibly helpful websites include: http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm; http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/index.htm;
http://www.psychwww.com/resource/apacrib.htm.
• Please keep an extra electronic copy of your notebook that you may hand in to me, if this option is chosen.
• If you do not understand the reason you received a specific grade on any assignment, I definitely want you to talk with me about it.
If you believe a grade should be reconsidered, take time to review my comments about your work and follow these instructions:
1. Please wait at least 24 hours after you received the grade, but no more than one week to respond to me in writing about it.
2. Submit to me your carefully reasoned written explanation (minimum of one page, and maximum of two pages) of why you
believe you deserve more credit than you received on a particular assignment or exam question (why your response was a
valid one), including cited references where relevant. Please specify the amount of credit you think you deserve. Attach the
original evaluation to your memo, if the original was returned to you (exams will be reviewed in class, but not returned to
you).
3. I will carefully consider your request, and will contact you via e-mail within one week with my decision about your request.
You may, of course, also come and speak to me in person about the matter after you have received my decision.
• Please feel free to drop in during office hours to ask questions, or discuss any concerns regarding the class. If the posted times are
not possible for you, other meeting times can be scheduled by appointment. The easiest way to reach me is probably by e-mail, which
I usually check at least once a day. If you’d like to make an appointment at a time other than posted office hours, please e-mail
several options of times you might be available.

Blackboard:

UTD Blackboard Website. There is a variety of information relevant to the course on Blackboard, so you will be visiting the site frequently. Go
to http://blackboard.utdallas.edu. Login and use the “Forgot your password?” button to create a password. Click “Preliteracy Development”
under your personal course listing. Under “Course Information” and Course Documents,” you will find a variety of files that you can download
for the class (class notes, etc.). If you have difficulty downloading and are on a Mac, hold down the “control” key on your keyboard and then
click the icon for the pdf in Blackboard. On a PC, use the “right click” button on the link, and select “save target as,” and then save it to your
desktop.

Course Readings:

• Most of the course readings are available through e-journals that UTD subscribes to. As a student at UTD, you have legal access to all
of these, and can download and, if you wish, print out copies. Your COMET card number is required to use these library services.

• Other readings are in a course packet that will be available for you to purchase at:

Off Campus Books

581 W. Campbell Road, #101
Richardson, TX 75080
Phone: (972) 907-8398

Course Outline and Required Readings

Date Topics Readings Due File

Name
Jan. 9 Introduction;
Form and meaning in preliteracy
and literacy
Jan. 16 NO CLASS: MLK Day
Jan. 23 ASHA and the role of the SLP in American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2000). Roles and ASHA00
fostering literacy responsibilities of speech-language pathologists with respect to reading and
writing in children and adolescents (guidelines). Rockville, MD: Author.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2002). Knowledge and ASHA02

 skills needed by speech-language pathologists with respect to reading and
writing in children and adolescents. ASHA 2002 Desk Reference 3, in press.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (no date) Literacy: ASHA NDa

Speech-language pathologists play a pivotal role. Rockville, MD: Author. [2
pages]

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (no date) Early literacy. ASHA NDb

Rockville, MD: Author. [2 pages]

Literacy issues on ASHA’s Website:

http://www.asha.org/members/slp/schools/resources/schools_resources_lit
eracy

Jan. 30 Specific language impairment, Muter, V., Hulme, C., Snowling, M. J., & Stevenson, J. (2004). Phonemes, Muter&04
preliterate skills, and later rimes, vocabulary, and grammatical skills as foundations of early reading
reading abilities development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental
Psychology, 40(5), 665–681

Nation, K., Clarke, P., Marshall, C. M., & Durand, M. (2004). Hidden Nation&04
language impairments in children: Parallels between poor reading
comprehension and specific language impairment? Journal of Speech,
Language, and Hearing Research , 47, 199–211.

Feb. 6 Domains of preliteracy van Kleeck, A. (1998). Preliteracy domains and stages: Laying the vanKleeck98
development and the foundations for beginning reading. Journal of Children's Communication
development of preliteracy skills Development, 20(1), 33–51.

Feb. 13 Historical perspectives and NOT REQUIRED: van Kleeck, A. (2006a). Historical and current vanKleeckA
current controversies perspectives on early childhood and literacy. Manuscript in preparation.

van Kleeck, A. (2004). On the road to reading fluently: Where is science in In packet
helping us find the best balance between meaning-oriented and skills-
oriented approached [Review of book Reading the naked truth: Literacy,
legislation, and lies.] American Journal of Psychology, 117 (2), 300 –316.

Information downloaded from internet on current Head Start legislation in HeadStart05

U.S. Congress
 Lewin, T. (2005, December 15). See baby touch a screen. But does baby Lewin05
get it? The New York Times (nytimes.com).

Feb. 20 Cultural context of preliteracy NOT REQUIRED: van Kleeck, A. (2006b). The cultural context of emerging vanKleeckB
development literacy development. Manuscript in preparation.

Janes, H., & Kermani, H. (2001). Caregivers story reading to young Janes&01
children in family literacy programs: Pleasure of punishment. Journal of
Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 44, 458-446.

McGill-Franzen, A., Lanford, C., & Adams, E. (2002). Learning to be McGill&02

literate: A comparison of five urban early childhood programs. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 94(3), 443-464.

Feb 27 EXAM 1
March NO CLASS: SPRING BREAK
March 13 Theoretical perspectives van Kleeck, A. (2003). Research on book sharing: Another critical look. In In packet
A. van Kleeck, S. Stahl, & E. Bauer (Eds.), On reading books to children:
Parents and teachers (pp. 271 – 319). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Assessment Rathvon, N. (2004). Chapter 2: Evaluating the technical adequacy and Rathvon04
usability of early reading measures (pp. 30 – 64). In N. Ravthon, Early
Reading Assessment: A Practitioner's Handbook. New York: Guilford
Publications.

March 20 Sodoro, J., Allinder, R. M., & Rankin-Erickson, J. L. (2002). Assessment of Sodoro&02
phonological awareness: Review of methods and tools. Educational
Psychology Review, 14 (3), 223 – 260.

Thomas-Tate, S., Washington, J, & Edwards, J. (2004). Standardized Thomas-

assessment of phonological awareness skills in low-Income African Tate&04
American first graders. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
(13), 182–190.

March 27 Overview of evidence-based Justice, L. M. & Pullen, P. C. (2003). Promising interventions for promoting Justice&03
practice in preliteracy intervention emergent literacy skills: Three evidence-based approaches. Topics in Early
Childhood Special Education, 23(3), 99 – 113.

General teaching strategies van Kleeck, A. (2004). Fostering preliteracy development via storybook- In packet

April 3 Teaching print form in structured
contexts: Fostering phonological
awareness and letter knowledge
sharing interactions: The cultural context of mainstream family practices.
In Stone, C.A., Silliman, E. R., Ehren, B., & Apel, K. (Eds.), Handbook of
language and literacy: Development and disorders (pp. 175 – 208). New
York: The Guilford Press.
Santi, K. L., Menchetti, B. M., & Edwards, B. J. (2004). A comparison of Sanit&04
eight kindergarten phonemic awareness programs based on empirically
validated instructional principles. Remedial and Special Education, 25 (3)
189–196.

Bus, A. G., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (1999). Phonological awareness and Bus&99
early reading: A meta-analysis of experimental training studies. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 91, 403-414.

April 10 Teaching meaning via storybook van Kleeck, A. & Vander Woude, J. (2003). Book-sharing with preschoolers In packet
sharing: Fostering vocabulary with language delays. In A. van Kleeck, S. Stahl, & E. Bauer (Eds.), On
and decontextualized and reading books to children: Parents and teachers (pp. 58 - 92). Mahwah,
inferential language NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

van Kleeck, A., Vander Woude, J., & Hammett, L. (in press). Fostering vanKleeck&06
literal and inferential language skills in Head Start preschoolers with
language impairment using scripted book-sharing discussions. American
Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

April 17 EXAM 2

April 24 Review Exam 2 van Kleeck, A., & Beckley-McCall, A. (2002). A comparison of mothers’
Look over Exam 1 individual and simultaneous book sharing with preschool siblings: An
FINAL EXAM REVIEW exploratory study of five families. American Journal of Speech-Language
Pathology, 11, (2), 75-89

April 28 FINAL EXAM, 11 AM