Shayne B. Piasta

1
Promoting Preschoolers Acquisition of Alphabet
Knowledge A Comparison of Two Instructional
Approaches

• Shayne B. Piasta
• Florida State University
• Florida Center for Reading Research
• IES Pre-doctoral Interdisciplinary Research
  Training Program

2
Overview

• Introduction
• Significance of alphabet knowledge/instruction
• Research aims and supporting literature
• Study design and research questions
• Method
• Basic results and general conclusion
• Questions

3
Significance of alphabet knowledge

• Alphabet knowledge refers to knowledge of letter
  names (LN) and letter sounds (LS)
• Alphabet knowledge as an essential emergent
  literacy component (Whitehurst Lonigan, 1998)
• Provide basic mappings between speech and print
• Predictor of later reading success/difficulty
• (e.g., Gallagher et al., 2000 OConnor
  Jenkins, 1999 Scarborough, 1998 Schatschneider
  et al., 2004 Torrpa et al., 2006)
• Important component of early literacy instruction
  
• (e.g., Early Reading First, Head Start, state
  curriculum frameworks)
• Yet, we know relatively little concerning
  alphabet knowledge development and how it is best
  promoted
• Purpose of the present study

4
Statement of the Problem

• Yet, many children continue to struggle to master
  alphabetic skills particularly those from
  impoverished backgrounds
• (Administration for Children and Families, 2005,
  2006)
• Why?
• Beliefs concerning developmentally appropriate
  practices/expectations (REF)
• Variability in alphabet teaching (Justice et al.,
  2006)
• Lack of research (NELP, Piasta Wagner, 2007)
• Current project designed to help fill this void
• Theoretical and practical implications

5
Research Aim 1

• Aim 1 Determine the impact of pure alphabet
  instruction on development of letter name and
  letter sound knowledge (and other emergent
  literacy skills)
• Previous research
• Essentially no studies of pure alphabet
  instruction (NELP, Piasta Wagner, 2007)
• Strong, perhaps reciprocal, relations among
  letter name knowledge, letter sound knowledge,
  and other literacy skills (Burgess Lonigan,
  1998 McBride-Chang, 1999 Scarborough, 1998
  Piasta, 2006)

6
Research Aim 2

• Aim 2 Compare two types of alphabet instruction
• LNLS instruction
• LN and LS reciprocally predictive (Burgess
  Lonigan, 1998 Evans et al., 2006 Mann Foy,
  2003 McBride-Chang, 1999)
• LNs useful for learning LSs via LN structure
  effect
• (Evans et al., 2006 McBride-Chang, 1999
  Piasta, 2006 Treiman et al., 1998)
• LS only instruction
• Only LS knowledge required for reading and
  spelling
• LNs merely index other factors such as print
  exposure (Foulin, 2005 Groff, 1984)
• LNs confusing (Groff, 1984 McGuinness, 2004
  Venezky, 1975, 1979)

7
Research Aim 3

• Aim 3 Investigate the letter name-to-sound
  facilitation effect, including relations with
  phonological processing
• Previous research
• LN and LS reciprocally predictive
• Letter name structure effect Letters with
  associated names and sounds more likely to be
  known than those with unassociated names/sounds
  (Evans et al., 2006 Justice et al., 2006
  McBride-Chang, 1999 Piasta, 2006 Treiman et
  al., 1998)
• Phonological processing as mechanism for effect
• (Share, 2004 Piasta, 2006)

No association
H, /h/
Vowel-consonant
F, /ef/
Consonant-vowel
B, /bi/
Letter name type
Example
gt
gt
8
Research Design

• Provide letter name and/or sound training to
  preschoolers
• with initially low alphabet knowledge
• Screening (knew fewer than 8 LNs)
• N 58 children at 4 preschools
• 48 female, 72 Caucasian, range of SES
• 3 experimental conditions
• LNLS training
• LS training only
• Number training (treated control)
• Pretest, posttest
• LN and LS production
• Phonological processing, Letter-Word ID, emergent
  reading, developmental spelling

9
Assessments

• Administered by research assistants blind to
  condition
• Pretest
• General verbal ability (ROWPVT)
• Letter name production, recognition
• Letter sound production, recognition
• Phonological awareness (TOPEL subtest)
• Letter-word identification (Woodcock-Johnson)
• Number identification
• Midtest
• Letter name production, recognition
• Letter sound production, recognition
• Posttest
• Letter name production, recognition
• Letter sound production, recognition
• Phonological awareness (TOPEL subtest)
• Letter-word identification (Woodcock-Johnson)
• Emergent reading (adapted from Byrne
  Fielding-Barnsley, 1991, 1993, 1995)
• Developmental spelling (Ball Blachman, 1991
  Blachman et al., 1994, 1999)
• Number identification

10
Current Research Questions

• RQ1 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on childrens alphabet learning?
• Is the impact different for LNLS versus LS
  instruction?
• RQ2 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on the types of letters children are likely to
  learn (i.e., CV, VC, NA letters)?
• RQ3 Are gains in alphabet knowledge,
  particularly for CV and VC letters, related to
  phonological processing skill?

11
Contributors to Alphabet Knowledge Development

• Individual differences (between-children)
  contribute to alphabet knowledge skill
• E.g., oral language, phonological processing,
  speech perception, home/background factors
• (Burgess Lonigan, 1998 Christian et al.,
  1998 de Jong Olson, 2004 Lonigan et al.,
  2000 Treiman Broderick, 1998 Treiman
  Kessler, 2004)
• Potential reciprocal relations among early
  literacy skills
• (Burgess Lonigan, 1998 McBride-Chang, 1999,
  Piasta, 2006)
• Differences across letters (between-letters)
  contribute to alphabet knowledge skill
• E.g., effects of child name, consonant v. vowel,
  alphabetic position, sound articulation, letter
  name structure
• (Evans et al., 2006 Justice et al., 2006
  McBride-Chang, 1999 Read, 1971 Treiman et al.,
  1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998)
• Letter name-to-sound facilitation effect

12
Method

• 3 instructional conditions (LNLS, LS, Number)
• Small group (3-5 children) pullout program
• Random assignment to condition and instructional
  group
• Avoided confounding conditions with Centers,
  teachers, classes, implementers through design
• No pretest differences among conditions

13
Method

• 3 instructional conditions (LNLS, LS, Number)
• Small group (3-5 children) pullout program
• Random assignment to condition and instructional
  group
• Avoided confounding conditions with Centers,
  teachers, classes, implementers through design
• No pretest differences among conditions
• Avoided problems of nesting

14
Instruction

• Alphabet instruction (LNLS, LS)
• All 26 uppercase letters taught in random
  sequence
• 3-4 letters taught per week (1 lesson/letter,
  weekly review)
• Careful to be consistent across letters
• Same lesson format/activities for each letter
• Same total number of exposures to each letter
• Same lessons across conditions, with exception of
  use of letter name in LN/LS condition
• Number instruction (control)
• Numbers 0-15 taught
• Similar lesson format/activities to alphabet
  conditions
• High fidelity to scripted lesson plans (M
  97.71)
• LN mistakenly given in LS condition during 4
  lessons
• (0.78 of all lessons)

15
Alphabet lessons

• LN/LS Condition
• Here is the letter A. It makes the sound /a/.
  Everyone find a letter A (from pile of magnetic
  letters in the center of the table). Show me
  your letter. What is it called?
• Everyone put your finger on the letter A on your
  mats. Use your finger to trace the letter. Let
  me hear you say /a/. What picture is above the
  letter A? (e.g. Apple) Thats right apple.
  Apple starts with the /a/ sound. (Write out apple
  on whiteboard). It starts with the letter A,
  see? (Place magnetic A over written A).
• Lets play a game. (Put out some picture cards).
  What is this? (Help children name each picture
  e.g., alligator, astronaut, apple, ax). To first
  child Show me one that starts with the /a/
  sound. Thats right ax starts with the /a/
  sound (write on whiteboard) because it starts
  with the letter A. Show me the letter A in the
  word ax (have child place magnetic A over written
  A). Let me hear you say the /a/ sound. What
  other word starts with the /a/ sound? (Continue
  giving each child a turn).

• LS Only Condition
• Here is the letter that makes the /a/ sound.
  Everyone find this letter that makes the /a/
  sound (from pile of magnetic letters in the
  center of the table). Show me your letter. What
  sound does it make?
• Everyone put your finger on the letter that says
  /a/ on your mats. Use your finger to trace the
  letter. Let me hear you say /a/. What picture
  is above the letter that says /a/? (e.g. Apple)
  Thats right apple. Apple starts with the /a/
  sound. (Write out apple on whiteboard place
  magnetic A over written A).
• Lets play a game. (Put out some picture cards).
  What is this? (Help children name each picture
  e.g., alligator, astronaut, apple, ax). To first
  child Show me one that starts with the /a/
  sound. Thats right ax starts with the /a/
  sound (write on whiteboard). Put the letter that
  makes the /a/ sound on the word ax (have child
  place magnetic A over written A). Let me hear
  you say the /a/ sound. What other word starts
  with the /a/ sound? (Continue giving each child a
  turn).

16
Number lessons

• Here is the number 3. Let me hear you say the
  name of this number. What number is this?
  Everyone find a number 3 (from pile of several
  number cards). Show me your number. What number
  is that?
• Now were going to trace a 3 (on handout). You
  make a 3 by doing this (demonstrate). Now you
  try. Switch colors. Now lets trace it again
  (repeat 5 times). Now let me see you write a 3
  all by yourself.
• Lets play a game (Place number discs in front of
  each child. Hand out mat with eight colored
  circles on it). Find all the 3s that you have in
  your color and put them on the circles on your
  mat. You will know when youre done when you
  have a 3 for every circle on your mat. Lets see
  how fast you are! Ready? Go! (Repeat 2 times).

17
Analysis

• All analyses controlled for age, implementer
• RQ1 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on childrens acquisition of alphabet knowledge?
  Is the impact different for LNLS versus LS
  instruction?
• 3 (condition) x 2 (time) repeated measures ANOVAs
• Planned interaction contrasts for pairwise
  comparisons
• RQ23 What is the impact of alphabet
  instruction on the learning of CV, VC, and NA
  letters, and are these gains related to
  phonological processing skill?
• Generalized cross-classified random effect
  models, crossing letters with children
  (Raudenbush Bryk, 2002 Richter, 2006)
• Correctly partitions the variance and allows for
  interactions between child (e.g., condition, PA)
  and letter (e.g., letter name type) factors
• Gives the probability of having learned a letter
  (residualized gain)

18
Analysis

• Two sources of variance
• Children
• Letters

19
Analysis

• Traditional regression equation
• Multilevel model equations

20
Analysis

• Generalized cross-classified random effects model

21
Letter name structure factor

• Letter name structure
• CV consonants (B, D, J, K, P, T, V, Z)
• VC consonants (F, L, M, N, R, S, X)
• NA consonants (C, G, H, Q, W, Y)
• Vowels

22
RQ1 Results

• RQ1 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on childrens alphabet learning?
• Is the impact different for LNLS versus LS
  instruction?

23
RQ1 Results






24
RQ1 Results




25
Results

• RQ1 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on childrens alphabet learning? Is the impact
  different for LNLS versus LS instruction?

Within outcomes, the same subscript denotes a
significant pairwise comparison.
26
RQ2 Results

• RQ2 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on childrens acquisition of phonological
  processing, emergent reading, and developmental
  spelling skills?
• Is the impact different for LNLS versus LS
  instruction?

27
RQ2 Results
Gain Scores
Posttest Scores
28
Results

• RQ2 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on childrens acquisition of phonological
  processing, emergent reading, and developmental
  spelling skills? Is the impact different for
  LNLS versus LS instruction?

No significant differences among conditions.
29
RQ2 Results

• RQ2 What is the impact of alphabet instruction
  on the types of letters children are likely to
  learn (i.e., CV, VC, NA letters)?

30
RQ2 Results
LN Production Gains
31
RQ3 Results
LN Recognition Gains
32
RQ2 Results
LS Production Gains
Differences among letter types, within condition

33
RQ3 Results
LS Recognition Gains
34
Letter sounds learned by condition and letter
type
LS Production

• Training order
• T, J, S, N, M, G, A, V, H, W, P, Z, O, C, Q, E,
  B, Y, R, K, U, I, F, X, D, L

35
RQ3 Results

• RQ3 Are gains in alphabet knowledge,
  particularly for CV and VC letters, related to
  phonological processing skill?

36
RQ3 Results
LS Production Gains

PA at M /-1SD




Probability of Correct Response
no diff
no diff
no diff

Phonological Processing
37
Results

• RQ4 Are gains in alphabet knowledge,
  particularly for CV and VC letters, related to
  phonological processing skill?

LS Recognition Gains
Probability of Correct Response
Phonological Processing
38
Conclusions

• Aim1 Impact of alphabet instruction
• Reliable LNLS instruction advantage for LS
  outcomes only, although trends consistently
  favored LNLS condition
• No advantage of LS instruction over control
• No transfer to other emergent literacy skills
• Aim2 LNLS versus LS instruction
• Trends favoring LNLS instruction in LS learning
• Aim3 Letter name-to-sound facilitation
• Although patterns for LNLS instruction were
  consistent with hypotheses, LS instruction
  resulted in atypical patterns
• Expected pattern of relations with phonological
  processing for Number condition only
• Expected pattern of letter learning for LNLS
  condition that overrode limitations of
  phonological processing

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General Conclusion

• Further research is warranted, particularly
  studies with greater instructional intensity and
  statistical power
• However
• Preliminary evidence of advantage in providing
  combined LNLS instruction
• Trends consistently favored this condition
• LS acquisition accelerated but continuing to
  follow typical developmental patterns

40
Questions?

• Shayne B. Piasta
• piasta_at_psy.fsu.edu
• Florida State University
• Florida Center for Reading Research
• IES Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research
  Training Program