Running Head: EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

Emergent and Family Literacies Effect on Learning to Read and Write

Maryjacqueline Fox
Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

Abstract
This paper explores the impact of emergent literacy and family literacy in learning how to read
and write. Although the society of the United States is one that is overflowing with opportunities
to encounter print in everyday settings, many children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds or
low family literacy experiences do not develop the fundamental aspects of emergent literacy.
This negatively impacts their ability to learn how to read and write; thus, they fall behind in
school and some never achieve a full understanding of literacy. This paper uses a case-study on
an illiterate mother and son to show this tragic reality that a large portion of people in the United
States are not provided with family literacy environments where emergent literacy is supported.
Thus, they are failing to achieve the goal of attaining the ability to read and write. In response to
this challenge educators must implement emergent literacy practices into their classroom to
provide these opportunities for children who are not able to experience them in their home lives.
This way the children who are being left behind in the race toward winning literacy skills will be
given literacy roller skates to quickly catch up to their more advanced peers.

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

In the literate society of the United States, one of the primary goals in education is to
teach all students how to read and write. The process of becoming literate through learning to
read and write is like putting together an intricate puzzle that has multiple pieces. Outsiders may
look on this task given to educators as a simple one; most adults dont remember the steps that
they took in acquiring their ability to read and write and just see the master piece of the
finished puzzle. However, effective teachers understand that there are many challenges in
helping children form their puzzle of literacy. Two massive literacy puzzle pieces that affect a
childs ability to learn to read and write are emergent literacy and family literacy. Educators are
discovering the reality that children who come from poor families are seriously lacking in these
two areas, and thus, are facing serious difficulties in becoming literate at the same rate and level
as their peers. Purcell-Gates (1995) shows this challenge through a case study of Jenny and
Donny: a Caucasian, Appalachian mother and son who are illiterate and come from a low-social
class where literacy is a foreign entity. Through Purcell-Gates (1995) detailing the process of
leading Jenny and Donny into literacy, she touches on the impact of emergent literacy and family
literacy in learning how to read and write (Purcell-Gates, 1995).
Emergent literacy is the belief that learning how to read and write is a cultural process
that begins at infancy when children encounter print in the world around them through every day,
functional experiences. As children discover print in their environments, they begin to form
understandings of print and an awareness of how it is used. Print is revealed to them through
significant people in their lives modeling the functional uses of it; this then leads them to
experiment with reading and writing themselves. Vukelich, Christie, and Enz (2008) further
explain this aspect of emergent literacy, By observing print and having stories read to them,
young children discover patterns and create their own early versions of reading and writing that

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

initially have little resemblance to conventional forms (Vukelich, Christie, & Enz, 2008, p.
104). Additionally, Vukelich et al. (2008) go on to explain how these initial attempts at literacy
are advanced into more conventional forms of literacy through children practicing reading and
writing in purposeful ways in their environment. Thus, this advancement in emergent literacy is
extremely influenced by the amount of literacy that is experienced by the child in his/her
surrounding culture. Purcell-Gates (1995) expounds this further in saying, Everything they
[children] learn about written language before schooling is constrained by what they learn about
its functions and the values placed on its various forms within their particular sociolinguistic
communities and cultures (Purcell-Gates, 1995, p. 46). Thus, emergent literacy is not isolated
from culture, but is a social process of learning to read and write by encountering literacy in the
surrounding environment.
Childrens emergent literacy progresses the more they advance in their understanding of
the various concepts of print. One building block for understanding concepts of print is the
realization that print has a purpose; Vukelich et al. (2008) explain, print is functional and can
be used to get things done in daily life (Vukelich et al., 2008, p. 107). Vukelich et al. (2008)
detail how children begin to realize the meaning of print through encountering environmental
print like menus, checklists, food labels, etc. Additionally, interest affects the elements of print
that children become aware of; Vukelich et al. (2008) explain an example of this where a little
girl named Giti recognized the beginning letters of familiar fast food restaurants and her name
before she recognized other letters in the alphabet (Vukelich et al., 2008, p. 107). Lastly, a
fundamental part of concepts of print is understanding its related conventions like the
directionality of print, and the concepts of words and sentences (Vukelich et al., 2008). All of

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

these aspects for concepts of print can be learned through the process of emergent literacy; thus,
through encountering them in ones environment.
Emergent literacy is only able to thrive at its fullest extent when it is supported by family
and home literacy. The ultimate ideal is for all children to experience a home environment that
is fully supportive of a childs developing emergent literacy; hence, an environment overflowing
with opportunities for delving into reading and writing experiences. However, not all homes are
as blessed as others in regards to literacy. Neuman and Roskos (1993) illustrate this, some
children live in homes with adults who provide the kind of resources and support that optimize
literacy acquisition, and others do not. In addition, variations exist in how essential written
language is for communicating in different cultures (as cited in Vukelich et al., 2008, p. 106).
Purcell-Gates (1995) explains how children who grow up in environments that are full with
literacy rich opportunities understand the process of literacy as a part of everyday life; however,
children who live in homes with few quality literacy experiences see reading and writing as
something that is foreign to them (Purcell-Gates, 1995, p. 183). Thus, family literacy strongly
impacts the process of emergent literacy in children.
Another factor in regards to family literacy is homes where English is not the primary
language; this impacts a childs experience with emergent literacy in the dominant Englishspeaking culture. Children who come from non-English-speaking homes will most likely grow
in their emergent literacy skills in their native language. Vukelich et al. (2008) further detail
this, Young children are eager to engage in talking, writing, and reading in the homes dominant
language (Vukelich et al., 2008, p. 116). Children who live in homes that only provide literacy
opportunities in another language besides English may experience difficulties in learning to read
and write traditional English in the English-speaking educational systems of the United States.

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

Although Donny and Jenny speak English in their home, their unique Appalachian accents
negatively impacted their ability to succeed in learning to read and write the traditional English
used in schools (Purcell-Gates, 1995). Thus, educators need to be aware of the primary language
used in the home lives of their students in order to fully provide and support effective literacy
experiences in the classroom that meet the students needs and lead them into developing literacy
skills with traditional English.
Additionally, emergent literacy blossoms in families with certain opportunities and
qualities related to reading and writing for their children. Vukelich et al. (2008) assert how
crucial it is that homes with rich literacy experiences should provide many occasions for
confronting environmental print and childrens books. Additionally, children need to witness
members of their family using reading and writing in functional, daily incidents. As parents see
their children experimenting with literacy, they need to support them through answering
questions and identifying print with their children. Similarly, rich home literacy environments
lead children to play with print by participating in activities such as writing letters, creating
menus, etc. Lastly, one of the most beneficial practices found in a home with ideal literacy
situations is storybook reading (Vukelich et al, 2008). Vukelich et al. (2008) explain how as
parents read to their children, this leads to, language growth, early literacy, and reading
achievement (Vukelich et al., 2008, p. 114). Purcell-Gates (1995) shows this phenomenon
when she details a letter from Jenny that explains how Donnys younger brother Timmy began to
read the simple books that Donny would read to him. Thus, as Donny read to his brother,
Timmy began to understand certain concepts of print and was able to read as well (Purcell-Gates,
1995). Therefore, certain literacy activities prove to be highly beneficial in home settings for
developing and supporting emergent literacy.

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

On the contrary, Donny and Jennys illiterate home life was one that did not support
emergent literacy; thus, this lack of family literacy negatively impacted their ability to learn how
to read and write. When Purcell-Gates (1995) met Donny, he had already been through two
years of schooling; however, he could only read and write his first name and he could barely read
the word the. If Donny was presented with a letter and punctuation mark, then he would not be
able to detect the difference between the two. This serious lack in literacy development was the
result of a home without literacy; hence, a home that did not provide opportunities for emergent
literacy (Purcell-Gates, 1995). Purcell-Gates (1995) depicts the extent of the functional use of
literacy used by Jenny and Big Donny [Donnys father], Neither Jenny nor Big Donny read or
wrote anything beyond familiar names and simple marks for notations on the calendar (PurcellGates, 1995, p. 51). Since this was all that Donny encountered in regards to functionally using
print, he followed their example and could only read familiar names, make few marks, and retell
storybooks with his own stories (instead of reading the story based on the print). The underlying
reason for the lack of literacy in Donny and Jennys home was that their Appalachian culture was
one that did not need to use print to function. Purcell-Gates (1995) explains how the culture of
Caucasian Appalachians (negatively termed hillbillies) was one where the ability to read and
write was not necessary (Purcell-Gates, 1995). Consequently, Donny followed in his parents
footsteps of illiteracy, since this was all that he experienced in his family life.
Due to home literacy being virtually absent in Donnys life, he was lacking
developmental facets of emergent literacy. He did not grasp the meaning and purpose of reading
and writing. Purcell-Gates (1995) demonstrates an example of this when describing how
Donnys phonics instruction in the classroom was pointless, Asking him to learn to read those
funny marks on a page by applying decoding rules was equivalent to expecting people to learn

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

to read the patterns of branches in trees (Purcell-Gates, 1995, p. 80). Furthermore, PurcellGates (1995) asserts that print will prove purposeful in ones life as long as it codes the system
that one lives in; however, this did not occur for Donny since his world was functional without
print. Moreover, Donny completely lacked awareness of print, which is a fundamental aspect of
emergent literacy. Since his parents did not use environmental print, neither did Donny. For
example, in navigating through familiar areas Jenny would use symbols such as shapes and
colors; thus, Donny and Timmy did the same (Purcell-Gates, 1995). Purcell-Gates (1995) shows
why Donny was unaware of environmental print, When it [environmental print] was pointed out
to him, he was not sure what to take note of; he did not see patterns [in print] because he did not
see it enough in a regularized way (Purcell-Gates, 1995, p. 80). Accordingly, these
fundamental aspects of emergent literacy were not found with Donny, because his environment
did not promote literacy.
Although the United States provides a culture that promotes literacy, the reality is that
many low-socioeconomic families are suffering in their attempt to acquire the ability to read and
write; Donny and Jenny are not the only ones out there who are lacking fundamental literacy
skills. Vukelich et al. (2008) highlight this occurrence by stating, on average the home
literacy experiences of low-income children may not be as rich as those of average middle-class
children (Vukelich et al., 2008, p. 112). Additionally, Purcell-Gates (1995) illustrates the
discrepancy between the literacy experiences between children with high family literacy and
those with low home literacy. When both children enter school, the children who come from
literacy rich environments easily assimilate into the literacy experiences in school, while the
children from poor literacy situations barely understand basic concepts for reading and writing.
Consequently, Purcell-Gates (1995) states that, We cannot continue to assert that all children in

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

the United States learn many important concepts about written language before they begin
school (Purcell-Gates, 1995, p. 185). The reality is that students who come to the educational
system with more experiences in emergent literacy will continue to succeed in school while those
who are not as fortunate will fall behind. Furthermore, stereotypes prevent children from
minority backgrounds from receiving the equal experiences in school that children from the
dominant culture may receive; thus, adding to the weight for failure on the pendulum of
succeeding or failing in literacy (Purcell-Gates, 1995). Therefore, the United States with all of
its opportunities for literacy achievement is falling incredibly short in helping those of lowsocioeconomic statuses acquire literacy skills.
In response to the substantial amount of children who are failing to grasp literacy due to
the lack of emergent literacy experiences in the home, educators need to seek to supplement and
provide children with the emergent literacy and family literacy experiences that they lack.
Vukelich et al. (2008) provide teaching strategies for a classroom that focuses on developing the
students emergent literacy skills. Children benefit from classrooms that are print-rich, offer
opportunities for children to encounter print in play, and witness to the multiple ways that print is
meaningful. Correspondingly, focusing on environmental print can be extremely beneficial; an
example of this is taking children on a walk outside and having them illustrate the print they
noticed when they return to the classroom. Furthermore, classrooms can display the many
functions of print by using labels, lists, calendars, and schedules in the daily routine. Literacyrich theme centers support emergent literacy through allowing students to experiment with
functional uses of print in a playful way. Through modeling the proper uses of print, teachers
can enhance this play time as well. Lastly, the Language Experience Approach (LEA),
otherwise known as shared writing, aids in helping children understand the correlation between

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

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the spoken and written word. In this strategy the student explains a story while the teacher writes
down his/her words, then the student reads over what they said and creates an illustration to add
to his/her story (Vukelich et al., 2008). Vukelich et al. (2008) further details the impact of this
technique, LEA/shared writing helps children learn that the purpose of written language is the
same as that of oral language: to communicate meaning (Vukelich et al., 2008, p. 132). Hence,
implementing emergent literacy teaching practices into the classroom can help provide the
opportunities for children to develop in their ability to read and write and understand the
fundamentals of literacy.
Additionally, Purcell-Gates (1995) took the family literacy and emergent literacy
teaching approach as she tutored Donny (and Jenny). She believed that in order for Donny to
succeed in understanding and acquiring literacy skills, literacy needed to occur in functional
ways at home for him (Purcell-Gates, 1995). Furthermore, Purcell-Gates (1995) reveals her
instructional technique in explaining,
Donny needed instruction that could bring print into his world for the first time. Further,
he needed instruction to point out to him the real-life uses of written language and the
ways in which this language could encode his world. (Purcell-Gates, 1995, p. 177)
Moreover, she used emergent literacy practices like focusing on concepts of print, experimenting
with the purpose and meaning of print, and practicing shared writing (Purcell-Gates, 1995).
Therefore, through implementing these family literacy and emergent literacy techniques with
Donny, he was able to advance in his ability to read and write.
Finally, the four main implications of this paper are as follows. Firstly, family and home
literacy have a major influence on emergent literacy. If a home does not provide opportunities

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

11

for experimenting with and witnessing to reading and writing, then the fundamental skills of
emergent literacy will be lost for the children. They will not be given opportunities to learn
about concepts of print or understand how print has a purpose and meaning in their lives.
Secondly, emergent literacy experiences influence a childs ability to learn how to read and
write. Emergent literacy lays the foundation for reading and writing; when a child sees print
being used in his/her environment and is able to practice using it him/herself, then he is able to
develop his/her ability to read and write. Thirdly, many children in the United States are
suffering in developing fundamental emergent literacy skills due to their low-socioeconomic
statuses or lack of environments with family literacy that provides opportunities for
implementing emergent literacy experiences. An example of this is seen in the evidence from
Purcell-Gates (1995) case-study on Donny and Jenny (Purcell-Gates, 1995). Lastly, the fourth
implication is that it is crucial for educators to then heal this deficiency by having a classroom
that provides many opportunities for emergent literacy skills to develop, so that children can
better learn how to read and write. In doing so, the children will be given the opportunity to rise
to the level of students who are blessed to come from emergent literacy rich experiences and
succeed in school.

EMERGENT AND FAMILY LITERACIES EFFECT ON LEARNING

References
Purcell-Gates, V. (1995). Other peoples words: The cycle of low literacy. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Vukelich, C., Christie, J., & Enz, B. (2008). Helping young children learn language and
literacy: Birth through kindergarten. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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