The proper name as starting point for basic reading skills

Abstract

Does alphabetic-phonetic writing start with the proper name and how does the name affect reading and writing skills? Sixty 4- to 5½-year-old children from middle SES families with Dutch as their first language wrote their proper name and named letters. For each child we created unique sets of words with and without the child’s first letter of the name to test spelling skills and phonemic sensitivity. Name writing correlated with children’s knowledge of the first letter of the name and phonemic sensitivity for the sound of the first letter of the name. Hierarchical regression analysis makes plausible that both knowledge of the first letter’s name and phonemic sensitivity for this letter explain why name writing results in phonetic spelling with the name letter. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Selfish learning: The impact of self-referential encoding on children's literacy attainment

“…For example, children are generally able to write and spell their own names before other words (Levin, Both-de Vries, Aram, & Bus, 2005), and show a marked preference for including (often erroneously) letters from their own name when writing other words (Bloodgood, 1999;Both-de Vries & Bus, 2008;Treiman, Kessler, and Bourassa, 2001). The early focus on own-name letters, particularly the name's first letter, has been attributed to increased sensitivity to this sound-letter combination (e.g., Both-de Vries & Bus, 2010). It is also likely to reflect the extreme familiarity and positivity associated with one's own name (i.e., the 'name-letter effect ' -Nuttin, 1985).…”

A study on preschool childrens name writing and writing readiness skills

“…Results of the present study are supported by those of previous studies. A large body of research has shown that preschoolers with different cultural backgrounds and language structures have the ability to write their names though they do not know formal reading and writing (Both-de and Bus, 2010;Cabell et al, 2009;Chan and Louie, 1992;Levin et al 2005;Treiman et al, 2007;Villaume and Wilson, 1989;Yin and Treiman, 2013). In this study, it was seen that children were able to write the letters in their names and 35% of them were able to write all the letters of their names in the correct order.…”

“…Children during preschool realize their names and the letters in their names. They can distinguish their names among other words and are usually able to write their names (Both-de and Bus, 2010;Strickland and Shanahan, 2004;Treiman et al, 2007).…”

“…Chan and Louie (1992) carried out a study with 60 Chinese children aged 2-6 and found age as an important factor in name-writing; 3 year-old children could distinguish the difference between drawing and print and used only one character when writing their names while children of 5 years old used all the characters correctly. Both-de and Bus (2010) reported that 65% of the children aged 4-5.5 could write their names in a legible manner and 27% managed to write one or more letters following the initial letter in their names. Cabell et al (2009) found that 65% of normally-developed children of fours years old could write all the letters in their names correctly while 26% could write three or more letters of their names.…”

Early Writers in Northern Communities: Ways Teachers Might View and Reflect on Writers’ Representations

“…The majority of the work on young children's written communication has investigated the form or patterns in the marks or symbols or has looked at looked at specific skills such as writing letters of the alphabet or name writing (e.g. Clay, 1975;Both-de Vries, & Bus, 2010). Such research has drawn primarily from cognitive and socio-cognitive traditions.…”