Importations in Preschoolers' Emergent Readings

Abstract

Emergent readers draw on a variety of information sources, most notably book illustrations and memory for text that has been read aloud by adults. The present study examines material imported into emergent readings—material that is not contained in the original written text of a book—as evidence of the types of information emergent readers use. Emergent readings of three different books were collected from 33 preschool children after they had heard the stories read repeatedly in class. Imported information in emergent readings was identified, classified, and counted. Results showed four sources of nontext importations in the emergent readings: material from illustrations, from prior read-aloud sessions, from personal experience and background knowledge, and from other texts. Furthermore, readings that were closest to the original text language and content contained the most, rather than the fewest, importations, suggesting that importation of nontextual information is not an indicator of immature emergent reading. Emergent readers' integration of visual and nonvisual sources of information highlights the continuity from emergent to alphabetic reading. A call is made for further research on importations in emergent and alphabetic reading.