Word and print awareness comprise key elements of young children’s emergent
literacy development. There are currently few assessment instruments for examining
preschool children’s skills in these areas. This article describes two
informal measures that may be used to examine word and print awareness in preschool
children. Results of administering these measures, referred to as the Preschool Word
and Print Awareness assessment, to 30 typically developing preschool children are
presented. This protocol as well as the developmental observations presented may be
useful to early childhood educators and speech-language pathologists who wish to
examine young children’s emergent literacy knowledge.
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