The majority view of reading development maintains the importance of specific cognitive and linguistic abilities, e.g. phonological awareness (PA) and vocabulary and verbal working memory (VWM). Another factor in attaining literacy may be the language of exposure, e.g. whether it has a transparent or a deep orthography. This study examines the interaction between known predictors for literacy development and the orthography. It focuses on early levels of literacy (decoding and spelling) amongst children with typical language development. English-speaking (deep orthography) and Croatian-speaking (transparent orthography) kindergarteners were assessed on measures of vocabulary, PA, functions of verbal working memory, and early literacy skills at the beginning of the kindergarten year. The results indicate that a transparent orthography (Croatian) increases early decoding and encoding skills and they show expected correlations between PA, vocabulary, and early literacy abilities. English speakers did not show these correlations at the onset of the kindergarten year. We postulate that the nature of the deep orthography requires some instructional time for English-speaking children before PA and vocabulary will show predictive validity for reading acquisition.

Istraživanja rane pismenosti različito određuju doprinos fonološke svjesnosti, poznavanja slova, koncepta o tisku, govornog jezika, rječnika, narativnih sposobnosti, rukopisnih vještina i drugih predviđatelja za kasniji uspjeh u čitanju, pisanju, ali i akademskom napredovanju u cjelini. U Hrvatskoj nema sustavnijih istraživanja i praćenja razvoja ovih pokazatelja kao niti točno defi niranih kurikuluma predškolskog odgoja i obrazovanja koji bi osigurali poučavanje znanjima neophodnima za kasniju formalnu pismenost. Pilot ispitivanjem trogodišnje i četverogodišnje djece (koja pohađaju vrtićke programe) uporabom materijala koji je sadržavao Upitnik za procjenu rane pismenosti i podtestove PredČip testa Fonološka svjesnost i Imenovanje slova, prikupljeni su podaci o razini rane pismenosti ispitane djece. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da, sukladno očekivanjima, djeca starije kronološke dobi imaju više znanja o konceptu tiska, uspješnija su na zadacima fonološke svjesnosti i imenovanja slova te imaju bolje grafomotoričke vještine. Nisu pronađene statistički značajne razlike između trogodišnjaka i četverogodišnjaku na skupnoj varijabli Izranjajuće čitanje i pisanje, a koja se temelji na prepoznavanju obilježja pisane riječi i predvještinama pisanja. Postignuća ispitane djece uspoređena su i s očekivanim rezultatima i normama unutar drugih jezika i pisama kako bi se potakla nastojanja za promišljanjem kriterija i načina poučavanja rane pismenosti. Istraživanje pokazuje da ispitani segmenti rane pismenosti – koncept o tisku, izranjajuća pismenost, precrtavanje, fonološka svjesnost i imenovanje slova mogu biti osnova za prepoznavanje djece rizične za nastanak teškoća u čitanju i pisanju i djece s disleksijom. Rezultati pojedinaca prikupljeni prema navedenim segmentima rane pismenosti mogu, u slučajevima niskih postignuća ili odstupanja, biti osnova za izradu intervencijskih programa, a za što su potrebne i kvalitativne analize rezultata. Kvalitativna analiza rezultata prema dobnoj pripadnosti pokazala je da slijed težina, odnosno uspješnosti u rješavanju zadataka nije posve jednak kod trogodišnjaka u odnosu na četverogodišnjake. To upućuje na mogućnost da postoji dobno neujednačeni razvoj ispitanih vještina bilo iz razloga drugačijih uvjeta sazrijevanja ili značajnijeg udjela poučavanja za neku određenu vještinu. Veći uzorak ispitanika i provjerene mjerne karakteristike materijala mogle bi osigurati bolji uvid u ranu pismenost.

SAŽETAK

Plain language is a concept that spread across Europe half a century ago. It refers to communication based on utterances and structure from which listeners and readers can easily extract and understand necessary information. This study presents the concept of plain language in the context of early education through the analysis of written materials to which pupils attending lower-grade elementary school are exposed. The aim of this study is to analyse phonological, lexical and syntactic characteristics of textbooks for first, second, third, and fourth grade and to link the obtained data with general principles of plain language. For the purpose of this study, a database of written texts was developed – School Corpus of Written Language (Riddys) – with 502 713 tokens. The distribution of graphemes, types of speech, as well as the lengths of words and sentences were analysed. The results show that of the three analysed language components, only the lexicon does not follow the principles of plain language. Too many words that occur only once in all written materials in the first two grades of elementary school do not contribute to faster and more efficient mastering of reading skills.Keywords: Plain Language; Linguistic Analysis of Textbooks; School Corpus of Written Language (Riddys); Beginning Reading and Writing; Elementary School Education---Sažetak Jasan jezik (engl. plain language) koncept je koji se prije pola stoljeća proširio Europom, a odnosi se na komunikaciju temeljenu na iskazima i strukturi iz koje slušatelji i čitatelji mogu lako pronaći i razumjeti potrebnu informaciju. U ovom istraživanju koncept jasnoga jezika predstavljen je u kontekstu ranoga obrazovanja, analizom pisane građe kojoj su izloženi učenici nižih razreda osnovne škole. Cilj je ovoga rada analizirati fonološka, leksička i sintaktička obilježja udžbenika u prvom, drugom, trećem i četvrtom razredu te dobivene podatke povezati s općim načelima jasnoga jezika. Za potrebe rada razvijena je baza tekstova – Školski korpus pisanoga jezika (Riddys), s ukupno 502 713 pojavnica. Analizirana je zastupljenost grafema, vrsta riječi, kao i duljina riječi i rečenica. Rezultati pokazuju kako od tri promatrane jezične sastavnice samo rječnik ne slijedi načela jasnoga jezika. Prevelika zastupljenost riječi koje se pojavljuju tek jednom u cijeloj pisanoj udžbeničkoj građi u prvim dvama razredima osnovne škole nikako ne pridonosi bržem i učinkovitijem ovladavanju vještinom čitanja. Ključne riječi: jasan jezik; jezična analiza udžbenika; početno čitanje i pisanje; razredna nastava; Školski korpus pisanoga jezika (Riddys)

Dyslexia is a language-based disorder that can have serious consequences on the learning needs of individuals with this specific learning disorder. In Croatia, most students diagnosed with dyslexia are taught according to the regular prescribed curriculum while using an individualized approach. However, teachers often find it difficult to implement an individualized approach, particularly when it comes to adapting the level of linguistic complexity of teaching material. In order to address this challenge, the concept of easy language is increasingly being incorporated into the education of students with dyslexia in Europe. Easy language refers to language adaptation of a text in order to facilitate both reading and comprehension abilities. Although there is a history of the use of easy language in the Croatian context, this approach has not yet been fully developed in practice. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the level of language complexity of e-testing exams in natural science subjects is suitable for elementary school students with dyslexia. The materials analyzed in this study were natural science exam questions from a single unit of instruction (one thematic unit) prepared by teachers in the e-testing format (for online instruction during a pandemic) for children from 1st to 6th grade. All questions were analyzed at the level of lexical, syntactic, and morphological criteria, as well as language at the content (pragmatic) level. In addition, graphic adjustments were examined as a function of language. All materials analyzed in the study were adapted according to the guidelines of easy language. The results of our analysis indicate the need for a high proportion of (morpho)syntactic adaptations (51%), followed by language adaptations made at the content (pragmatic) level (36%), and a low proportion of lexical adaptations (13%). These findings clearly indicate that significant adaptations are required for children with dyslexia to be able to actively participate in daily instruction. The implications of this study are directly related to education in the context of dyslexia. Our results highlight the importance of easy language in order to help children with dyslexia reach their full potential. In addition, the importance of speech and language pathologists in the school team is recognized, since they are experts in language and graphic adjustment, and they can provide the required support to teachers who teach children with dyslexia.