“…Thus, researchers often compare instructional methods for helping children to move from one stage of literacy development to the next (Martins & Silva, 2006a, 2006b; Silva & Martins, 2002) and study how children in different stages perform in various tasks (Ettore, Mangueira, Dias, Teixeira, & Nemr, 2008; Gindri, Keske-Soares, & Mota, 2007; Vernon et al, 2004). Teachers in many Latin American countries see their job as identifying a child’s stage of literacy development—presyllabic, syllabic, syllabic–alphabetic, or alphabetic—and helping the child to move to the next stage (Albuquerque, Morais, & Ferreira, 2008). The idea that children develop through these stages forms the basis for tests of writing and reading development that are used by government authorities (Oliveira & Silva, 2011).…”