The Roles of Cognitive Processing and Language Development in Emergent Literacy

Abstract

Simultaneous and successive processing and language development were compared to the early reading behaviors of 64 children, ages 4 through 6 years. Simultaneous and successive processing were defined in terms of Luria 's two-factor theory of cerebral specialization (Luria, 1966a(Luria, , 1966b. Language development and early reading were defined in terms of the natural model (Piaget, 1977) and emergent literacy (Mattingly, 1972). Three standardized instruments were administered; a multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that language development and simultaneous processing made greater contributions to early reading ability than did successive processing. Interpretation of these data described the complex relationships among these variables in terms of the current literature. Implications for preschool instruction and future research are presented.