Contextual and Research Study Information:
- Began in 1977 and concluded in 1982 by then doctoral student Denny Taylor
- Six families were invited to participate:
- All six families lived in urban New York neighbourhoods but were not all acquainted with each other.
- The families all had one thing in common; children that were successfully learning to read and write in homes filled with print.
- Taylor’s ethnographical research study follows these six families and interacts with them on a continuous basis in an attempt to “develop systematic ways of looking at reading and writing as activities that have consequences in and are affected by family life.” (preface)
Theoretical Perspective in the 1970’s & 1980’s
- In the 1970’s the “Whole Language View” emerges with the research influences of:
- Charles Read – Teaching strategies to help children make connections between oral and written language.
- Marie Clay – Research on children’s early writing.
- Don Holdaway –Preconventional writing experiments with young children
- In the 1980’s there is a shift to ‘studies in real life’ and the birth of “Emergent Literacy.”
- Piaget – Children as meaning makers and meaning seekers.
- Bruner – Coins the term “Scaffolding” to describe a way to assist children with emerging skill building.
- Vygotsky – The concept of “Zone of Proximal Development” is theorized.