A conceptualisation of young children's engagement with books - preliminary findings of a qualitative study in three crèches in Luxembourg

Emergent literacy refers to children's skills (e.g. phonological awareness), knowledge (e.g.
print concepts) and attitudes (e.g. print motivation) that are considered precursors of
conventional literacy and, therefore, academic success (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998). In
multilingual Luxembourg, differences in literacy achievement between so-called advantaged
and disadvantaged students are high, as the 2018 PISA study has shown (OECD, 2018). One
way of overcoming these systematic educational inequalities is to foster emergent literacy
skills in all children in Early Childhood Education (ECE). In 2017, the Ministry of Education
introduced a programme of multilingual education in ECE which requires educators, among
other, to engage children in regular literacy activities (MENJE & SNJ, 2017). My PhD study
explores which emergent literacy skills young multilingual children develop and in what ways.
I conducted fieldwork in three crèches in Luxembourg over ten months and focussed on nine
children. In analysed the qualitative data (video observations, fieldnotes and thick
descriptions) using sociocultural discourse analysis (Mercer, 2004). The preliminary findings
show that children's emergent literacy skills range from formal to informal and that their use
depends on the sociocultural contexts and the literacy practices of the crèches. Furthermore,
individual child-factors and adults' views of literacy and the child influence early literacy
experiences. Deepening our understanding of children's realities in early literacy
environments can help stakeholders support emergent literacy development and go against
deficit-oriented views of the child.