| With the goal of improving literacy acquisition, these studies are concerned with determining the learning process underlying literacy acquisition. Assuming reading and writing to be processes of language, and written language to be an autonomous language parallel and not secondary to oral language, the specific focus of these studies is the identification and investigation of the language acquisition process as the literacy acquisition process.;Three variables representing the three principles of the language acquisition process enhanced adult-child interaction and learning condition: Language Used, Responsiveness, and Learning Condition. Literacy Acquisition was defined by student performance on a writing sample, a print awareness test and a reading skills test.;Two pre- and posttest quasi-experiments lasting two months and four months, respectively, used kindergarteners (N = 38, N = 38) in a comparison of two instructional settings, representing the maximal (Language) and the minimal (Skills) implementation of the language acquisition process. The results were caused by the treatment and generalizable to a broad population as shown by examination of validity.;As expected, literacy acquisition in the Language setting suggested the acquisition of language with significantly (p ;Results of the studies support the conclusion that the language acquisition process is causally related to literacy acquisition and that the language acquisition process is a powerful tool for understanding and designing effective literacy instruction. |
