Pre-reading Skills in Hindi Speaking Children between 3 to 6 Years

Abstract

The pre reading skills are considered as good predictors of later reading achievement. In western culture there has been enough support for the fact that pre reading skills are considered as good predictors of later reading achievement. There is paucity of research in Indian literature to support the fact. Since assessing pre reading skills of children at risk will help in early detection and intervention there is need to describe and assess pre reading skills in children. The present study was designed with the aim to explore the pre reading skills in Hindi speaking children between 3 to 6 years of age. 80 Hindi speaking typically developing children, attending normal Hindi medium school were selected on the basis of inclusion criteria. Statistical analysis using SPSS software version 16 was done. Mean and standard deviation were obtained. MANOVA was carried out to compare the age groups. The findings suggested that there was a statistically significant age related difference on pre reading skills. Significant improvement was seen (p<0.01) on skills like listening comprehension, memory, literacy skills, reading and writing. The study has an important impact in Indian context since the materials available in assessing pre reading skills are sparse in general. This can also be used as a measure of child’s progress following intervention. Validation of this tool can be done on clinical population.