Preschool Teachers’ Beliefs related to Emergent Literacy Practices in Malaysia

Shonkoff & Phillips (2000) emphasize that the first months and years of a child’s life

set “either a sturdy or a fragile stage for what follows” (p. 4-5). Emergent literacy

development has a significant impact on a child’s conceptual, interpersonal, and self-

regulatory abilities, therefore promoting emergent literacy skills beginning at birth and

continuing through the first five years of life is crucial to a child’s normal development

(Dickinson et al., 2012). Research has shown strong longitudinal continuity between

discrepancies in emergent literacy skills and later differences in reading ability (Storch &

Whitehurst, 2002). The earlier and better these skills develop, the more prepared the child is

for school transition (Dunst et al., 2012; Duursma et al., 2008). Research shows that children

with an early start in literacy are more likely to become successful readers and writers,

contributed by experiential, dispositional, or developmental circumstances. Subsequently,

they experience greater school success, which ultimately affects their long-term academic

outcomes (Dockett et al., 2010; Lee & Burkham, 2009; Raikes et al., 2006).

Literacy development consists not just of good literacy test scores, but also the literate

transactions that take place inside and outside of school (Hammer & Miccio, 2004). It is not

just the availability of books and the frequency of book reading that are related to childrens’

literacy and language development, but also the broader pattern of parent-child activities and

interactions both inside and outside the home and school environment that cultivates the

child’s literacy achievement (Strickland & Shanahan, 2004). The connection between delays

in early literacy development with increased risks of poor later reading and writing skills

have become an important concern in the field of preschool education and early intervention

(Snow, 2006). At second grade, approximately at age 7, children usually transition from

‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’ (Fiester, 2010). Children exhibiting inadequate mastery

of literacy by third grade are shown to be unlikely to catch up with peers and are held back in
school (Lesnick et al., 2010). Although often misunderstood as an education problem,

illiteracy causes major consequences that extend way beyond academic compounds,

including obesity, depression, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, crime, and poverty (High &

Klass, 2014).

Literature Review

Emergent Literacy

Emergent Literacy, also used interchangeably with Early Literacy, refers to the skills,

knowledge, and attitudes that develop from birth to 5 years of age, and are the predictors of

later reading skills, beginning before formal education (Gillen & Hall, 2013; Shanahan &

Lonigan, 2010; Snowling & Hulme, 2013). Emergent literacy is also regarded by researchers

as pre-conventional reading and writing behaviors of children that develop into conventional

forms of literacy (Heilman et al., 2002; Roberts et al., 2005).

Five skills have been concluded from previous research done on emergent literacy,

which were print awareness, print motivation, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge,

and early writing (McLachlan et al., 2013; Sulzby & Teale, 1991; Weigel et al., 2006). Print

knowledge is the ability to understand forms, features, and functions of print (McGinty &

Justice, 2009). Print motivation refers to children’s interest, willingness, and enjoyment of

taking part in literacy-related activities (Frijters et al., 2000; Hume et al., 2015). Piasta &

Wagner (2010) stated that alphabet knowledge is children’s knowledge of letterforms, names,

as well as their corresponding sounds. It consists of several aspects like letter-name

knowledge and letter-sound knowledge (Piasta et al., 2016). Phonological awareness refers to

children’s ability to navigate and distinguish the sounds in words (Anthony & Francis, 2005).

More particularly, it includes the sounds of speech derived from 38 syllables, which

encompasses the syllable, the rhyme unit of the syllable, as well as the individual phonemes
(Arrow & McLachlan, 2014). Early writing consists of the initial phase where children are

aware that print conveys meaning, as well as their attempts at writing in order to mimic

conventional writing without the knowledge that there is a connection between symbols and

sounds (Gentry & Gilet, 1993).

Beliefs and Practices

Michael Borg’s (2001) definition states that beliefs are propositions that are held

either consciously or unconsciously, and are accepted as true by an individual, and therefore

inspired with emotive commitment that guides thought and behavior. According to Peacock

(2001),

beliefs are psychologically held appreciations, assumptions, or theorems about the world that

are felt to be correct. In the educational context, beliefs are defined as the teachers’

arguments and their views on teaching and learning (Khader, 2012).

On the other hand, teaching practices refer to observable behaviors that teachers bring

to the classroom, from teaching to facilitation and from negotiation to building of

relationships (O’Sullivan, 2009). Theoretical beliefs about language learning and teaching

tend to shape the nature of teachers’ instructional practices (Gebel & Schrier, 2002).

Kuzborska (2011) states that teachers make decisions about their classroom teaching

regarding beliefs they have about language teaching and learning. They emphasized that

teachers’ beliefs have a great impact on their aims, procedures, their roles, and their learners.

Teachers interpret and respond to innovations and input in ways which relate to their

existing beliefs about teaching and learning (Cabaroglu & Roberts, 2000), which can be

deep-rooted and resistant to change (Pickering, 2005). Hence, it is imperative to first

understand teachers’ beliefs in the context of learning and teaching to be informed of their
teaching methods and decisions for classroom practice (Fives & Buehl, 2008; Zheng,

2009). O

Global beliefs and practices related to emergent literacy

This section analyzes a compilation of research done in a global context revolving

around teachers’ beliefs and practices related to emergent literacy skills, starting with

countries with more progressive development in terms of awareness and research on the

topic, like the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Following a

funnelling approach, European countries like Slovenia and Middle Eastern countries such as

Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan will be examined before moving on to Asian countries like

Hong Kong, and finally Malaysia, which is the focus of this study. Notable aspects from the

studies will be reviewed, including the aims of the studies, participants and the instruments

used, findings as well as limitations identified.

In their descriptive study, Guo et al. (2021) looked at kindergarten teachers’ beliefs

and practices about writing instruction using survey methodology. Participants were 78

kindergarten teachers in the United States, and results revealed that most of the teachers used

a balanced approach to writing instruction. Most of them had positive beliefs and confidence

to teach writing. However, the self-report survey used was originally developed and used

with first to third grade teachers (Cutler & Graham, 2008), and hence might not adequately

represent writing practices for kindergarten children.

Lynch & Owston (2015) investigated beliefs of preschool teachers about teaching

language literacy using the Preschool Teacher Literacy Beliefs Questionnaire (TBQ)

developed by Hindman & Wasik (2008). Participants were 79 preschool teachers in Canada,

and results showed that most teachers were uncertain about their role in implementing

research-based best practices to promote emergent literacy, and thus the study called for
improvement of practice-based course work in language and literacy practice to support

preschool teachers’ teaching practice (Wood & Bennett, 2000). One limitation to the study

was the self-reported nature of the questionnaire regarding teachers’ beliefs and practices

without the researchers being able to physically observe classroom practices the teachers

claim to follow.

A study in Australia (Weadman et al., 2022) looked at Early Childhood Teachers’

views and confidence in providing emergent literacy support through individual interviews,

and results showed that although the teachers acknowledged their role in promoting emergent

literacy, they felt that they were inadequately equipped to provide sufficient support.

Zhang (2017) in his study examined parents’ beliefs and practices related to emergent

literacy in New Zealand using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. A

questionnaire was first administered to gauge parents’ beliefs, which was followed up with an

interview. Parents had strong beliefs in their role and placed particular emphasis on pre-

literacy skills like name writing, but qualitative transferability was a concern as the study

only involved 25 participants.

In Slovenia, Fojkar & Skubic (2017) in their study focused on beliefs of preservice

preschool teachers about foreign language learning. Questionnaire results collected from 90

teachers indicated that they were aware of the importance of foreign language learning but

were not provided with sufficient training to cater to needs.

Hafiz (2021) used a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design to

investigate Saudi preschool teachers’ beliefs about emergent literacy skills and practices.

Most teachers were found to be less confident and equipped in training in order to provide

proper emergent literacy support. The study was limited by its small sample size of only 30

participants.
 In Uzbekistan, Muminova (2020) examined the beliefs and practices of 26 preschool

teachers regarding emergent literacy using the Preschool Literacy Survey (PLS) adapted from

Sandvik et al.’s (2014) study. Findings demonstrated much uncertainty in teachers’ beliefs

and a mismatch between their practice and best research-based standards, and thus called for

the implementation of emergent literacy-oriented environments and curricula, as well as high-

quality research-based training programmes.

Li et al. (2020) investigated Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ beliefs and

pedagogical interactions in the classroom. Teachers were given a survey, and their classroom

sessions were observed and recorded before being interviewed. Teachers were found to have

positive attitudes towards their pedagogical interactions, which were largely dominated by

teacher-directed instruction although various scaffolding strategies were used to maintain

reciprocal interactions. One of the limitations included the difficulty to replicate the learning

environment as recorded in the study.

Research Gap

The literature review above showed a comprehensive depth of research done on topics

related to emergent literacy beliefs and practices. However, when applied to the Malaysian

context, very limited research was found on preschool teachers’ beliefs related to emergent

literacy practices. Keywords like ‘beliefs and practices’, ‘emergent literacy’, ‘early literacy’,

‘preschool teachers’ and ‘Malaysia’ were entered into research databases like NUSearch and

Google Scholar to find existing research that was most relevant to the scope of focus. A study

done by Johnson & Tweedie (2010) looked at a joint rural educational development project

led by the Curriculum Development Centre of the Malaysia Ministry of Education. The

project focused on testing the effects of phonemic awareness instruction among Year 1

English language learners through the development of an Early Literacy Project (ELP).
Results showed that direct phonemic awareness instruction had a significant impact on

phonemic awareness acquisition. Another study by Husain et al. (2011) investigated

Malaysian mothers’ beliefs in developing emergent literacy through reading to their

preschool children. The mixed-methods study revealed that most Malaysian mothers viewed

reading as a beneficial activity and provided considerable support to help their children

become competent readers. A more recent study done by Rahmatullah et al. (2021) provided

an overview of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Malaysia, including the history

and development of ECCE, types of institutions and curriculums currently implemented in

Malaysia. They then further discussed challenges faced and the future course of ECCE in

Malaysia. Miller (1999) in her study compared preschool systems in Malaysia and the United

Kingdom according to four aspects: preschool provision, national preschool curriculum

guidelines, training as well as personal experience in training preschool educators.

Research purpose

As shown above, as much as existing research was done on topics related to emergent

literacy, studies done specifically on beliefs towards emergent literacy practices in Malaysia

from preschool teacher’s perspectives were very limited. As established previously in the

literature review, it is imperative to first find out teachers’ beliefs in order to understand why

they do what they do, as beliefs play a huge role in influencing teaching practices. Hence, the

present study aims to explore existing beliefs of preschool teachers related to emergent

literacy practices in Malaysia by answering the following research questions:

Research Question 1:

What are Malaysian preschool teachers’ beliefs related to emergent literacy practices?

Research Question 2:
 a. Is there a relationship between teachers’ educational qualification and their beliefs

related to emergent literacy practices?

H0: There is no relationship between teachers’ educational qualification and their

beliefs related to emergent literacy practices.

b. Is there a relationship between teachers’ years of teaching experience and their beliefs

related to emergent literacy practices?

H0: There is no relationship between teachers’ years of teaching experience and their

beliefs related to emergent literacy practices.

Methodology

Research design

The research paradigm will follow a positivist view using a quantitative methodology

of a Preschool Teacher Literacy Beliefs Questionnaire (TBQ) adopted from Hindman &

Wasik’s (2008) study to answer the first research question. Information gathered in a teacher

information survey will then be used to find associations between the independent and

dependent variables to answer the second research question.

Sampling

Convenience sampling will be used to find participants, which will be approximately

40 teachers from 10 English-speaking private preschools in Malaysia. Participants with

varied first and second languages can take part in the study as long as they teach in English.

Their English proficiency levels will also not be taken into consideration, but they will be

required to fill in their gender, age, educational qualifications, and years of teaching

experience in a teacher information survey.

Research instruments

Teacher information survey

A simple teacher information survey will be administered preceding the TBQ,

requiring participants to fill in background details, including their gender, age, educational

qualifications, and years of teaching experience.

Preschool Teacher Literacy Beliefs Questionnaire (TBQ)

The TBQ surveys preschool teachers on their beliefs and practices using 30 items

clustered into four specific and reliably hypothesized subscales (Cronbach’s alpha reliability

of .87), which are: code-related skills, oral language/vocabulary, book reading, and writing.

The items examine teachers’ beliefs regarding language and literacy skills children should be

developing, how children develop these skills, and specific instructional practices that could

be implemented in a preschool classroom to foster these skills. According to previous

research investigating teachers’ beliefs (Richardson et al., 1999), teachers are given a

statement that requires them to rate how much they agree with that statement on a five-point

scale (with a value of 5 associated with strongly agree to a value of 1 for strongly disagree).

Reverse-coding was used for statements like “Children learn ending sounds by circling

pictures of things that rhyme on worksheets,” which were not reflective of best practices in

the field. Higher scores on the questionnaire can be interpreted as beliefs that are more in line

with current research-based best practices; in contrast, lower scores indicated an endorsement

of generally less effective classroom activities, and lower affirmation of the value of early

literacy skills for later reading and writing.

The code-related subscale includes four alphabet knowledge items and five phonemic

awareness items. Of these, four items (numbers 6, 15, 23 and 29) focus specifically on how

letter knowledge and sound awareness contribute to the promotion of later reading skills,
which is supported strongly by research (Ehri et al., 2001; Foorman et al., 2003; Muter et al.,

2004). The other five items (numbers 3, 9, 11, 14, and 24) address how teachers might

stimulate these skills with students in the classroom, including meaningful activities like

having children play with the sounds in words (Wasik, 2001).

The oral language/vocabulary subscale consists of nine items. Two of these items

(numbers 5 and 28) were targeted at vocabulary acquisition, which Storch & Whitehurst

(2002) highlights is crucial for later reading skills. The other items focus on how teachers can

effectively increase childrens’ exposure to new vocabulary and create circumstances for the

practice of these words.

The book reading scale consists of five items, one of which (item 12) focuses on

teachers’ beliefs about how book reading can be used as a resource for preparing childrens’

independent reading (Wasik & Bond, 2001; Wasik et al., 2006). The other items address the

relevance of instructional strategies that teachers might adopt during book reading, such as

defining words as they come up in the text (Coyne et al., 2004), and inviting children to ask

questions while reading (Lonigan et al., 1999).

Finally, the writing subscale is comprised of six items. Two of them looked at

teachers’ ideas on how children start learning to write. Item 18, “children learn to write by

watching teachers write,” indicated that children’s own writing skills are developed by

watching adults modeling writing (Aram, 2006), while item 21 states that “Children learn to

read before learning to write,” which is contradictory to research to evidence that writing

plays a huge role in promoting decoding skills (Coker, 2007). The remaining four items are

directed at classroom practices, including (items 1, 8, and 13) viewing scribbling and spelling

errors as accepted characteristics of emergent writing and (item 25) using writing to bridge

links between letter shapes and names (Aram, 2006; Levin et al., 2005; Olson, 2002).
Procedure

10 selected preschools for this research will receive the consent and participants’

information form. After consent is obtained, participants will be required to fill in the teacher

information survey and the Preschool Teacher Literacy Beliefs Questionnaire (TBQ).

Participants can complete and submit the questionnaire at any time within the data collection

period of 2 months.

Data analysis

Data in this study will be analyzed through descriptive statistics. To answer the first

research question, data collected will be calculated and summarized in the form of mean and

standard deviation according to the four subscales in the Preschool Teacher Literacy Beliefs

Questionnaire, which are decoding knowledge, oral language and vocabulary, book reading,

and writing. The observed range of scores for each subscale will also be shown.

For research question 2(a), an ANOVA will be used to identify the differences across

preschool teachers’ levels of education on the four TBQ subscales and the total score.

Educational qualifications will be categorized into three levels: less than Bachelors’ Degree,

Bachelors’ Degree, and Masters’ Degree. Mean scores for each category in each subscale will

be presented.

Correlation analysis will be used to answer research question 2(b). Specifically,

Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient will be used to measure the association between preschool

teachers’ years of teaching experience and their TBQ scores based on each subscale. All this

information will be presented clearly in the form of tables and charts.

Ethical considerations
 The Research Ethics Form was approved, and ethical clearance was obtained. Ethical

guidelines set by the British Education Research Association (BERA, 2011) and the

University of Nottingham were followed. Consent from the principals of each preschool will

be obtained to conduct research with teachers from the institutions, and participants will

receive an information sheet and consent form that outlines the procedures and participant

rights of the research.

Gantt chart of proposed study

According to the Gantt chart illustrated above, after the FYP Proposal Presentation in

mid-December 2022, feedback and suggestions were gathered from the panel and module

convenor and were taken into consideration to refine the development of the research

proposal. Ethics clearance will be obtained, and the proposal will be submitted by the

beginning of January 2023. Data collection will begin approximately from mid-January to

mid-March (for two months), and analysis of data collected will take place throughout March

2023. In the meantime, the development of the FYP Final Report will progress throughout

March and April before the FYP Presentation and Final Report submission in mid-May 2023.
Limitations

As the concept of beliefs is subjective, it may be difficult for it to be converted into

quantifiable measures on a questionnaire. Furthermore, participants’ responses may be

subject to social desirability bias by advocating for beliefs that support emergent literacy

development even though they might not personally adopt these beliefs. Another limitation to

the study is the inability to observe participants’ practical classroom implementations that

they claim to follow. The criterion of this study only focuses on English-speaking private

preschool teachers in several preschools located in Malaysia, and therefore leaves room for

further research on public school teachers of other languages as well. Factors taken into

consideration regarding their effect on teacher beliefs and practices are also limited to only

educational qualifications and years of teaching experience in this study. Other factors such

as school background and context, teachers’ socio-economic status should also be

investigated on their potential effects towards teachers’ beliefs and practices.

Conclusion

The TBQ assesses teachers’ beliefs about four specific components of emergent

language and literacy, which provides reliable insight to preschool teachers’ existing beliefs

by facilitating them in detailed self-reflections. Although beyond the scope of the current

study, further research might be directed towards the exploration of relationships between

teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices using observational measures to track oral

interaction and reading practices. For example, the Early Language and Literacy Classroom

Observation (ELLCO) developed by Smith et al. (2002) provides subscales for instructional

practices like the average time spent on book reading, childrens’ frequencies in working with

word sounds, and the time spent on instruction dedicated to alphabet knowledge. Analysis of

these observational data could compare the degree to which preschool teachers’ beliefs
towards language and literacy development are related to instructional practices. Further

research might be done by expanding on this study to plan, implement and follow up on

interventions for professional development.

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