THE RELATION BETWEEN SELF-REGULATION SKILLS AND EMERGENT AND EARLY WRITING IN PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN

摘要

Past research has established that self-regulation may play an important role in the early academic skills such as math and literacy, but has focused less on relations with other early skill domains such as writing (Ponitz, McClelland, Matthews & Morrison, 2009; McClelland, Cameron, Connor, Farris, Jewkes, & Morrison, 2007; Howse, Calkins, Anastopoulos, Keane, & Shelton, 2003). In one previous study on older children, however, there was evidence to suggest that self-regulation significantly related to more advanced writing skills (Graham, Harris & Mason, 2005). The purpose of the present study was to extend that line of study to younger children, by assessing the relation of self-regulation to early writing. ud Preschool (n=161) and kindergarten (n=139) children, ages 4-6 years, were participants in this study. The preschool assessment battery included measures of early/emergent writing (name writing, letter writing, and spelling) and a direct measure of self-regulation (Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task; HTKS). Kindergarteners received the preschool battery as well as measures of letter writing fluency, a standardized measure of spelling, and a standardized measure of writing to capture knowledge of writing and composition skill. Data were analyzed using multi-level modeling. ud The results of this study indicated that self-regulation was significantly related to writing skills for both grade levels, but not as expected. Self-regulation was significantly and positively related to letter writing and spelling only for preschool children. Contrary to expectations, self-regulation did not significantly contribute to predicting performance on the advanced measures of letter writing fluency and spelling for the kindergarten children. It did, however, relate to knowledge of writing and composition tasks in kindergarten. This study expands current literature on the role of self-regulation in children’s writing by demonstrating the relation of self-regulation to emergent writing. Discussion highlights the potential for early assessments and classroom structuring to support children with low self-regulation. Future research should focus on a wider assessment battery to account for task-specific findings and evaluate whether preschool self-regulation scores relate to writing scores in later years.ud