An evidence-based intervention on emergent literacy skills in a varied linguistic-cultural context

Previous studies have shown that pre-school children benefit from specific educational interventions for the development of their emerging literacy skills, regardless of the socio-cultural context from which they come. Emergent literacy skills, such as phonological awareness, emergent spelling and reading, and narrative skills, predict subsequent formalized literacy skills. Although these interventions are effective, it is necessary to verify the impact of the socio-cultural context from which they come to the effectiveness of the intervention, considering that this is intertwined with the linguistic specificity of home literacy. Therefore, the general aim of this study was to evaluate in an Italian school context the impact that the socio-cultural context has on the effectiveness of a specific evidence-based intervention (PASSI - Promoting the Achievement of Sound-Sign Integration) in the Italian language, in Italian and Chinese children's classes. 285 of five-years-old children (both Italian and Chinese), attending the last year of kindergarten, have participated in the research. The children came from kindergartens in a city in central Italy, where the incidence of integration of the Chinese population is 20%. The children were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Between the pre- and post-test, they took part in a session involving the administration of PASSI. All classes were upgraded in the same way. The preliminary results of this study showed that this specific intervention was also effective in children who are less familiar with the predominant language. In addition, children with a more disadvantaged environment benefit more from intervention. It would seem that any differences between the two groups may be due to variables related to home literacy, to which are added the variables of belonging to a different culture.