PL
Writing letters, writing animals... On print awareness in childrenThis article describes the concept of print awareness in children aged 4 and 5. Print awareness refers to children’s understanding of the function of print, understanding the terms “reading” and “writing (spelling)”, the convention of print etc.28 4-year olds and 32 5-year olds were administered a Print Awareness Test developed by G.Krasowicz – Kupis. The parts of the test were: the function of print, the concept of reading and spelling (writing), metalinguistic concepts and word awareness, and symbol recognition.Results demonstrated that great changes in print awareness can be observed between the ages of 4 and 5. Some aspects of print awareness appear in different stages of development- the earliest one is the awareness of print function, the latest one – the knowledge about metalingustic terms.The print awareness is an important element of school-readiness. The development of print awareness may predict reading and writing achievement and may indicate the risk of dyslexia.