LETTER RECOGNITION AS PREDICTOR OF EMERGENT READING READINESS AMONG KINDERGARTEN LEARNERS AT CATEEL CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, DAVAO ORIENTAL DIVISION: A PREDICTIVE-CORRELATIONAL APPROACH

Educational Management

Reading readiness serves as the foundation of literacy development and significantly influences learners’ future academic achievement. Despite continued literacy initiatives, learning poverty remains a global concern, particularly among young learners who struggle to develop foundational literacy skills. This study examined whether letter recognition significantly predicts emergent reading readiness among Kindergarten learners at Cateel Central Elementary School, Davao Oriental Division. Specifically, the study determined the level of letter recognition and emergent reading readiness and examined the relationship and predictive influence between the two variables. The study utilized a quantitative predictive-correlational research design involving 32 Kindergarten learners selected through total enumeration. Data were obtained from the End-of-School-Year reading assessment and analyzed using mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, and Simple Linear Regression Analysis. Results revealed that learners demonstrated a Very High level of letter recognition (M = 9.34, SD = 0.65, 93.44%) and a High level of emergent reading readiness (83.79%). Most learners were classified as Grade Ready (90.63%) and Reading at Grade Level (71.88%). Correlation analysis showed no significant relationship between letter recognition and emergent reading readiness (r = 0.171, p = 0.350). Likewise, regression analysis revealed that letter recognition did not significantly predict emergent reading readiness (R² = 0.029, F = 0.901, p = 0.350). The findings suggest that although letter recognition remains an essential component of early literacy, other factors such as phonological awareness, vocabulary, oral language development, listening comprehension, and literacy-rich experiences may exert stronger influences on emergent reading readiness. The study recommends strengthening comprehensive literacy programs that address multiple domains of emergent literacy among Kindergarten learners.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.