The objective of the present study is to
identify the language development process, early literacy experiences and
educational problems of an early reader identified as gifted. The research
method was determined as a case study in line with this objective. The research
was structured on the experiences of a fourth-grade male student born in 2010
who attends the Science and Arts center and has been identified by RAM as
gifted. The student was coded under name Ahmet. Ahmet’s early literacy
characteristics, experiences and educational problems were examined through
interviews held with Ahmet, his mother and his preschool teacher. Unstructured
open-ended questions were used in the study. Categories were created on data
obtained to perform a content analysis. Deductive method was employed.
According to the results, Ahmet was 3.5 years old when his mother noticed that
he was able to read. However, his language development was slower compared to
his peers. He was around three when he moved to the two-word period. Ahmet had learned all car models at age one.
He was able to find and call his father, grandmother and aunt from his mother's
phone book at age two. When he was six months old, he noticed that the
illustrated children's book handed to him was upside down and set it right and
focused on and examined the letters therein for a while. When he was one and a
half years old, he saw his father's name's initial letter Z on the wall and
began to bounce crying “here is dad, here is dad.” He had problems of
adaptation with his friends when he started kindergarten. Ahmet enjoys buying
books, spending time at bookstores, visiting libraries, but experiences
problems since he grows impatient about finishing a book he has started. He is
more attracted to the images than the letters in the books. Book covers help
him predict the book, and he sometimes designs his own covers for books he
reads.
Primary Language | English |
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Journal Section | Gifted Education |
Authors | |
Publication Date | December 15, 2018 |
Published in Issue | Year 2018 Volume: 6 Issue: 4 |
By introducing the concept of the "Gifted Young Scientist," JEGYS has initiated a new research trend at the intersection of science-field education and gifted education.