Pre-Primary Teachers' Perceptions on Acquisition of Early Writing Skills of Alphabet Letters in Shinyanga Rural District, Tanzania

Abstract

Individual letter formation is an essential aspect of early writing proficiency. This study investigated teachers' perceptions of the factors influencing pre-primary children's acquisition of alphabet letter writing skills. Specifically, the study sought to determine how teachers perceive child-level and home-environment aspects influencing children's acquisition of early alphabet letter writing skills. Bronfenbrenner's bioecological paradigm, the Process-Person-Context-Time model, guided the research. The research was conducted in the district council of Shinyanga in the Shinyanga Region. The investigation included 103 pre-primary education teachers who instruct preschool classes. A structured questionnaire was used to capture information, then analysed using SPSS version 23. Descriptive analysis for mean and standard deviation computations and variable correlations was performed using the Pearson Product-moment Correlation Coefficient. The study found that the child-level factors had higher mean scores than the child's family environment, indicating that the child-level factors significantly impact the early acquisition of alphabet letter writing for pre-primary children. The increase of within-child factors increases the child's home environment. The findings indicate that child-level factors and the child's home environment interact, consistent with the model used. Further research is needed on how home literacy activities improve alphabet letter writing for pre-primary children.