Language and Literacy Education in the Early Years: Emergent Literacy in the Context of the Learning Environment in Early Childhood Classrooms in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this quantitative study is to explore the relationship between the availability of literacy learning materials and teachers’ practices in early childhood classrooms in Saudi Arabia. The overall goal is to promote an understanding of the influence of these factors on how children use these materials to improve their emergent literacy skills. A questionnaire survey was administered to 302 early childhood teachers, and the collected data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that children’s use of literacy learning materials in the learning environment plays a role in the acquisition and development of their emergent literacy skills in early childhood classrooms, while also showing a significant relationship with the availability of literacy learning materials and teachers’ practices in the classrooms. The study results have several important implications related to teachers, the Ministry of Education, and the administration of early childhood schools in terms of enhancing children’s acquisition and development of emergent literacy skills in the classroom.