PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL FACTORS IN DEVELOPING LITERACY READINESS AMONG SENIOR PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

The preparation of senior preschool children for literacy acquisition is a multidimensional developmental process that extends beyond the early recognition of letters, sounds, and written symbols. Successful literacy readiness emerges through the interaction of cognitive, linguistic, emotional, motivational, social, and motor development with purposeful pedagogical support. This article examines the major psychological and pedagogical factors that contribute to the development of literacy readiness among senior preschool children and explores their interrelationships within contemporary early childhood education. Particular attention is given to phonological awareness, oral language and vocabulary, attention and memory, executive functions, learning motivation, emotional readiness, fine-motor and graphomotor development, play-based learning, teacher–child interaction, the literacy-rich environment, and family involvement. The study employs theoretical analysis, comparative synthesis, content analysis, and pedagogical modelling to systematize recent research findings and identify the conditions under which emergent literacy skills can develop effectively. The findings indicate that literacy readiness should not be approached as premature formal instruction in reading and writing. Instead, it should be understood as an integrated developmental construct in which psychological readiness and pedagogically appropriate learning experiences reinforce one another. A conceptual framework is proposed to demonstrate how psychological resources, pedagogical conditions, and literacy-related activities can be coordinated in preschool practice. The study argues that developmentally appropriate, play-based, interactive, and differentiated instruction provides a more sustainable foundation for subsequent literacy learning than academically accelerated approaches.