The quality of the educational environment relating to emergent literacy practices: links to children’s engagement in preschool and kindergarten

The main objective of this study is to examine the relationships between the quality of the educational environment and the child's engagement in developmental and learning situations relating to emergent literacy in preschool and kindergarten classes in Québec (Canada). Oral language, reading, and writing are generally considered to be interrelated processes that correspond to emergent literacy in children ages 0 to 6 (Morrow et al., 2019). Through quality educational practices, the educational environment of the classroom supports the child's engagement in emergent literacy development and learning situations (Baroody & Diamond, 2016). The educational environment includes the physical dimension (classroom layout, resources, books, writing materials) as well as the interactive dimension (teacher and child interactions) (Guo et al., 2012). Child engagement refers to interactions with the teacher, peers and his or her involvement within tasks and activities (Bohlmann et al., 2019; Downer et al., 2010). The quality of these interactions plays an essential role in the development of 4 and 5-year-olds' emergent literacy and in their current and later educational success (Sabol et al., 2018). As part of the implementation of the new integrated preschool and kindergarten educational program in Québec (MEQ, 2021), it is important to develop knowledge regarding the quality of the educational environment and the child's interactions within this environment considering the importance of language development in preventing later reading and writing difficulties. This research project has 3 objectives: 1) To measure the quality of the physical environment and the interactive environment relating to emergent literacy in preschool and kindergarten classrooms; 2) To measure children's level of engagement in their emergent literacy development and learning situations; 3) To analyze the relationships between the quality of the educational environment relating to emergent literacy and