Cover not available

In:Acquisition and Development of Hebrew: From infancy to adolescence
Edited by Ruth A. Berman
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 19] 2016
► pp. 325–352

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Early development of written language in Hebrew

 | University of Barcelona
 | Levinsky College of Education and Beit Berl Academic College
Published online: 25 August 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.19.11tol
Learning to read and write has a major impact on children’s linguistic and cognitive development. The present chapter traces Hebrew-speaking children’s first steps in gaining access to the special features of Hebrew orthography and then shows how they learn to make use of written language in different discourse genres. We identify several turning points in children’s learning to read and write isolated words and to produce written texts in Hebrew, taking into account linguistic and contextual factors that may play a role in individual differences in rate and level of children’s attainments in these domains. We suggest that children’s growing command of the notational and rhetorical characteristics of written language occur in parallel, as forerunners of the lengthy path that lies ahead of children before they master overall organization of texts.
References (94)
References
Aram, D. 2006. Early literacy interventions: The relative roles of storybook reading, alphabetic activities, and their combination. Reading and Writing 19: 489-515. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Writing with young children: A comparison of paternal and maternal guidance. Journal of Research in Reading 33: 4-19. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aram, D., Korat, O. & Levin, I. 2006. Maternal mediation in a young child’s writing activity: A sociocultural perspective. In Handbook of Orthography and Literacy, R.M. Joshi & P.G. Aaron (eds), 703-733. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aram, D. & Levin, I. 2001. Mother-child joint writing in low SES: Socio-cultural factors, maternal mediation and emergent literacy. Cognitive Development 16(3): 831-852. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. The role of maternal mediation of writing to kindergartners in promoting literacy in school: A longitudinal perspective. Reading and Writing 17: 387–409. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. Home support of children in the writing process: Contributions to early literacy. In Handbook of Early Literacy, Vol. 3, S. Neuman & D. Dickinson (eds), 189-199. New York NY: Guilford.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Babayiğit, S. & Stainthorp, R. 2011. Modeling the relationships between cognitive–linguistic skills and literacy skills: New insights from a transparent orthography. Journal of Educational Psychology 103(1): 169-189. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bar-On, A. 2011. Language processes in the acquisition of non-pointed Hebrew. In Literacy and Language, O. Korat & D. Aram, (eds), 148-165. Jerusalem: Magnes. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bendavid, E. 1971. Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew. Tel Aviv: Dvir. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R.A. 2009. Acquisition of compound constructions. In Handbook of Compounding, R. Lieber & P. Stekauer (eds), 298-322. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R.A. & Nir-Sagiv, B. 2007. Comparing narrative and expository text construction across adolescence: A developmental paradox. Discourse Processes 43: 79–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. Clause-packaging in narratives: A crosslinguistic developmental study. In Crosslinguistic Approaches to the Psychology of Language: Research in the Tradition of Dan I. Slobin, J. Guo, E. Lieven, N. Budwig, S. Ervin-Tripp, K. Nakamura & S. Ösçaliskan (eds), 149-162. New York NY: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berman, R.A & Ravid, D. 1999. The Oral/Literate Continuum: Developmental Perspectives. Final Report submitted to the Israel Science Foundation, Jerusalem.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Besse, J.M. 1996. An approach to writing in kindergarten. In Children's Early Text Construction, C. Pontecorvo, M. Orsolini, B. Burge & L. Resnick (eds), 127-144, Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D. 2009. Are there linguistic consequences of literacy? Comparing the potentials of language use in speech and writing. In Cambridge Handbook of Literacy, D.R. Olson & N. Torrance (eds), 75-91. Cambridge: CUP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bonder, L. & Mirom, S. 2013. Phonetic writing among preschool children in repeated tasks. Seminar paper, Communication Disorders, Hadassah Academic College. (in Hebrew)
Chan, L. & Nunes, T. 1998. Children's understanding of the formal and functional characteristics of written Chinese. Applied Psycholinguistics 19: 115-131. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen Gross, D. 2000. The syllabic structure of Modern Hebrew. In The Raphael Nir Book: Studies in Communication, Linguistics and Language Teaching, O. Schwarzwald, S. Blum Kulka & E. Olshtain (eds), 359-369. Jerusalem: Carmel. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen-Levy, M. 2011. Genre Impact on Writing Conventions Amongst Kindergarten Children. M.Ed project. Tel Aviv: Levinsky College of Education. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coulmas, F. 1989. The Writing Systems of the World. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Daniels, P.T. 1996. The study of writing systems. In The World Writing Systems, P.T. Daniels, & W. Bright (eds), 3-17. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duñabeitia, J.A., Orihuela, K. & Carreiras, M. 2014. Orthographic coding in illiterates and literates. Psychological Science 25(6): 1275-1280 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ferreiro, E. & Teberosky, A. 1979/1982. Literacy before Schooling. Exeter NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Foulin, J.N. 2005. Why is letter-name knowledge such a good predictor of learning to read? Reading and Writing 18: 129–155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frost, R. & Bentin, S. 1992. Reading consonants and guessing vowels: Visual word recognition in Hebrew orthography. In Orthography, Phonology, Morphology, and Meaning, R. Frost & L. Katz (eds), 27-44. Amsterdam: North Holland. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gardner, M.F. 1996. Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (non-motor). Burlingame CA: Psychological and Educational Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ginzburg, V. 1992. Narrative and Description: Text Production in Early Childhood and Pedagogical Influences. MA thesis, Tel Aviv University. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goswami, U. 2002. In the beginning was the rhyme? A reflection on Hulme, Hatcher, Nation, Brown, Adams, and Stuart. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 82: 47–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goerwitz, R.L. 1996. The Jewish script. In The World's Writing Systems, P.T. Daniels & W. Bright (eds), 487- 498. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Graham, S. 1990. The role of production factors in learning disabled students' compositions. Journal of Educational Psychology 82(4): 781. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Graham, S. & Weintraub, N. 1996. A review of handwriting research: Progress and prospects from 1980 to 1994. Educational Psychology Review 8(1): 7-87 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hertz-Lazarowitz, R. 2004. Storybook writing in first grade. Reading and Writing 17: 267–299. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Israel Ministry of Education. 2006. Tashtit likrat kryia ve-ktiva ‘Foundation for Reading and Writing.’ (in Hebrew) <[URL]>
Katz, L. & Frost, R. 1992. The reading process is different for different orthographies: The orthographic depth. In Orthography, Phonology, Morphology, and Meaning, R. Frost & L. Katz (eds), 67-84. Amsterdam: North Holland. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaufman, I., Yifat, R., Kupersmitt, J. & Ginzburg, V. 2008. Storybook retelling: Linguistic and narrative choices of preschool children. Bamichlala 20: 91-109. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Khan, G. 1997. Tiberian Hebrew phonology. In Phonologies of Asia and Africa, A.S. Kaye & P.T. Daniels (eds), 85-102. Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I. 2007. The role of letter names in early literacy: The case of multi-phonemic acrophonic names. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 98: 193-216. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I. & Aram, D. 2013. Promoting early literacy via practicing invented spelling: A comparison of different mediation routines. Reading Research Quarterly 48(3): 1–16.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I. & Korat, O. 1993. Sensitivity to phonological, morphological and semantic cues in early reading and writing in Hebrew. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 392: 233-251.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I., Korat, O. & Amsterdamer, P. 1996. Emergent writing among kindergartners: Cross-linguistic commonalities and Hebrew-specific issues. In Current Trends in Writing Research: Theories, Models and Methodology, G. Rijlaarsdam, H. van der Bergh & M. Couzijn (eds), 398-419. Amsterdam: AUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I., Patel, S., Margalit, T. & Barad, N. 2002. Letter names: Effect on letter saying spelling and word recognition in Hebrew. Applied Psycholinguistics 23: 269-300. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I., Ravid, D. & Rappaport, S. 2001. Morphology and spelling among Hebrew-speaking children: From kindergarten to first grade. Journal of Child Language 28: 741-772. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I., Share, D.L., & Shatil, E. 1996. A qualitative-quantitative study of preschool writing: Its development and contribution to school literacy. In The Science of Writing, M. Levy & S. Ransdell (eds), 271-293. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin I., Shatil-Carmon S. & Asif-Rave O. 2006. Learning of letter names and sounds and their contribution to word recognition. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 93: 139–165. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levin, I. & Tolchinsky-Landsmann, L. 1989. Becoming literate: Referential and phonetic strategies in early reading and writing. European Journal of Behavior Development 12: 369-384. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luria, A.R. 1929/1978. The development of writing in the child. In The Selected Writings of A.R. Luria, M. Cole (ed.) 145-194. New York NY: M.E Sharpe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meyler, A. & Breznitz, Z. 1998. Developmental aspects of visual and verbal short-term memory and the acquisition of decoding skill. Reading and Writing 10: 519-540. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Muter, V., Hulme, C., Snowling, M.J. & Stevenson, J. 2004. Phonemes, rimes, vocabulary and grammatical skills as foundations of early reading development: Evidence from a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology 40: 665–681. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. 2000. Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: US Government Printing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nir-Sagiv, B. & Berman, R.A. 2010. Complex syntax as a window on contrastive rhetoric. Journal of Pragmatics 42: 744-765. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ofek, A. 1991. La Fontaine’s Fables. Tel Aviv: Alumot. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pappas, C. 1993 Is narrative "Primary"? Some insights from kindergarteners' pretend readings of stories and information books. Journal of Reading Behavior 25: 97-129.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perfetti, C.A. 2003. The universal grammar of reading. Scientific Studies of Reading 7(1): 3–24. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pontecorvo, C. & Zucchermaglio, C. 1988. Modes of differentiation in children's writing. European Journal of Psychology III(4): 371-384.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Puranik, C.S. & Lonigan, C.J. 2011. From scribbles to scrabble: Preschool children’s developing knowledge of written language. Reading and Writing 24: 567–589. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Purcell-Gates, V., Duke, N.K. & Martineau, J.A. 2007. Learning to read and write genre-specific text: Roles of authentic experience and explicit teaching. Reading Research Quarterly, 42 1: 8–45. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. 2001. Learning to spell in Hebrew: Phonological and morphological factors. Reading and Writing 14: 459–485. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2005. Hebrew orthography and literacy. In Handbook of Orthography and Literacy, R.M. Joshi & P.G. Aaron (eds), 339-363. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Spelling Morphology: The Psycholinguistics of Hebrew Spelling. Dordrecht: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Bar-On, A. 2005. Manipulating written Hebrew roots across development: The interface of semantic, phonological and orthographic factors. Reading and Writing 18: 231–256. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Haimowitz, S. 2006. The vowel path: Learning about vowel representation in written Hebrew. Written Language and Literacy 9(1): 67–93. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Schiff, R. 2006. Morphological abilities in Hebrew-speaking gradeschoolers from two socio-economic backgrounds: An analogy task. First Language 26: 381-402. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ravid, D. & Tolchinsky, L. 2002. Developing linguistic literacy: A comprehensive model. Journal of Child Language, 29: 417-447. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Read, C. 1986. Children's Creative Spelling. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sandbank, A. 2001. On the interplay of genre and writing conventions in early text writing. In Developmental Aspects in Learning to Write, L. Tolchinsky (ed.), 55-76. Dordrecht: Kluwer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. Writing Narrative texts: A Crosslinguistic and Developmental Study. PhD dissertation, Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. Literacy in kindergarten: Interaction among children and texts. Final report submitted to MOFET Institute and the Department of Teacher Education at the Ministry of Education, Tel Aviv. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scarborough, H.S., Ehri, L.C., Olson, R.K. & Fowler, A.E. 1998. The fate of phonemic awareness beyond the elementary school years. Scientific Studies of Reading 2: 115–142. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schatschneider, C., Fletcher, J.M., Francis, D.J., Carlson, C.D. & Foorman, B.R. 2004. Kindergarten prediction of reading skills: A longitudinal comparative analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology 96: 265–282. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schickedanz, J.A. & Collins, M.F. 2013. So Much More Than the ABCs: The Early Phases of Reading and Writing. Washington DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiff, R. 2003. The effects of morphology and word length on the reading of Hebrew nominals. Reading and Writing 16: 263–287. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Segal-Drori, O., Korat, O., Shamir, A. & Klein, P.S. 2010. Reading electronic and printed books with and without adult instruction: Effects on emergent reading. Reading and Writing 23: 913–930. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shamir, A. & Korat, O. 2007. Developing an educational e-book for fostering kindergarten children's emergent literacy. Computers in the School 24: 125–143. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shany, M., Bar-On, A. & Katzir, T. 2012. Reading different orthographic structures in the shallow-pointed Hebrew script: A cross-grade study in elementary school. Reading and Writing 25: 1217–1238. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Share, D.L. 2004. Knowing letter names and learning letter sounds: A causal connection. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 88: 213–233. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. On the Anglocentricities of current reading research and practice: The perils of overreliance on an “outlier” orthography. Psychological Bulletin, 134: 584–615 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Share, D.L. & Blum, P. 2005. Syllable splitting in literate and pre-literate Hebrew speakers: Onsets and rimes or bodies and codas. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 92: 182–202. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Share, D.L. & Gur, T. 1999. How reading begins: A study of preschoolers’ print identification strategies. Cognition and Instruction 17: 177–213. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Share, D.L., Jorm, A.F., MacLean, R. & Matthews, R. (1984). Sources of individual differences in reading acquisition. Journal of Educational Psychology 76: 1309–1324. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Share, D.L. & Levin, I. 1999. Learning to read and write in Hebrew. In Learning to Read and Write, M. Harris & G. Hatano (eds), 89-111. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shatil, E. 1997. Predicting Reading Ability: Evidence for Cognitive Modularity. PhD dissertation, University of Haifa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snapir, M., Sitton, S. & Russo-Zimet, G. 2012. The Israeli Kindergarten in the 20th Century. Ben Gurion University: Ben Gurion Research Institute. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sulzby, E. 1985. Children's emergent reading of favorite storybooks: A developmental study. Reading Research Quarterly, 20: 458-481. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swanson, H.L. & Berninger, V. 1996. Individual differences in children's working memory and writing skill. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 63: 358–385. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tolchinsky, L. 2003. The Cradle of Culture: What Children Know about Writing and Numbers before Being Taught. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. From text to language and back: The emergence of written language. In Handbook of Writing Research, C. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (eds), 83-95. New York NY: Guilford.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tolchinsky-Landsmann, L. & Levin, I. 1985. Writing in preschoolers: An age related analysis. Applied Psycholinguistics 6: 319-339. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1987. Writing in four to six year olds: Representation of semantic and phonetic similarities and differences. Journal of Child Language 14: 127-144 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tolchinsky, L., Levin, I., Aram, D. & McBride Chang, C. 2012. Building literacy in alphabetic, abjad and morphosyllabic systems. Reading and Writing 25: 1573–1598. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tolchinsky, L. & Teberosky, A. 1998. The development of word segmentation and writing in two scripts. Cognitive Development 13: 1-21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Treiman R. & Kessler B. 2003. The role of letter names in the acquisition of literacy. In Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Vol. 31, R. Kail (ed.), 105–135. San Diego CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L.S. 1931[1995]. Historia del Desarrollo de las Funciones Psíquicas Superiores. Madrid: Visor.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yaden, D.B. Jr., Rowe, D.W. & MacGillivray, L. 2000. Emergent literacy: A polyphony of perspectives. In Handbook of Reading Research, Vol. 3, M. Kamil, P.D. Pearson, P. Mosenthal, & R. Barr (eds.), 425-454. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zeltser, H. 1995. How do you write a word? From productive to conventional writing. Maxshavot Ktuvot 12-13: 56-65. (in Hebrew)Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Khattab, Ghada & Tamar Keren-Portnoy
2025. How Templatic Is Arabic Input to Children? The Role of Child-Directed-Speech in the Acquisition of Semitic Morpho-Phonology. Language and Speech DOI logo
Deri, Eti, Antonia Cascales Martínez & María Encarnación Carrillo García
2022. Métodos para la enseñanza del hebreo moderno. Revista Científica UISRAEL 9:2 ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo
Tolchinsky, Liliana
2018. Going beyond. In tribute to Annette Karmiloff-Smith /Ir más allá. En homenaje a Annette Karmiloff-Smith. Infancia y Aprendizaje 41:1 ► pp. 56 ff. DOI logo
Berman, Ruth A.
2017. Developing construals of a narrative event sequence. In Social Environment and Cognition in Language Development [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 21], ► pp. 199 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue