Definitions for "Emergent literacy"
A range of activities and behaviors related to written language, including those undertaken by very young children who depend on the cooperation of others and/or on creative play to deal with the material; reading and writing related activities and behaviors that change over time, culminating in conventional literacy during middle childhood.
Literacy learning conceptualized as developmental, with no clear beginning or end, rather than as proceeding in distinct sequence.
The first stage of literacy development. This is the developmental process of literacy acquisition lasting from birth until letter-sound associations are used to sound out words. It involves oral language development and learning about the functions of print.
The developing knowledge a child possesses of words and text that is gained prior to the onset of formal instruction.