The preschool years are vitally important for emergent literacy. Reading lies on a developmental continuum with the language skills learned as young children crucial to later literacy. Letter knowledge has been shown to be a unique predictor of decoding skills. This investigation will monitor preschoolers aged 3;6 - 4;6 whose first language (L1) is English and who are learning their heritage language, Cherokee, in an immersion classroom in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Few studies of language learners provide information about the students' abilities in their L1 as they learn a second language (L2). This study aims to collect data concerning the development of emergent literacy skills in English, the L1, and in Cherokee, the L2, of children growing up with experience in the two languages. The questions to be addressed are: 1) Do children have better identification of the English alphabet or the Cherokee syllabary representations? 2) Are the children's English language skills continuing to develop as they acquire a L2, Cherokee? and 3) Is the exposure to English in the children's home and non-school environment sufficient to encourage the children's emerging literacy in English?
