Literature Review : Syllabic Method and the Role of Orthography in Early Childhood Literacy Development

Etin Nuurhayati Etin (a:1:{s:5:"en_US"s:19:"Universitas Terbuka"})
Mukti Amini (Universitas Terbuka)
Dzakirman Dzakirman (Universitas Terbuka)
Erie Siti Sarah (Universitas Terbuka)

Journal of Early Childhood Education and Teaching
Vol. 1 No. 3 (2025): Journal of Early Childhood Education and Teaching

Purpose – This study aims to analyze the role of orthography in early childhood literacy development by emphasizing the importance of syllable-based learning in languages with transparent orthography, such as Indonesian. Understanding how orthographic structure influences phonological awareness is essential for designing effective literacy instruction during early childhood. Design/methods/approach – This study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach guided by the PRISMA protocol. A total of 29 peer-reviewed articles published between 2019 and 2024 were selected through strict inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure methodological rigor and research quality. The review focused on examining the relationship between orthographic transparency, phonological awareness, and early literacy acquisition. Findings – The results demonstrate that phonological awareness, which begins with syllable recognition before progressing to phoneme-level awareness, is a strong predictor of early literacy success in transparent orthographic systems. The synthesis identified three major themes: (1) literacy acquisition in transparent orthographies, (2) syllable introduction as the initial stage of phonological awareness development, and (3) key predictors influencing early literacy development. These findings indicate that syllable-based instruction can significantly support early reading and writing acquisition. Research implications/limitations – This study is limited to a systematic literature review and does not include experimental validation. Future research is recommended to conduct empirical investigations examining the effectiveness of syllable-based literacy instruction among preschool-aged children in Indonesia and other contexts with transparent orthographic systems. Originality/value – This study offers a comprehensive synthesis of recent scholarly works examining the relationship between orthography and early literacy development. It provides valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and curriculum designers by highlighting the importance of aligning literacy instruction with linguistic characteristics, particularly through syllable-based learning approaches in early childhood education.