Reading identities as a developmental process: changes in Chinese-English learners from prekindergarten to kindergarten

ABSTRACT Reading identities are the ways that a person constructs the self as a reader across contexts and time. This study explores reading identities as a developmental process in multilingual children in prekindergarten and kindergarten. Participants were six children ages three to four participating in a Chinese-English family literacy program over a two year period. Children’s reading identities were examined across years and across children to describe areas of development in how children expressed reading identities. Findings describe areas of growth and stability in the reading development of young children that includes their first years of formal schooling.