Children at the emergent stage of literacy development are beginning to recognise the relationship between alphabetic symbols and the sounds they represent. They also increasingly understand that print conveys meaning and that the tools of writing can lend themselves to experimentation.

Children’s names are related to their identity and are usually the first forms of their understanding of the relationship between sounds and print. Being exposed to sounds in their name is the start to their awareness of sounds and how sounds can be translated into words and print.