Professor and Callier Research Scholar
Ph.D., University of Washington
Child Language, Preliteracy

Email: annevk@utdallas.edu
Phone: 214-905-3147
Office: CD A.101

Research Interests

My research focuses primarily on preliteracy development, socialization, assessment, and intervention, both in children who are typically developing and those with language disorders. I am also interested in both cultural and historical variation in beliefs and practices that impact children’s preliteracy development. My recent work has centered on preschool foundations for later reading comprehension, particularly higher-level reading comprehension that is so essential to academic success. This has led to an interest in the ability of preschool-aged children to engage in inferencing—an ability central to reading comprehension. My current studies are focused on preschoolers’ ability to make inferences about stories read to them, and the impact of engaging them in inferencing on their ability to retell stories.

Recent Publications

van Kleeck, A. (2008). Providing preschool foundations for later reading comprehension: The importance of and ideas for targeting inferencing in book-sharing interventions. Psychology in the Schools, 46 (6), 1 – 17.

van Kleeck, A. (2007, August 14). SLPs' foundational role in reading comprehension: A response to Kamhi. The ASHA Leader, 12 (10), 32 - 33.

van Kleeck, A. (Ed.) (2006). Sharing books and stories to foster language and literacy. San Diego: Plural Publishing.

van Kleeck, A., Stahl, S., & Bauer, E. (Eds.) (2003). On Reading books to children: Parents and teachers, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.