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oai:figshare.com:article/34009134 2026-09-28T05:36:05Z category_129 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Supplementary file 1_Concrete reading theory: embodied anchors for early literacy in digital contexts.docx Adel F. Amer (25119753) Education Arabic literacy embodied cognition functional anchors neurocognitive development orthographic learning tactile scaffolding Background<p>Foundational literacy models have long privileged visual–auditory decoding pathways, systematically marginalising the haptic, proprioceptive, and affective systems that evolutionarily predate symbolic processing. The accelerating digital transformation of early childhood has compounded this problem by replacing hands-on, material engagement with screen-mediated interaction, raising urgent questions about the sensorimotor foundations of orthographic learning.</p>Hypothesis/theory<p>We propose Concrete Reading Theory (CRT), a neurocognitive framework positing that durable literacy acquisition is hypothesised to depend on functional anchors—multisensory, affectively charged cognitive structures that bind abstract orthographic symbols to concrete sensorimotor networks. “Concrete” refers not to physical materials alone but to the neurocognitive act of concretising: grounding arbitrary symbols in embodied experience. CRT extends existing embodied cognition frameworks by generating a falsifiable neurophysiological prediction: that multisensory convergence during early orthographic learning may manifest as gamma-band synchrony (30–100 Hz) in temporo-parietal circuits. Where gamma measurement is not feasible in young child populations, complementary electrophysiological markers—specifically the N170 and P200 event-related potential components—and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) connectivity offer more accessible validation targets at the current stage of research.</p>Methods<p>CRT is operationalised through the Juthur Applied Model, a four-phase tactile scaffolding intervention piloted in Arabic-speaking early childhood classrooms (ages 4–8; N = 142 children across six classrooms). Pilot data comprised structured observations using the Relational Presence Index (RPI), teacher reflective journals, child work samples, and video-coded focal episodes. An independent trained coder double-coded a random 20% subset of recorded sessions [Cohen's κ = 0.86, 95% CI (0.79, 0.93)].</p>Results<p>Three observational patterns emerged consistent with CRT's core propositions: amplified relational presence following tactile episodes [r = .71, p < .01, 95% CI (.58,.81)]; non-linear, burst-like literacy emergence coinciding with affect-rich moments; and scaffolded sensory withdrawal associated with deeper kinaesthetic encoding and stronger short-term retention, with an indicative, non-causal effect size estimate of d = 0.68 [bootstrap 95% CI (0.31, 1.04)] for the sensory-withdrawal contrast. These patterns do not establish causality.</p>Conclusion<p>CRT offers a mechanistic, falsifiable framework for how embodied, multisensory instruction may scaffold early orthographic learning. Four testable hypotheses guide a pre-registered randomised controlled trial (N ≈ 720) now approaching analysis, which will provide the causal evidence necessary to confirm, refine, or refute the theory.</p> 2026-09-28T05:36:05Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/feduc.2026.1880655.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Supplementary_file_1_Concrete_reading_theory_embodied_anchors_for_early_literacy_in_digital_contexts_docx/34009134 CC BY 4.0