Mapping the intellectual structure of early reading development research: A bibliometric analysis

Abstrak

Early reading development has become an increasingly important area of research in literacy and language education due to its significant contribution to children’s academic achievement and lifelong learning. This study aimed to map the intellectual structure, publication trends, dominant themes, influential publications, and emerging research directions in early reading development research published between 2020 and 2026. The study employed a bibliometric research design using data retrieved from Google Scholar through Publish or Perish. A total of 500 publications were collected and analyzed using VOSviewer to generate network, overlay, and density visualizations based on co-occurrence analysis. The findings revealed a fluctuating yet generally positive publication trend, with the highest number of publications recorded in 2025 (102 publications; 20.44%) and the lowest among completed publication years in 2023 (63 publications; 12.63%). The co-occurrence analysis identified several dominant themes, including literacy skill, oral language ability, phonological awareness, language comprehension, early literacy skill, and home literacy environment. In addition, the results demonstrated that early reading development research has evolved into an interdisciplinary field integrating literacy education, psychology, linguistics, and educational technology. Emerging themes such as digital literacy, inclusive literacy education, and technology-assisted literacy learning further indicate the shifting direction of contemporary literacy research. Overall, this study provides a comprehensive overview of the intellectual landscape of early reading development research and offers important implications for future literacy and language education studies.