Enhancing parent-child relationship through dialogic reading

Dialogic reading (DR) has been identified as an effective strategy for enhancing children’s literacy skills in Western and Asian contexts. Given that storytelling is a shared experience between adults and children, parent–child relationships is hypothesised to be enhanced by DR. Despite this possibility, there has been no systematic attempt to examine the possible impacts of DR on the parent–child relationship. This study bridges this gap in the literature by studying the relationship between adults and children before and after training in the practice of dialogic reading techniques. Forty-eight Cantonese-speaking parents with children aged between 3 and 12 were recruited from schools. They were assessed prior to and after undergoing a four-hour dialogic reading training programme with a two-hour follow-up session using the Parent–Child Relationship Inventory. The results of this study suggest that DR has considerable potential for improving parent–child relationships. The findings are discussed in relation to the situation of Chinese learners in the Hong Kong context.     

ELL preschoolers’ English vocabulary acquisition from storybook reading

This study investigates the effects of rich explanation, baseline vocabulary, and home reading practices on English language learning (ELL) preschoolers’ sophisticated vocabulary learning from storybook reading. Eighty typically developing preschoolers were pretested in L1 (Portuguese) and L2 (English) receptive vocabulary and were assigned to experimental or control groups. Eight books were selected and paired. Experimental participants heard books read three times over a 3-week period with rich explanations of target vocabulary. Controls heard stories read without explanations. Parents completed questionnaires about the frequency, content, and language of home reading practices. Rich explanation, initial L2 vocabulary, and frequency of home reading make significant contributions to sophisticated word learning from storyreading. Findings have important implications for L2 vocabulary acquisition in ELL preschoolers.     

阅读对英语词汇记忆的重要作用

阅读是符合艾宾浩斯记忆遗忘规律的有效的词汇学习方法.阅读可分为反复精细阅读及快速而大量的广泛阅读两类.不同阅读类型对词汇记忆有不同的影响.反复精细阅读有利于短时间把“新词汇”转化为“积极词汇.快速而大量的广泛阅读有利于把大量“新词汇”转化为“消极词汇”,并逐渐把它们转化为“积极词汇”.为了获得良好的词汇学习效果,学习者应当选择有趣的阅读材料并控制阅读的难度.为了获得良好的词汇记忆效果,学习者应当多管齐下,把阅读与听力、写作及口语表达有机结合起来.     

English expressive vocabulary growth and its unique role in predicting English word reading: A longitudinal study involving Hong Kong Chinese ESL children

This longitudinal study examined the developmental trajectory of English expressive vocabulary and its relationship to English word reading in a sample of 141 Hong Kong children learning English as a second language (ESL). The children were observed six times at 3-month intervals over 15 months, from the spring of their second year of kindergarten (K2) to the end of their third year (K3). The development of English expressive vocabulary was nonlinear during the assessment period. With age, nonverbal IQ, English phonological awareness, letter knowledge and Chinese character reading controlled, the initial level of expressive vocabulary predicted English word reading 15 months later. More importantly, the expressive vocabulary growth rate during the 15 months also predicted English word reading. Our findings underscore the predictive power of the growth trajectory of expressive vocabulary in Hong Kong ESL children. Practical implications of the study are discussed.     

The role of vocabulary components in second language learners' early reading comprehension

Background

In countries with German as an official language, children with German as a second language perform overall worse in school than their German native speaking peers. This particularly affects written language skills, which require advanced language knowledge. The reasons are manifold, but one is prominent, namely poor vocabulary knowledge. Vocabulary, however, consists not only of the number of known words but also of a complex and hitherto under-researched lexico-semantic framework, which is referred to as vocabulary depth.

Method

In the present study, a sample of 373 children (322 German native speakers and 51 with German as a second language) was examined longitudinally in Grade 2 and 3 for their reading comprehension and vocabulary breadth and depth. Vocabulary depth was defined as relational and semantic word knowledge. Latent change score models on vocabulary breadth and depth development including reading precursor skills, non-verbal intelligence and SES were conducted.

Results

The children with German as a second language scored lower than the native German speakers in reading and vocabulary tests, with the difference in vocabulary depth being more pronounced than in vocabulary breadth. Importantly, the differences did not tend to diminish over time, which could have been expected. The differences in reading comprehension can be accounted for mainly by the variations in vocabulary, especially in vocabulary depth.

Conclusions

These findings emphasise the importance of including not only vocabulary breadth but also vocabulary depth in the context of reading research on children who do not speak the majority language.

     

Mediation in the relationship among EL status,vocabulary, and science reading comprehension

The authors investigated the mediating effects of general academic and science-specific vocabulary on science reading comprehension among English learners (ELs) of varied proficiency. The sample included 169 regular education Grade 7 students (86 current ELs; 83 former ELs) enrolled in 1 urban school in Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The results indicated that both vocabulary types—rarely explicitly taught at the secondary level—were significant contributors to reading comprehension, above and beyond EL status. The full parallel mediation model accounted for 55% of the variance in science reading comprehension. Notably, the mediating effects of both vocabulary types were significant and statistically similar in size, yet, not sufficient to fully explain ELs' reading scores. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

主题阅读策略在内隐词汇习得中的应用

本文首先对内隐学习理论的定义及特点进行了归纳和分析,接着指出泛读教学中内隐词汇习得的有效性,并提出在阅读教学中采用主题阅读策略可以更有效地促进内隐词汇的习得。     

Increasing the sight vocabulary and reading fluency of children requiring reading support: the use of a Precision Teaching approach

This article outlines the impact of an eight-week Precision Teaching (PT) intervention on the sight vocabulary, reading fluency and reading attainment scores of a group of Irish primary school pupils. This study also sought to evaluate the role of PT in facilitating formative assessment of pupils’ progress. Employing a mixed-method approach, this study comprised a quasi-experimental design and qualitative interviews involving 40 Irish primary school pupils and seven Learning Support Teachers. Following intervention, a mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance confirmed the differential growth in sight vocabulary scores across the control and intervention groups. Notably, the latter group displayed a greater increase in magnitude in sight vocabulary following intervention, paralleled by statistically significant increases in reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension standard scores and overall reading ability composite scores. Semi-structured interviews highlighted PT as an effective strategy in facilitating formative assessment and a highly motivational tool in education. Results are interpreted in light of relevant literature, with implications for practice and future research discussed.     

Evaluating an improved quality preschool program in rural Bangladesh

An important goal of education in developing countries is to implement and improve early childhood education. A pre–post intervention–control design was used to compare a piloted-revised versus a regular preschool program offered by an organization in rural Bangladesh. After 7 months in operation, the quality of the piloted-revised program was higher than the regular program, though the regular program had also improved. Children attending pilot preschools made greater gains than children attending regular preschools on most outcome measures. Action research was conducted alongside the quantitative evaluation to study the process of the implementation and to identify areas for further improvement.     

英语词汇附带习得的影响因素及其研究

词汇学习在任何语言学习中都至关重要,英语学习也不例外。许多研究者对词汇附带习得都有深入的研究,特别是近几年,对其进行的实证研究越来越多,而研究的基础则是影响词汇附带习得的主要因素。文章从国内外对词汇附带习得的研究回顾、影响词汇附带习得的因素等方面进行探讨。     

Enhancing preschool children's vocabulary: Effects of teacher talk before,during and after shared reading

This observational study analyzed patterns of teacher extratextual talk as it occurs before, during, and after reading books to children, and the frequency and duration of teacher questioning by type (label, define, associate) on preschoolers’ receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge. Over the course of 18 weeks, 13 teachers and 100 children participated in ninety 20-min small-group sessions of teacher-guided shared reading instruction. Teachers’ reading instruction was examined through videotaped observations using the Multi-Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (MOOSES™; Tapp, Wehby, & Ellis, 1995). Two findings, in particular, yielded relevant educational and theoretical implications. First, time spent after reading was significantly related to expressive vocabulary. However, question timing did not seem to matter in terms of receptive vocabulary outcomes. Second, duration of teacher association questioning was significantly related to receptive vocabulary outcomes while both frequency and duration of teacher vocabulary-related association-level questioning were related to expressive vocabulary. For receptive vocabulary, both vocabulary- and comprehension-related association-level questioning mattered. These findings complement the body of work demonstrating that engaging children in interactive shared reading that elicits their active participation is related to meaningful gains in children's language and literacy growth. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.     

The association between maltreatment and obesity among preschool children

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether child maltreatment is associated with obesity in preschool children. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study of 4898 children born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 large US cities. At 3 years of age, 2412 of these children had their height and weight measured, and mothers answered items on the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales about three types of child maltreatment--neglect, corporal punishment, and psychological aggression. The frequency of each type of maltreatment behavior in the prior year was analyzed using categories--ever/never for neglect and quintiles for the other two types of maltreatment. Child obesity was defined as measured body mass index (kg/m(2)) > or =95th percentile. RESULTS: Eighteen percent of the children were obese, and the prevalence of any episode of neglect, corporal punishment, and psychological aggression was 11%, 84%, and 93%, respectively. The odds of obesity were increased in children who had experienced neglect (odds ratio 1.56, 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.14), after controlling for the income and number of children in the household, the mothers' race/ethnicity, education, marital status, body mass index, prenatal smoking, and age, and the children's sex and birth weight. Neither the frequency of corporal punishment nor psychological aggression was associated with an increased risk of obesity. CONCLUSIONS: In a sample of preschool children from 20 large US cities, maternal self-report of neglectful behavior was associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity, after controlling for birth weight, maternal obesity, and multiple socioeconomic factors.     

First and second language vocabulary affect early second language reading comprehension development

The aim of this study was to examine variation in early reading comprehension development for second language (L2) readers compared with first language (L1) readers and to investigate the impact of vocabulary knowledge in their first and second language. Participants were 75 Dutch monolingual children (L1 readers) and 71 Turkish–Dutch bilingual children (L2 readers), aged between 6 and 8 years old at the start of the study. In a longitudinal design, three waves of data were collected across second and third grades. The L2 readers had lower reading comprehension scores than the L1 readers on average, but this performance gap narrowed over time. To further investigate variation among the L2 readers, four categorical subgroups of L2 readers were identified with varying levels of L1 (Turkish) and L2 (Dutch) vocabulary knowledge by means of cluster analysis. Group membership was related to reading comprehension and showed an interaction with time, indicating that reading comprehension performance of the two L2 subgroups with high L1 vocabulary increased more over time compared with L1 readers. The L2 subgroup with high vocabulary in both languages even caught up with their monolingual peers in third grade. These findings demonstrate how individual differences in L1 and L2 vocabulary knowledge explain variation in early L2 reading comprehension development and highlight the importance of considering L2 readers' first language in research and education.     

Untangling the effects of shared book reading: Multiple factors and their associations with preschool literacy outcomes

Evidence strongly suggests that shared book reading at home and in preschool is important for young children's development of the foundational skills required for the eventual mastery of decoding and comprehension. Yet the nuances of how learning from book reading might vary across these contexts and with children's skills are not well understood. One hundred and thirty children participating in a longitudinal investigation of literacy development were videotaped reading a storybook with a parent. Children were also videotaped in their 33 preschool classrooms during the instructional book-reading portion of the day. Readings were coded for adult and child contextualized and decontextualized language relating to both decoding and meaning-making skills, and relations between this talk and emergent literacy outcomes were analyzed. Results demonstrate that parents and teachers overwhelmingly focus their book-related talk on meaning-related rather than code-related information, and that the relations between outcomes and talk depend in part on children's initial levels of vocabulary skills. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

The role of positive peer interactions and English exposure in Spanish-speaking preschoolers’ English vocabulary and letter-word skills

We examined the extent to which positive interactions with peers and the amount of English exposure received from them during social interactions in the fall of preschool contributed to low-income Spanish-speaking children's (N = 107; M_age = 53 months; SD = 4.30 months; 56% boys) English vocabulary and letter-word skills in the spring (controlling for parents’ language use, family income, number of English books at home, and children's nonverbal cognitive abilities). We also examined the mediating roles of children's learning behaviors (e.g., attentiveness, independence, initiative, persistence, and participation) and English oral proficiency in the classroom. The association between positive peer interactions and English vocabulary skills was mediated by children's English oral proficiency, whereas the association between positive peer interactions and English letter-word skills was mediated by children's learning behaviors and English oral proficiency. The associations among peer English exposure and children's English vocabulary and letter-word skills were mediated by children's English oral proficiency. There was also evidence of a transactional association between positive peer interactions and children's learning behaviors and between peers’ and children's English oral proficiency. The findings highlight the importance of peer experiences in fostering Spanish-speaking preschoolers’ English vocabulary and letter-word skills.     

Reading vocabulary influences in phonological recoding during the development of reading skill: a re-examination of theory and practice

Children’s skill at recoding graphemes to phonemes is widely understood as the driver of their progress in acquiring reading vocabulary. This recoding skill is usually assessed by children’s reading of pseudowords (e.g., yeep) that represent “new words.” This study re-examined the extent to which pseudoword reading is, itself, influenced by orthographic rimes (e.g., eep) of words of the child’s reading vocabulary, during the development of reading skill. In Study 1, children with word reading levels of 6–10 years read matched pseudowords that do and do not share an orthographic rime with words of their reading vocabularies. Study 2 was conducted to further examine such a comparison for children of the 6- to 8-year word reading levels. There was a small and constant advantage of shared lexical orthographic rimes for children with reading levels 6–8 years but from 8 to 10 years that advantage increased significantly, as expected by Ehri’s phase account of word reading development. The pseudoword reading of children learning to read English involves use of lexical orthographic components as well as context-free recoding of graphemes to phonemes. This implies a qualification to the common interpretation of pseudoword reading as a measure of context-free grapheme–phoneme recoding. Such a measure should use selected pseudowords that do not share orthographic rime units or other multigrapheme components with words of the children’s reading vocabularies.     

The interrelationships among preschool predictors of reading acquisition for German children

A sample of 169 German children were tested in general verbal ability, verbal memory span, phonological awareness, lexical access speed and accuracy, and letter knowledge in preschool. These tests were used as independent measures predicting performance on second grade reading comprehension, word discrimination, and word decoding speed. Tests of verbal ability, memory capacity, and phonological awareness were also given over a year later in elementary school. After determining that the influence of verbal ability, memory capacity, and phonological awareness on reading comprehension was comparable when measured in preschool and elementary school, the effects of all preschool measures on the three dependent reading measures were assessed. These analyses revealed differential main effects and interactions for the three dependent measures. However, a significant three-way interaction among lexical access, memory capacity, and phonological awareness was found for all three reading measures. These results indicate that the interaction and subsequent effects of these linguistic skills precedes and influences reading acquisition. This is contrary to the view that these skills interact as a result of reading experience. The implications of these results, as well as comparisons of conducting such studies with German rather than English speaking children are discussed.