The authors investigated the influence of teaching letter names and sounds in isolation or in the context of storybook reading on preschool children's early literacy learning and engagement during instruction. Alphabet instruction incorporated paired-associate learning of correspondences between letter names and sounds. In decontextualized…

Research has indicated that reading aloud to young students can enhance their foundational reading skills and their reading motivation, but such research has been lacking in African contexts. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of story read-aloud lessons in improving students' foundational reading skills in Nigeria. The experiment took place…

Researchers have consistently found a link between the quality of early parent-child book-reading interactions and children's language skill. Two aspects of quality (level of abstraction and utterance function) were examined simultaneously in the current study to further refine our understanding of how parents' talk during shared reading predicts…

The authors examined whether different measures of print exposure assess the same underlying concept and how these different measures relate to vocabulary breadth and depth. One hundred forty-seven students attending the third year of kindergarten in Jining, China, were assessed on nonverbal IQ, vocabulary breadth and depth, and their knowledge of…

This study examined the relation between exposure to shared book reading and Spanish-speaking English learners' (ELs'; n = 102) narrative production and comprehension skills in kindergarten (mean age = 6.12 years). Audio- and videotaped book-reading sessions in Spanish were coded in terms of teachers' extratextual talk and gestures. Using a silent…

This study examined how providing either primary- or English-language storybooks for home reading followed by classroom storybook reading and vocabulary instruction in English influenced English vocabulary acquisition. Participants in the study were preschool children (N = 33), from low socioeconomic status families, whose primary language was…

Investigates the extent that reading aloud to children in the classroom aids them in acquiring new vocabulary. Finds that oral story reading constitutes a significant source of vocabulary acquisition, whether or not the reading is accompanied by teacher explanation of word meanings. (RS)

Examines whether storybook exposure and the amount of teaching in reading and writing skills reported by middle-class parents were related to oral language skills and written language skills of kindergarten children. Shows that storybook exposure explained statistically significant unique variance in children's oral language skills but not in…

A study was conducted to assess the differences in beginning second-grade students' recalls after reading a story with a well-formed structure and after reading a story with little structure. Results indicated the importance of providing children with reading selections that conform to their expectations for well-structured stories. (HOD)

In this article, the author presents a study which focused on some of the gaps in current knowledge about vocabulary acquisition from storybook reading. First, the study examined the effects of storybook reading on the vocabulary acquisition of 4- and 5-year-olds. Second, the study not only employed repeated readings of stories but also employed…

Reexamines the findings of M.C. Sadoski regarding the relationships of imagery self-reports to a variety of story comprehension and recall measures. (HOD)

A counterbalanced, within-subjects design was carried out to study the efficacy of electronic books in fostering kindergarten children's emergent story understanding. The study compared effects of children's independent reading of stories electronically with effects of printed books read aloud by adults. Participants were 18 four- to five-year-old…

Reports results of measuring children's comprehension of basal reader stories that had been revised based on notions of the role of prior knowledge in comprehension and the establishment of key story content. (AEA)

Investigates whether listening to stories in literary Arabic would have salutary effects on kindergarten children's emergent literacy skills. Finds that children in the experimental classes outperformed control classes on comprehension and active use of language. Concludes that children can acquire a second register through exposure in school…

Suggests that self-reported story climax imagery is related to deeper levels of processing on reading comprehension measures that do not rely disproportionately on verbal reasoning processes. (AEA)