Louise Rosenblatt's well-known concept of stance distinguishes between efferent reading (reading to take something away from the text) and aesthetic reading (reading for the experience of dwelling in the text). This article proposes a refinement to this binary, adding the concept of afferent reading. Afference, in biology, means a bringing-to, and…

In early education, reading difficulties can lead to negative outcomes. Augmented reality (AR) storybooks combine the benefits of e-books and print books, significantly aiding children's reading skills and gaining recognition from scholars and educators. However, the existing AR storybooks often overlook the design of interactive features, which…

The aim of this research was to explore the progression of narrative macro-structure in Chinese children between the ages of 3 and 6 in preschool. To investigate the narratives of young children in a Chinese prefecture-level city kindergarten, the study selected the wordless picture book "Frog, Where Are You?" as their material. They…

Access to books and storybook reading contribute to children's language, literacy and academic development. Homeless children often experience delays in these areas of development; however, their access to books and storybook reading is understudied. This study of 24 children in a family homeless shelter and 27 housed children in the same urban…

In this study particular practices in story retelling ware examined, these improved children's comprehension of story structure and enabled them to made comments within and beyond the story. One hundred fifteen (115) kindergarten children composed the treatment and alternative condition. For 8 weeks and for one time per week, 8 well-structured as…

Previous research has demonstrated that early childhood educators are particularly affected by burnout symptoms, such as emotional exhaustion. However, only few studies exploring preschool quality consider early childhood educators' burnout symptoms as a predictor. Yet we know from other professions that burnout symptoms often lead to reduced job…

Background and aims: Narrative-based language intervention provides a naturalistic context for targeting overall story structure and specific syntactic goals in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Given the cognitive demands of narratives, narrative-based language intervention also has the potential to positively impact related…

Storytelling is a well-established literary practice in language classrooms. However, approaches influencing its effectiveness and efficiency have rarely been investigated. This study compared the effects of three storytelling approaches on the vocabulary acquisition and response patterns of third-grade students of English as a foreign language…

This study examined whether the nominal personalization of a storybook about sharing impacted preschool-aged children's perceived similarity with the main character or their likelihood of comprehending the moral lesson and applying it to their own behavior. Children were read either a personalized story about sharing, a non-personalized story…

Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to examine mothers' sophisticated vocabulary while reminiscing with their preschool-aged children, and its relation to children's story comprehension. The study used a cross-lagged panel design in which all assessments were collected twice, 6 months apart. We also compared two methods of examining…

Digital mediation strategies are key soft skills to develop amongst students as they prepare to interact in increasingly collaborative settings, socially and professionally. Defined as a set of communication strategies deployed to reach mutual agreement over a dispute, mediation enables students' cooperation in task-based language teaching…

This study develops an intercultural and intergenerational model for teaching Mandarin as a second language, aimed at enhancing international students' intercultural communicative competence. Three native Mandarin-speaking kindergarten children in Taiwan, with no English knowledge, participated in a university Mandarin class with international…

Researchers and teachers explored a new form of teacher-child interactions in two early childhood settings as a means of eliciting complex language. The primary mode of assessment in New Zealand early childhood education takes the form of 'learning stories' that teachers write, with photos, and that are collected into a portfolio book. Eight…

While much existing work on digital storytelling with young people has focused prominently upon presenting their own personal narratives and viewpoints, relatively little attention has been given to learning that could arise from digital adaptations by young children of existing and well-known stories. This article reports work exploring learning…

Tender Shoots is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) for parents aimed at improving preschool children's oral language skills relevant for later reading. Parents of 72 preschool children (M = 50 months) were randomly assigned to either a Rich Reading and Reminiscing (RRR) condition, a Strengthening Sound Sensitivity (SSS) condition, or an…