The researchers addressed two questions: (1) Does maternal reading mediation and family home literacy environment (HLE) relate to childrenÕs emergent literacy (EL) level? and (2) Do the relationships among these variables differ as a function of socioeconomic strata (SES) level. A total of 94 5-6-year-old children, 47 from low SES (LSES) and 47 from high (HSES) families, and their mothers participated. Mother-child interactions while reading an unfamiliar book were videotaped and their verbal expressions were coded for extracting maternal mediation level. ChildrenÕs independent EL level was assessed prior to the interaction. Compared with the LSES group, HSES children showed higher EL levels and their homes had a richer literacy environment. Maternal mediation level differed by SES: LSES mothers paraphrased text more often; HSES mothersÕ higher mediation level included a discussion of the written system and making connections beyond the text. In the HSES group, maternal mediation level and HLE related to childrenÕs EL; no such relationships appeared in the LSES group. Results are discussed in terms of childrenÕs socio-economic background and their reading experiences. Implications for researchers and educational practices about the relationships between childrenÕs literacy development, SES, HLE, and parental mediation are discussed.

The effects of electronic book (e-book) and printed book reading on children's emergent reading with and without adult instruction were investigated. One hundred twenty-eight 5-to 6-year-old kindergarten children from low SES families were randomly assigned to one of four groups (32 children each):(1) independently reading the e-book (EB); (2) reading the e-book with adult instruction (EBI); (3) reading the printed book with adult instruction (PBI); and (4) receiving the regular kindergarten program (control). The three intervention groups included four book-reading sessions each. Pre-and post-intervention emergent reading measures included concept about print (CAP), word reading, and phonological awareness. The results showed that the EBI group achieved greater progress in word reading and CAP than all other groups. The EBI group also achieved greater progress in phonological awareness than the EB and the control groups. Implications for future research and for educators are discussed.

The contribution of repeated e-book reading with and without word explanation support and its effect on receptive and expressive word learning among preschoolers was examined. Seventy-eight kindergartners were randomly divided into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group received two individual reading sessions of an e-book with a dictionary that provided word explanations. The children clicked on hotspots which provided the explanation two more times. The children thus heard the meaning of the word three times in each session, with a total of six times. Not all difficult words received a dictionary explanation. The control group received the regular kindergarten program. The children's receptive word learning, word explanation and production of focal words were tested pre and post intervention. An improvement in all dependent measures was found post-intervention, compared to the control group. The dictionary in the e-book supported not only receptive word learning, but also word explanation. Words that received a dictionary explanation supported word learning better than words which were not included in the dictionary. Furthermore, receiving support six times was more effective than three times. Educational implications are discussed.

Emergent literacy (EL) enhancement has been the goal of numerous educational programs for years, especially for children from low socioeconomic statuses (LSES) (Snow, 1994; Whitehurst, Zevebergen, Crone, Schultz, Velting, & Fischel, 1999). During the past decade, technology software, including electronic books (e-books), have become incorporated within this agenda. One of the common activities in children's education in the Western world in mainstream families is that adults read storybooks to children constantly from a very young age (DeBruin-Parecki, 1999). Studies of the last 4 decades have shown how powerful this activity is, especially for the child's oral language, with less clear results regarding emergent or early literacy (Stahl, 2003; van Kleeck, 2003; Whitehurst et al., 1999). The proposed study examined how e-books compare with traditional printed books in the support of LSES children's EL with and without adult assistance.

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