“Let’s Read Together”: A Parent-Focused Intervention on Dialogic Book Reading to Improve Early Language and Literacy Skills in Preschool Children

Abstract

Many children are at risk for reading difficulties because of inadequate emergent literacy skills. It is widely accepted that development of emergent literacy skills is strictly related to children’s early literacy experiences at home and school. Dialogic reading is an evidence-based intervention to promote the language skills of preschool children. This study examined the feasibility and efficacy of a parent-focused dialogic book reading intervention that aimed to foster the early language and literacy skills of pre-school children. A sample of 40 Italian preschoolers (Mage = 62.9 months, SD = 6.3) and their parents were divided into three groups: treatment group (n = 12); information group (n = 12) and control group (n = 16). The efficacy of the intervention for oral language skills was examined by analyzing the improvements from pre- to post-intervention in children’s oral language outcomes, through ad hoc and standardized tasks; specifically, by measuring proximal and distal abilities. Additionally, we analyzed the intervention effects on parent–child interaction and dialogic behaviors during shared book reading. Results suggest that a relatively brief intervention (6 weeks) using dialogic book reading strategies can lead to sustained improvements in early language and literacy skills in preschoolers (both proximal and distal) and in parent dialogic behaviors during shared book reading.

The Effects of Practice-Based Coaching on the Implementation of Shared Book Reading Strategies for Speech-Language Pathology Assistants and Paraeducators Working With Children With Language Delays

“…For example, a child who was able to provide two examples and a clear definition of a word would receive the same score as a child who provided only a clear definition. Future work could consider an approach measuring both vocabulary and comprehension of inferences (Dicataldo et al, 2022), which may better capture and represent the preschoolers’ knowledge. We also acknowledge child gains cannot be 100% attributed to this intervention.…”

Global Trends in Preschool Literacy (PL) Based on Bibliometric Analysis: Progress and Prospects

“…The analysis of specific document sources, citations, keyword networks, institutions, and document types allows for a detailed description of an emerging field. Prior research has often relied on experiments or investigations to assess the important role of PL in early education, including the effectiveness of literacy skills in post-school reading and writing learning [9,39]. In response, there is a need to identify an appropriate approach that can summarize and evaluate the place of PL in early education and identify pathways for future research.…”

“…In recent decades, the area of PL has attracted many educational practitioners and academics who have taken great interest in studying children's language, reading, and writing [7][8][9], as well as discussing the role of home and school environments in children's literacy in depth [10,11]. Nonetheless, questions are beginning to emerge about how to teach literacy in preschool, how to create sustainable learning environments, how to develop indicators of early literacy, and how to effectively help children learn [12,13].…”

Development and validation of assessment tools for literacy and numeracy skills in early childhood education

“…Many children may have difficulty reading (Dicataldo et al, 2022) because their literacy skills are not developed early in childhood. Oral language skills, which include using vocabulary expressively and understanding codes and symbols (such as phonological awareness), are closely linked to early literacy.…”

“…Therefore, it is very important for children to develop the ability to understand and use language expressively from an early age (Whitehurst and Lonigan, 1998). Therefore, many studies with various interventions only use expressive or receptive vocabulary development as a learning outcome (Dicataldo et al, 2022;Senechal and Cornell, 1993). Children's early language abilities usually include both receptive and expressive skills.…”