Exploring Maternal Interactions During Shared Book Readings in Indian Home Contexts

The benefits of parent–child storybook reading experiences in the home are well documented. However, there is a dearth of information regarding parent–child storybook reading experiences in Indian home contexts. This study investigated parental perspectives towards storybook reading in the Indian context among 100 parents of typically developing preschool children. In this questionnaire-based study, parental responses were collected and the patterns of reading exposure, child’s interest in reading, storybook reading practices, and attitudes & beliefs towards storybook reading were reported using descriptive statistics. Correlation between demographic variables (i.e., child’s age and socioeconomic status) and storybook reading domains were explored. The majority of parents initiated storybook reading with their children at 2 years of age or older. Parents read to their children one to two times per week for 10 min and had fewer than 10 books in the home. Parents reported that their children were interested in storybook reading and reported the use of quality storybook reading practices. Homes characterized with higher socioeconomic status included more quality home literacy environment factors, although socioeconomic status did not correlate with the parental beliefs and attitudes towards reading. Results provide preliminary information regarding parental perspectives on storybook reading in Indian home contexts and point toward socioeconomic and sociocultural variation in home literacy environments. Understanding more about the parental interactions surrounding storybook reading will facilitate the development of parent programs to enhance and promote quality home literacy environment in Indian home contexts.

Shared book reading at home is a beneficial language and literacy learning experience for young children. While there has been extensive research on shared book reading in general, more is needed on understanding what this looks like for multilingual refugee families and their preschool children, particularly among Burmese families in the United States. Past research has focused on literacy development among Burmese refugee children in the school context, but few studies exist on shared book reading among Burmese refugees and their preschoolers in the home context. This qualitative study highlights four Burmese mothers and their young children’s use of dual language books in shared book reading while incorporating interactive reading strategies like questioning, pointing and extratextual talk. Findings indicate that these mothers’ capacities to engage in book talk and scaffolding promote children's and caregivers' literacy skills. The study also highlights the need for resources and interventions that might be developed to support these families in their efforts to boost young children’s literacy using shared book reading strategies.

Shared book reading in preschool settings plays an influential role in supporting children’s oral language and emergent literacy skills. Early childhood teachers can provide high-quality shared book reading experiences using extratextual utterances (reading beyond the story text) to maximise these learning outcomes. We report on the development and psychometric properties of the ‘Emergent Literacy and Language Early Childhood Checklist for Teachers’ (ELLECCT) tool, a comprehensive observational checklist designed to document early childhood teachers’ extratextual oral language and emergent literacy strategies during shared book reading. The ELLECCT measures teachers’ dialogic reading prompts, vocabulary promotion strategies, responsive statements, print knowledge and phonological awareness. The ELLECCT also contains a rating scale examining paralinguistic and nonverbal strategies used by early childhood teachers to support engagement during shared book reading interactions. The psychometric properties of the ELLECCT were measured in a four-phase process. Content validity was tested using the Content Validity Index and a three-round Delphi process was used to measure face validity. Both intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were evaluated from a sample of 32 shared book reading observations. The study findings provide preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of the ELLECCT, such that it is judged as suitable for evaluation of early childhood teachers’ use of extratextual and paralinguistic strategies while engaged in shared book reading. We describe the ELLECCT’s potential application in both classroom coaching and training, and as a research tool, to support early childhood teachers’ skill-development during shared book reading.

Extra-textual talk (ETT), the spontaneous conversation that occurs alongside the text read aloud during book reading is a common but also critically important feature of shared reading that cultivates interactions and supports the language development of young children. This exploratory review of 45 papers describing observations and measures of spontaneous ETT in parent-and-child dyadic shared reading from 1977 to 2022 illustrates the varying methods of categorization and measurement of the ETT have been used. The purpose of this review was to organize and consolidate this large collection of previous research to address two research questions. First, how can current researchers and practitioners organize this array of systems for measuring and categorizing ETT proposed by past researchers? Across the studies reviewed, three primary approaches for measuring or categorizing parents’ spontaneous ETT were found based on (1) content, (2) overall reader style, or (3) quantity-based measures of volume and complexity. Secondly, this review addressed what specific factors researchers have tested for their impact on extra-textual talk during shared reading. The three major influences on ETT come from variability among (1) readers, (2) children, and (3) the books being shared in support of a triangular model of shared book reading. The specific subcategories used in typing and measuring ETT, as well as the subfactors of those variables that may affect it are discussed.

Children with Down syndrome have speech and language difficulties that are disproportionate to their overall intellectual ability and relative strengths in the use of gesture. Shared book reading between parents and their children provides an effective context in which language development can be facilitated. However, children with Down syndrome often take a passive role in shared book reading and the use of key word signing (KWS) as a shared book reading technique has never been investigated. This study aimed to compare children with Down syndrome's participation and use of KWS across two methods of shared book reading - one in which a book had key-word sign prompts embedded (signed condition) and the other in which a book was read as normal (unsigned condition). Measures of child and parent communicative behaviour were taken in each condition to establish if differences emerged. A total of 36 children with Down syndrome (aged between 18 and 61 months) and their mothers took part in the study. Parent-child dyads were videoed at home reading two books, one in a signed and one in an unsigned condition. Child measures included total number of signs produced in each condition and levels of attention and initiation as measured by the Pivotal Behaviour Rating Scale. Parent measures included total number of utterances, mean length of utterance (MLU) in morphemes and vocabulary diversity (VOCD). Parental measures were transcribed using the Codes for Human Analysis Transcripts (CHAT) software and analysed by the Computerised Language Analysis software (CLAN). Contrasts in outcomes between the signed and unsigned conditions were estimated using Poisson and linear mixed-effects models, determined by the type of data. Results showed that children attempted to sign significantly more in the signed than unsigned condition, as well as showing significant increases in their levels of attention and initiation. There was also a significant increase in the total number of utterances used by parents in the signed versus unsigned condition and a decrease in MLU. VOCD was similar in both conditions. This study shows that the simple act of embedding key word signs into commercially available books, during shared book reading between parents and young children with Down syndrome, positively affects children's participation (initiation and attention) and use of KWS. The use of KWS as a core shared book reading technique may therefore be a fruitful avenue to facilitate growth in the language abilities of young children with Down syndrome. What is already known on this subject Most children with Down syndrome have significant speech and language difficulties, with relative strengths in the use of gesture. Shared book reading is an activity reported to positively affect language. However, children with Down syndrome are reported to take a passive role in shared book reading and are therefore more dependent on their parents to use techniques that facilitate their levels of participation, in order to maximise potential benefits. To the best of our knowledge, the communicative effects of embedding key word signing (KWS) in shared book reading have never been examined with children with Down syndrome. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This is the first study to investigate the communicative impact of parents embedding KWS in a shared book reading activity with their young children with Down syndrome. Our findings show that this relatively simple manipulation resulted in Increase in children's sign attempts. Increase in children's overall participation in shared book reading (indicated by levels of attention and initiation). Increase in the number of utterances produced by parents (primarily as a result of repetitions). Decrease in parental mean length of utterance. These findings suggest that embedding KWS in shared book reading is likely to facilitate increased language abilities in this cohort. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Shared book reading is part of the daily routine for many parents and their children with Down syndrome. Integrating KWS is a relatively simple adaptation to this activity which is likely to enhance children's language skills. Therapists can encourage parents to do this at home to support work carried out at school and in a clinical setting.

Verbal contingencies, promoted by early childhood education, and are important for preschool children to develop their verbal repertoires. Studies indicate that shared book reading (SBR) has a significant effect in developing there repertoires, especially when associated with explicit vocabulary teaching strategies. However, many educators have no knowledge about those strategies or about how SBR can promote learning processes. This research, composed by three studies, has two general purposes: to identify the main vocabulary-teaching strategies used during SBR with preschool children studied by the literature; and develop and implement two interventions: one applied to preschool children, and the other applied to early childhood educators, focused on vocabulary-teaching through SBR. Study 1 consisted in an integrative review of strategies used in SBR activities, tested as a teaching practice, published in different databases between 2006 and 2016. We analyzed 13 articles and identified that all strategies analyzed were positively correlated with gains in several language skills. The Study 2 aimed to test the cumulative effects in the use of word teaching strategies through SBR in word learning by preschool children. Three sessions of SBR of the same story, and one session of one complementary activity about words found in the story were implemented in a class of 13 children, from 4 to 5 years old. In each session, one teaching strategy was implemented to teach nouns and verbs: "Highlight the target word", "Explain the target word", "Start conversations about the target word" and "Complementary Activities". Significant gains (p <0.05) in matching to sample tasks for substantive and more significant gains (p <0.01) in naming tasks, between pre-test and post-test measures were identified . Study 3 tested the effects of a professional development program of word teaching strategies through SBR in measures of strategies' use by three educators (primary measure) and in word learning by children in their class (secondary measure). The Professional development program was composed by a workshop about word teaching strategies trough SBR and collaborative consulting sessions, tested in a multiple baseline design. We identified a raise in strategies' use by all the teachers after the workshop, and also a maintenance and a increase of this use in Telling Story Activity and Complementary Activities periods, respectively, after the implementation of collaborative consulting sessions. Significant gains (p>0,01) in children's matching to sample and definition tasks' performances were also observed. Moreover, collaborative consulting sessions allowed the identification of problems experienced by those educators that had influence, not only in everyday activities, but also activities proposed by this study. This set of studies confirm the efficacy of SBR in teaching verbal repertoires to children and pointed out the necessity of developing more interventions for educators in this area.

Home literacy experiences and observed parent and child behaviors during shared book reading were investigated in preschool-age children with hearing loss and with typical hearing to examine the relationships between those factors and children's language skills. The methods involved parent-reported home literacy experiences and videotaped parent-child dyads during shared book reading. Children's language skills were tested using the Preschool Language Scale-4. The results indicated significant differences between groups for home literacy experiences and observed parent and child behaviors. Parents of children with hearing loss were found to read more frequently to their children than parents of children with typical hearing, yet scored lower for literacy strategies and teaching techniques compared to parents of children with typical hearing. Children with hearing loss scored lower in interactive reading behaviors compared to children with typical hearing. For children with hearing loss, frequency of book reading and child interactive reading behaviors were strong predictive factors for children's language skills. These results suggest that families of children with hearing loss would benefit from professional support as they read storybooks to their children. Similarly, children with hearing loss should be encouraged to be more interactive during shared book reading.

Familial beliefs and abilities play a crucial role in shaping the dynamics of shared book reading between caregivers and their young children. The variations in caregiver shared book reading behaviors significantly impact what and how much a child learns from those experiences. Thus, understanding caregiver beliefs through a strength-based lens is essential to inform the development of resources, recommendations, and interventions that prioritize familial perspectives. This approach is crucial for promoting children’s development, especially in vulnerable communities like migratory families and families experiencing homelessness. Therefore, this qualitative study adopted a strengths-based approach to explore the shared book reading perspectives, practices, and strengths in migratory and unhoused families. Through interviews with 13 caregivers (6 migratory caregivers and 7 unhoused caregivers), a phenomenological analysis revealed key themes of Shared Book Reading as Protection, Shared Book Reading as a Bridge, Reading to Teach, Making Reading Interesting, and Following the Child’s Lead. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the themes can serve as a foundation for the development of future shared book reading resources and interventions in collaboration with migratory and unhoused families, promoting inclusivity and effectiveness by aligning resource development with their unique perspectives and strengths.

Shared book reading in which children actively participate in the reading of a text via discussion or extratextual talk has been well-established as an activity to advance children’s literacy and language learning, and it is a characteristic practice of public library storytime programs. This study scrutinized the extratextual talk that occurred within the shared reading episodes of 15 public library storytime programs. Findings from this study confirm prior assertions that storytime programs hold the promise of advancing children’s early literacy development. With more than two-fifths of librarians’ extratextual utterances at an abstract level of understanding, storytimes serve as a favorable setting for advancing children’s inferencing skills and symbolic understanding. Results also point to areas that librarians might target for improvement including integration of questions requiring extended responses and attention to vocabulary.

ABSTRACTAt start-up of a book distribution programme (Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library) in a southeastern United States community, we examined baseline relationships between at-home shared book reading (SBR) and children’s language/literacy abilities and skills at kindergarten entry. One hundred fifty-two parent/child dyads participated; children (53% male) had a mean age of 5 years, 6 months. Survey data included family demographics, SBR frequency and practices, and children’s interest in reading. Household income and parent education level were positively associated with SBR frequency. Relationships between SBR frequency and children’s performance on measures of print concepts/ reading behaviours, narrative retelling, narrative comprehension, and interest in reading were statistically significant. Performance on a letter naming fluency and phonemic segmentation measure was significantly related to the SBR practice of stopping to ask the child about letters or words but not to SBR frequency. Differential associations are discussed in terms of constrained and unconstrained abilities and skills, with implications for future research.

Research Findings: Shared book reading provides a meaningful context for rich conversations to occur between a child and an adult and offers opportunities for children to be exposed to a range of vocabulary and concepts that often extend beyond their everyday experiences. Few studies have examined parent–child shared book reading as a context for embedding mathematical discussion. The purpose of this study was to examine systematically the effect of training parents to focus on mathematical concepts and vocabulary during shared book reading. Specific research questions were as follows: (a) Did parents increase their use of math talk during shared storybook reading following training? (b) Did parents generalize intervention strategies? And (c) did children increase their use of math talk during shared storybook reading? Results from a yoked multiple-baseline design with 6 dyads indicated variability across the dyads with 2 general patterns. Math talk increased following training for 3 of the dyads, whereas verbal mathematical behavior did not show consistent change for the other 3 dyads. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in the context of home support for early mathematical development.

Shared book reading (SBR) emphasizes dialogue interaction between parents and children during book sharing, as engaging children in conversations during SBR can facilitate language skill development. This time-series study investigated the effect of SBR intervention on the interactional behaviors of parents and children (N = 210 dyads) and children’s expressive language skill development. The parents in the experimental group received a five-week SBR online training. Parents in both the treatment and control groups audio-recorded reading storybooks with their children at baseline (pre-test), post-intervention (post-test 1), and follow-up stages (post-test 2). Response length, number of conversation turns, and children’s expressive language ability were measured. Subsequently, the performance of the experimental and control groups was compared. The findings showed that parents in the experimental group were more responsive, offering significantly longer responses and more conversational turns than the control group. Additionally, children in the experimental group exhibited significantly greater expressive language skills. These findings suggest that the intervention can enhance parents’ ability to facilitate conversations during SBR and improve children’s expressive language skills.

Aims and objectives: The existing literature indicates that shared book reading is associated with benefits in children’s home language development. Parents play a significant role in shaping children’s language outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among the quality of parents’ shared book reading, children’s language output, receptive vocabulary, and expressive vocabulary outcomes in the home language of dual language learners (DLLs) to inform book reading practices that can support DLLs’ early home language development. Methodology: 36 Mexican American (43–67 months) and 31 Chinese American (38–70 months) DLLs and their mothers, who were home language dominant, were recruited from Head Start programs, which are federally funded programs that provide early childhood education to low-income children, in Northern California. Data and analysis: Utterances produced by the parents during parent–child shared book reading were coded for cognitive demand levels. DLLs’ home language expressive vocabulary and receptive vocabulary and information about parents’ demographics and parent–child shared reading frequency were collected. Correlations and hierarchical regression analyses were computed. Findings/conclusions: The findings demonstrated possible cultural differences in mothers’ book reading quality regarding cognitive demand. Although maternal statements and questions were not significantly associated with DLLs’ home language receptive and expressive vocabulary for both groups, asking yes/no, referential, and inferential questions were more likely to evoke more language output from DLLs. Originality: This study extends the literature on home language development of low-income DLLs during parent–child shared reading, as only a few studies have investigated the significance of shared reading in the home language. Significance/implications: The findings of this study yield important implications for parents’ shared reading practices with low-income DLLs. Using all levels of cognitively demanding speech and encouraging DLLs to talk during shared reading may benefit their home language development.

Reading stories to children provides opportunities for word learning. Bilingual children, however, encounter new words in each of their languages during shared storybook reading, and the way in which these words are presented can vary. We compared learning from two types of bilingual book materials: single‐language books and bilingual books. Five‐year‐old English‐French bilinguals (n = 67) were randomly assigned to hear an original story from a balanced bilingual experimenter in one of the two book formats. Children's learning of English and French labels for five novel objects embedded in the story was assessed via a pointing task. Children were successful at learning words in both languages, and performance was not affected by book format nor children's language proficiency. These results suggest that children are flexible word learners and that shared book reading – regardless of book format – is an effective way to teach bilingual children new words in two languages.Highlights In a shared storybook reading task, bilingual 5‐year‐olds encountered new words in two languages via single‐language or bilingual books. Word learning from the two book formats was compared. Both formats supported word learning, regardless of children's language proficiency. Bilingual children are flexible word learners, and shared book reading – regardless of book format – supports bilingual literacy development.

Purpose: Opportunities to actively engage in literacy instruction should be accessible to all students in the classroom. Shared book reading provides a literacy-based context in which teachers may adapt their communication to allow students with a range of abilities to participate. The current study examines teacher communication during shared book-reading activities to understand what specific strategies teachers are using when children with developmental disabilities are included. Method: A shared reading activity was video-recorded in one classroom with and one classroom without students with developmental disabilities. Quantity of teacher communication was measured using the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) tool, while communication functions were measured by adapting the Systematic Assessment of Book Reading. Survey methods reported teachers' typical classroom literacy instruction. Results: While both teachers used similar amounts of language, the teacher with students with developmental disabilities in her classroom used more literacy-related functions (e.g., referencing letters, phonics, decoding) to discuss print concepts and slightly greater communication to support comprehension of the story. Both teachers reported rarely—if not at all—using technology as an instructional strategy. Conclusions: SALT, an adapted assessment, and survey methods may capture differences in teacher communication during shared reading within heterogeneous classrooms. Understanding more about teacher communication yields important implications for intercollaborative practice to allow support for students with a range of abilities within inclusive literacy-based instruction.