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Comparing the effects of different book reading techniques on young children’s language development

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Abstract

The purpose of this research study is to compare the effects of digital, dialogic and traditional reading on children’s language development aged 48–66 months. Fifty-six randomly selected children enrolled in three different classrooms in a public preschool in Turkey participated in the study. The three classrooms were again randomly assigned as digital, dialogic and traditional reading groups. During the reading activities, a total of 24 storybooks were read by each group every three times in 8 weeks. While the children’s language scores (the receptive and expressive language scores) resulted in a significant increase in dialogic reading, the children’s language scores in a digital and traditional reading group slightly changed during the intervention. Alternatively, qualitative data suggested that the interaction between teacher and children and between children and children were very limited in a digital and traditional reading group and that limited interaction during reading was the underlying cause of the insignificant increase in children’s language scores.

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This study was supported by Scientific Research Coordination Unit of Pamukkale University under the Project Number 2014EĞBE008.

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  1. Early Childhood Education Department, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey

    Zeynep Ceren Şimşek & Nesrin Işıkoğlu Erdoğan

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  1. Zeynep Ceren Şimşek
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Şimşek, Z.C., Işıkoğlu Erdoğan, N. Comparing the effects of different book reading techniques on young children’s language development. Read Writ 34, 817–839 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-020-10091-9

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