Early Literacy Research Library (ELRL) - Article

Does shared reading between parents and children affect the development of emerging literacy?

Batista Rocha, J. C., & da Mota, M. M. P. E. (2023). Does shared reading between parents and children affect the development of emerging literacy?. Trends in Psychology, 31(2), 307-317.,

Access: Institutional Access

Publication year

2023

study description

Cross-Sectional

core topic(s)

Early Literacy , Early Relational Health , Shared Reading

Population Characteristics

International , Toddler/Preschool

Exposures, Outcomes, Other

Child Behaviors and Skills , Home Language/Literacy/Learning Environment , Home Routines , Parent Behaviors and Skills , Parent-Provider Relationships/Interactions

objectives

The present study aimed to investigate whether the different styles of interaction during shared reading between parents and children influenced the development of the precursors of literacy or emerging literacy (phonological awareness, knowledge of letters, and vocabulary)

exposure

Shared reading

outcomes evaluated

Description and duration of daily home literacy activities, phonological awareness, knowledge of letters, and vocabulary tests were applied with the children

setting

4 private preschools in the city of Niterói

methods

In this way, a diary was kept regarding the description and duration of daily home literacy activities, and the shared reading profile was reported by parents and guardians. Phonological awareness, knowledge of letters, and vocabulary tests were applied with the children. For data analysis, Student’s t test was performed to analyze possible differences in test performances according to the reading style adopted by the family.

sample size

N=43 families

measures

– Socioeconomic data: To assess the economic class of the families, the Brazilian economic classification criterion was used. This criterion consists of a questionnaire, based on household aspects, consumer goods, education of the head of the family, and access to public services such as running water and asphalt on the street.
– Phonological Awareness Assessment – CONFIAS – Phonological Awareness Sequential Assessment Tool
– Knowledge of the names of letter evaluation- task in which students should name the letters that were displayed on cards with different letters and presented at random
– Vocabulary test- This test was based on the boards of the USP Auditory Vocabulary Test
– Home literacy activity diary- A diary describing the home literacy activities and the cognitive precursors of literacy was given to those responsible, with them needing to provide information about the activities performed during a week that reflected reality, that is, the usual routine of the family, indicating the frequency and the duration.

results

In summary, the results demonstrated the shared reading style that expands children’s vocabulary promoted significant improvements in the scores in the phonological awareness and vocabulary tests compared to the other styles.

conclusions

It was concluded that the results obtained contribute to emphasize the importance of reading and can guide families and pedagogical practices to obtain better results.

limitations

One of the limitations of this study is the small sample size. Although many of the parents recognized the importance of research for the development of education in the country and at first showed interest in participating, subsequently, they did not authorize the child’s participation or did not return the completed home literacy diary, which made the participation of these children unfeasible. Another limitation refers to the fact that the early childhood education variable was not controlled, with it being possible that the length of time that the children had attended early childhood education and the pedagogical practices adopted by the different schools could have influenced the development of these literacy precursors.

Related