Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T23:09:50.558Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Story choice matters for caregiver extra-textual talk during shared reading with preschoolers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 December 2019

Amber MUHINYI*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, UK
Anne HESKETH
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, UK
Andrew J. STEWART
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, UK
Caroline F. ROWLAND
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, University of Liverpool, UK Donders Institute for Brain Cognition and Neuroscience at Radboud University, the Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author: University of Manchester, Oxford Road, A3.14 Ellen Wilkinson Building, ManchesterM13 9PLUK. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the influence of the complexity of the story-book on caregiver extra-textual talk (i.e., interactions beyond text reading) during shared reading with preschool-age children. Fifty-three mother–child dyads (3;00–4;11) were video-recorded sharing two ostensibly similar picture-books: a simple story (containing no false belief) and a complex story (containing a false belief central to the plot, which provided content that was more challenging for preschoolers to understand). Book-reading interactions were transcribed and coded. Results showed that the complex stories facilitated more extra-textual talk from mothers, and a higher quality of extra-textual talk (as indexed by linguistic richness and level of abstraction). Although the type of story did not affect the number of questions mothers posed, more elaborative follow-ups on children's responses were provided by mothers when sharing complex stories. Complex stories may facilitate more and linguistically richer caregiver extra-textual talk, having implications for preschoolers’ developing language abilities.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adrián, J. E., Clemente, R. A., & Villanueva, L. (2007). Mothers’ use of cognitive state verbs in picture-book reading and the development of children's understanding of mind: a longitudinal study. Child Development, 78(4), 1052–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Adrián, J. E., Clemente, R. A., Villanueva, L., & Rieffe, C. (2005). Parent–child picture-book reading, mothers’ mental state language and children's theory of mind. Journal of Child Language, 32(3), 673–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, J., Anderson, A., Lynch, J., & Shapiro, J. (2004). Examining the effects of gender and genre on interactions in shared book reading. Reading Research and Instruction, 43(4), 120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aram, D. (2008). Parent–child interaction and early literacy development. Early Education and Development, 19(1), 16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, D., Mächler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software, 67(1), 148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baydar, N., Küntay, A. C., Yagmurlu, B., Aydemir, N., Cankaya, D., Göksen, F., & Cemalcilar, Z. (2014). ‘It takes a village’ to support the vocabulary development of children with multiple risk factors. Developmental Psychology, 50(4), 1014–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bus, A. G., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Pellegrini, A. D. (1995). Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: a meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research, 65(1), 121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron-Faulkner, T., & Noble, C. (2013). A comparison of book text and child directed speech. First Language, 33(3), 268–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassidy, K. W., Ball, L. V., Rourke, M. T., Werner, R. S., Feeny, N., Chu, J. Y., … Perkins, A. (1998). Theory of mind concepts in children's literature. Applied Psycholinguistics, 19(3), 463–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demir, Ö. E., Rowe, M. L., Heller, G., Goldin-Meadow, S., & Levine, S. C. (2015). Vocabulary, syntax, and narrative development in typically developing children and children with early unilateral brain injury: early parental talk about the ‘there-and-then’ matters. Developmental Psychology, 51(2), 161–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demir-Lira, Ö. E., Applebaum, L. R., Goldin-Meadow, S., & Levine, S. C. (2019). Parents’ early book reading to children: relation to children's later language and literacy outcomes controlling for other parent language input. Developmental Science, 22(3), e12764.Google Scholar
DeTemple, J. M. (2001). Parents and children reading books together. In Dickinson, D. K. & Tabors, P. O. (Eds.), Beginning literacy with language (pp. 3152). Baltimore: Paul Brookes.Google Scholar
Dickinson, D. K., Griffith, J. A., Golinkoff, R. M., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2012). How reading books fosters language development around the world. Child Development Research, 2012, e602807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, D. K., & Porche, M. V. (2011). Relation between language experiences in preschool classrooms and children's kindergarten and fourth-grade language and reading abilities. Child Development, 82(3), 870–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dickinson, D. K., & Smith, M. W. (1994). Long-term effects of preschool teachers’ book readings on low-income children's vocabulary and story comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly, 29(2), 104–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, L. M., Dunn, L. M., Whetton, C., & Burley, J. (1997). The British Picture Vocabulary Scale, version II. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
English Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) (2015). Department for Communities and Local Government. Retrieved from: <https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2015 > .+.>Google Scholar
Farver, J. A. M., Xu, Y., Lonigan, C. J., & Eppe, S. (2013). The home literacy environment and Latino head start children's emergent literacy skills. Developmental Psychology, 49(4), 775–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleiss, J. L. (1981). Statistical methods for rates and proportions. New York: John Whiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Fletcher, K. L., & Reese, E. (2005). Picture book reading with young children: a conceptual framework. Developmental Review, 25(1), 64103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, J., & Weisberg, S. (2011). An R companion to applied regression (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Gosen, M. N., Berenst, J., & de Glopper, K. (2013). The interactional structure of explanations during shared reading at kindergarten. International Journal of Educational Research, 62, 6274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenhoot, A. F., Beyer, A. M., & Curtis, J. (2014). More than pretty pictures? How illustrations affect parent–child story reading and children's story recall. Frontiers in Psychology, 738(5), e00738.Google Scholar
Hindman, A. H., Connor, C. M., Jewkes, A. M., & Morrison, F. J. (2008). Untangling the effects of shared book reading: multiple factors and their associations with preschool literacy outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23(3), 330–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoff, E. (2006). How social contexts support and shape language development. Developmental Review, 26(1), 5588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leech, K., Wei, R., Harring, J. R., & Rowe, M. L. (2018). A brief parent-focused intervention to improve preschoolers’ conversational skills and school readiness. Developmental Psychology, 54(1), 1528.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lugo-Gil, J., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2008). Family resources and parenting quality: links to children's cognitive development across the first 3 years. Child Development, 79(4), 1065–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacWhinney, B. (2012). The CHILDES project: Tools for analysing talk. Part 1: The CHAT transcription format. Electronic edition. Retrieved from < https://talkbank.org/manuals/CHAT.pdf>..>Google Scholar
Malin, J. L., Cabrera, N. J., & Rowe, M. L. (2014). Low-income minority mothers’ and fathers’ reading and children's interest: longitudinal contributions to children's receptive vocabulary skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(4), 425–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mascareño, M., Snow, C. E., Deunk, M. I., & Bosker, R. J. (2016). Language complexity during read-alouds and kindergartners’ vocabulary and symbolic understanding. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 44, 3951.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mehan, H. (1979). Learning lessons. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mol, S. E., Bus, A. G., de Jong, M. T., & Smeets, D. J. (2008). Added value of dialogic parent–child book readings: a meta-analysis. Early Education and Development, 19(1), 726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montag, J. L., Jones, M. N., & Smith, L. B. (2015). The words children hear: picture books and the statistics for language learning. Psychological Science, 26(9), 18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan, L., & Goldstein, H. (2004). Teaching mothers of low socioeconomic status to use decontextualized language during storybook reading. Journal of Early Intervention, 26(4), 235–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhinyi, A., & Hesketh, A. (2017). Low- and high-text books facilitate the same amount and quality of extratextual talk. First Language, 37(4), 410–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NICHD (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Care Research Network) (2005). Pathways to reading: the role of oral language in the transition to reading. Developmental Psychology, 41(2), 428–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyhout, A., & O'Neill, D. K. (2013). Mothers’ complex talk when sharing books with their toddlers: book genre matters. First Language, 33(2), 115–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyhout, A., & O'Neill, D. K. (2014). Storybooks aren't just for fun: narrative and non-narrative picture books foster equal amounts of generic language during mother–toddler book sharing. Frontiers in Psychology, 325(5), e00325.Google Scholar
Ortiz, C., Stowe, R. M., & Arnold, D. H. (2001). Parental influence on child interest in shared picture book reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 16(2), 263–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peskin, J., & Astington, J. W. (2004). The effects of adding metacognitive language to story texts. Cognitive Development, 19(2), 253–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, C., & McCabe, A. (1994). A social interactionist account of developing decontextualized narrative skill. Developmental Psychology, 30(6), 937–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, C. A., & Haynes, W. O. (2000). The effects of genre on mother–toddler interaction during joint book reading. Infant-toddler Intervention: The Transdisciplinary Journal, 10(2), 97105.Google Scholar
Price, L. H., van Kleeck, A., & Huberty, C. J. (2009). Talk during book sharing between parents and preschool children: a comparison between storybook and expository book conditions. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(2), 171–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: applications and data analysis methods (Vol. 1). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Riggio, M. M., & Cassidy, K. W. (2009). Preschoolers’ processing of false beliefs within the context of picture book reading. Early Education and Development, 20(6), 9921015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, M. L. (2012). A longitudinal investigation of the role of quantity and quality of child-directed speech in vocabulary development. Child Development, 83(5), 1762–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowe, M. L., Raudenbush, S. W., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2012). The pace of vocabulary growth helps predict later vocabulary skill. Child Development, 83(2), 508–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sameroff, A. J. (Ed.) (2009). The transactional model of development: how children and contexts shape each other. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. E., & Kurland, B. (1996). Sticking to the point: talk about magnets as a context for engaging in scientific discourse. In Hicks, D. (Ed.), Child discourse and social learning (pp. 189220). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorsby, A. J., & Martlew, M. (1991). Representational demands in mothers’ talk to preschool children in two contexts: picture book reading and a modelling task. Journal of Child Language, 18(2), 373–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torr, J., & Clugston, L. (1999). A comparison between informational and narrative picture books as a context for reasoning between caregivers and 4-year-old children. Early Child Development and Care, 159(1), 2541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wagner, L. (2013). By the numbers: a quantitative content analysis of children's picturebooks. Frontiers in Psychology, 850(4), e00850.Google Scholar
Walker, D., Greenwood, C., Hart, B., & Carta, J. (1994). Prediction of school outcomes based on early language production and socioeconomic factors. Child Development, 65(2), 606–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wellman, H. M., Cross, D., & Watson, J. (2001). Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: the truth about false belief. Child Development, 72(3), 655–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Whitehurst, G. J., Falco, F., Lonigan, C. J., Fischel, J. E., DeBaryshe, B. D., Valdez-Menchaca, M. C., & Caulfield, M. (1988). Accelerating language development through picture-book reading. Developmental Psychology, 24(4), 552–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yopp, R. H., & Yopp, H. K. (2006). Informational texts as read-alouds at school and home. Journal of Literacy Research, 38(1), 3751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zucker, T. A., Cabell, S. Q., Justice, L. M., Pentimonti, J. M., & Kaderavek, J. N. (2013). The role of frequent, interactive prekindergarten shared reading in the longitudinal development of language and literacy skills. Developmental Psychology, 49(8), 1425–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed