Enhancing preschool children's vocabulary: Effects of teacher talk before, during and after shared reading Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • 2013 Elsevier Inc. This observational study analyzed patterns of teacher extratextual talk as it occurs before, during, and after reading books to children, and the frequency and duration of teacher questioning by type (label, define, associate) on preschoolers' receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge. Over the course of 18 weeks, 13 teachers and 100 children participated in ninety 20-min small-group sessions of teacher-guidedshared reading instruction. Teachers' reading instruction was examined through videotaped observations using the Multi-Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (MOOSES; Tapp, Wehby, & Ellis, 1995). Two findings, in particular, yielded relevant educational and theoretical implications. First, time spent after reading was significantly related to expressive vocabulary. However, question timing did notseem to matter in terms of receptive vocabulary outcomes. Second, duration of teacher association questioning was significantly related to receptive vocabulary outcomes while both frequency and duration of teacher vocabulary-related association-level questioning were related to expressive vocabulary. For receptive vocabulary, both vocabulary- and comprehension-related association-level questioning mattered. These findings complement the body of work demonstrating that engaging children in interactiveshared reading that elicits their active participation is related to meaningful gains in children's language and literacy growth. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.

published proceedings

  • EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY

author list (cited authors)

  • Gonzalez, J. E., Pollard-Durodola, S., Simmons, D. C., Taylor, A. B., Davis, M. J., Fogarty, M., & Simmons, L.

citation count

  • 71

complete list of authors

  • Gonzalez, Jorge E||Pollard-Durodola, Sharolyn||Simmons, Deborah C||Taylor, Aaron B||Davis, Matthew J||Fogarty, Melissa||Simmons, Leslie

publication date

  • January 2014