Reading dual language books: Improving early literacy skills in linguistically diverse classrooms

Research has determined that dual language books have a positive effect on literacy achievement, motivation, and family involvement in children’s schooling. In this study we used quantitative methods to complement the largely qualitative extant research. We analyzed the early literacy skills of 105...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of early childhood research : ECR 2013-02, Vol.11 (1), p.3-15
Main Authors: Naqvi, Rahat, Thorne, Keoma J, Pfitscher, Christina M, Nordstokke, David W, McKeough, Anne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bilingual Instructional Materials
Bilingualism
Canada
Childrens Literature
Emergent Literacy
English (Second Language)
Family Environment
Foreign Countries
French
Graphemes
Indo European Languages
Kindergarten
Literacy Education
Metalinguistics
Native Language
Pretests Posttests
Qualitative Research
Reading Motivation
Reading Tests
Second Language Learning
Statistical Analysis
Urdu
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Summary:Research has determined that dual language books have a positive effect on literacy achievement, motivation, and family involvement in children’s schooling. In this study we used quantitative methods to complement the largely qualitative extant research. We analyzed the early literacy skills of 105 kindergarten children (45 comparison, 60 treatment) with diverse language backgrounds (35% English, 31% Punjabi, 16% Urdu, 18% other languages) from eight kindergarten classes in four suburban Canadian schools. Statistical analyses indicated that children who were read to using dual language books, written in French, Punjabi, and Urdu, demonstrated significantly greater gains in graphophonemic knowledge than children who were read to in English only. This gain occurred specifically in children who spoke the targeted languages at home; children who did not speak the targeted languages were not negatively affected. Findings are discussed in terms of developing metalinguistic awareness and directions for practice and research are discussed.
ISSN:1476-718X
1741-2927
DOI:10.1177/1476718X12449453