E-books as a support for young children's language and literacy: the case of Hebrew-speaking children

In this paper, we present a series of studies performed in the last decade that examined the contribution of e-books reading to the language and literacy of young Hebrew-speaking children. Children worked with two e-books designed by the researchers to achieve this aim. We present the effect of read...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early child development and care 2014-07, Vol.184 (7), p.998-1016
Main Authors: Korat, Ofra, Shamir, Adina, Segal-Drori, Ora
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alphabets
At Risk Persons
Children
Conceptualization
e-book
Electronic Publishing
Foreign Countries
Israel
Language
Language Skills
Learning Disabilities
Literacy
Naming
Phonological Awareness
Phonology
Semitic Languages
SES
Socioeconomic Status
Teaching Methods
Vocabulary Development
Young Children
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Summary:In this paper, we present a series of studies performed in the last decade that examined the contribution of e-books reading to the language and literacy of young Hebrew-speaking children. Children worked with two e-books designed by the researchers to achieve this aim. We present the effect of reading these e-books on the language and literacy of young children: (a) in general, (b) in different socio-economic statues (SES) groups, (c) among children at risk for learning disabilities (ALD). Language progress was measured by phonological awareness, word meaning, story production and comprehension, and literacy progress was measured by letter naming, word reading and word writing. Results showed that the e-book reading supported all language and literacy skills, except letter naming. The progress of most skills appeared after three reading sessions. Children from middle- and low-SES families benefited from reading the e-books and in some cases, low-SES children were contributed more than those from a middle SES. ALD children improved their vocabulary, phonological awareness and concept about print when provided with an educational e-book. Further research and pedagogical implications for software developers and educators are discussed.
ISSN:0300-4430
1476-8275
DOI:10.1080/03004430.2013.833195