Can e-books support low SES parental mediation to enrich children’s vocabulary?

• Published in: First language 2019-06, Vol.39 (3), p.344-364
• Main Authors: Korat, Ofra, Shneor, Daphna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Children; Childrens Literature; Dictionaries; E-books; Electronic Publishing; Expressive Language; Foreign Countries; Independent Reading; Kindergarten; Low Income Groups; Mediation; Mothers; Parent-child relations; Parents & parenting; Preschool Children; Program Effectiveness; Reading Instruction; Reading Strategies; Receptive Language; Semantics; Shared reading; Socioeconomic status; Vocabulary Development; Vocabulary learning; Word meaning
• ISSN: 0142-7237; 1740-2344
• DOI: 10.1177/0142723718822443

This study examines whether an e-book with a dictionary could support parents’ mediation of new words during shared book reading, more than the child’s independent reading of an e-book with and without a dictionary. The participants included 128 kindergartners and 64 mothers who were randomly divided into four groups: independent reading of the e-book with a dictionary; joint mother–child reading of the e-book without a dictionary; joint mother–child reading of the e-book with a dictionary, and independent reading of the e-book without a dictionary (control). For each target word, the dictionary presented (1) word meaning, (2) word meaning within the story context, and (3) a combined meaning. Pre- and posttests included receptive and expressive understanding of the dictionary words. E-books were read four times. Reading the e-book with a dictionary and maternal mediation was the most effective for receptive and expressive word learning, followed by independent reading with the dictionary. Mothers who read the e-book with a dictionary mediated at a higher level than mothers who read without a dictionary. The intervention contributed to advancement in learning new words beyond children’s initial vocabulary level. The research implications are presented in the discussion.