Although research provides ample evidence of teaching methods that facilitate students' learning of specific word meanings, the potential of instruction to impact students' general vocabulary knowledge has remained an unanswered question. This article reports on a three-year formative experiment that developed, implemented, and tested a long-term,…

In this cluster randomized control trial study, the authors explored the efficacy of an intervention designed to improve second-grade English learners' knowledge of challenging, high-utility English vocabulary. The authors also examined whether the intervention had a differential effect on content words that differ on two attributes (cognate…

Shared book reading has positive impacts on language development, yet how it is navigated with young dual-language learning (DLL) children is less well understood. This study explored differences in shared reading practices among families raising Spanish/English DLL children with a survey for primary caregivers (n = 96) of DLLs between 2-5 years…

Shared book reading in preschool settings plays an influential role in supporting children's oral language and emergent literacy skills. Early childhood teachers can provide high-quality shared book reading experiences using extratextual utterances (reading beyond the story text) to maximise these learning outcomes. We report on the development…

We explored (a) emergent bilingual students' talk-turns during read-alouds, (b) how earlier talk-turns were related to later talk-turns, and (c) how talk-turns varied across more versus less culturally relevant books. One teacher and her four students' read-alouds across two sessions each were video-recorded and transcribed. Emergent coding was…

Shared reading, which enables children to acquire new experiences in the field of language, is one of several fundamental instructional practices that facilitate the development of literacy skills in children from an early age. This descriptive and holistic case study aims to investigate the shared reading practices carried out in the Primary 1st…

Teachers are increasingly using new technologies such as tablets and apps during shared reading experiences at preschool. However, little is known about how teachers scaffold young children's shared reading with interactive e-books such as tablet-based storybook apps and how it compares to using printed books. In this observational study, a…

The author compared preschool teachers' and students' responses to informational texts (nonfiction) as they read together in small groups. Drawing from reader response theory, similarities and differences were found in teachers' and students' reading behaviors. Teachers took a predominantly efferent stance toward the texts because the teachers'…

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore whether exposing pre-readers to an unfamiliar event in a brief, play-based, session would enhance comprehension of a story based on that event. Twenty-four typically developing participants (9 males; 15 females), aged 30-51 months (M = 39.13, SD = 6.02) were randomly assigned to free-play and…

This study examines how pre-readers' comprehension of story read-alouds is affected when story goal structure deviates from the canonical event. Forty children (30-59 months) were read stories in which there was either a match or mismatch between story and event goal structure. Children's content comprehension scores for the matched story (M =…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page sheets on a variety of subjects. This fact sheet focuses on: (1) Primary Home Language of Head Start Participants: FY 2017; (2) Race and Ethnicity of Head Start Participants: FY 2017; (3) Head Start Participation: Returning and Newly…

Small Talk is a behaviour change campaign designed by the National Literacy Trust in partnership with the Department for Education. The campaign encourages parents to engage in behaviours which are known to create a positive home learning environment (HLE). This evaluation highlights the need and the effect of the Small Talk behaviour change…

In this article, the author argues that young children are capable of and competent in discussing topics of race. Sharing picture books with racial narratives with young children is a way to help them reflect, value, and empathize with the diverse nature of society. A picture book by Jacqueline Woodson, The Other Side, is explored more deeply with…

Place-based instructional practices can be applied to literacy instructional techniques through reading aloud in local community places. In today's rapidly changing informational landscapes, communication and comprehension require more than the literacy skills of reading and writing proficiency. In order to support changing forms of communication…

Research Findings: Storybooks provide opportunities for children to encounter new words in context and build vocabulary. Storybooks intended for dual-language learners (DLLs) can come in two types -- immersive monolingual second language (L2) books, or an emerging style of "code-switching" books written predominantly in a child's…