Ofra Korat

Electronic books versus adult readers : effects on children's emergent literacy as a function of social class

We compared the effects of children’s reading of an educational electronic storybook on their emergent literacy with those of being read the same story in its printed version by an adult. We investigated 128 5- to 6-year-old kindergarteners; 64 children from each of two socio-economic status (SES) groups: low (LSES) and middle (MSES). In each group, children were randomly assigned to one of three subgroups. The two intervention groups included three book reading sessions each; children in one group individually read the electronic book; in the second group, the children were read the same printed book by an adult; children in the third group, which served as a control, received the regular kindergarten programme. Pre- and post-intervention emergent literacy measures included vocabulary, word recognition and phonological awareness. Compared with the control group, the children’s vocabulary scores in both intervention groups improved following reading activity. Children from both interventions groups and both SES groups showed a similarly good level of story comprehension. In both SES groups, compared with the control group, children’s phonological awareness and word recognition did not improve following both reading interventions. Implications for future research and for education are discussed.

How to Select CD-ROM Storybooks for Young Children: The Teacher's Role

This article addresses some key criteria for educators as they choose CD-ROM storybooks for young childrens literacy development. The article includes A review of the pertinent literature on the quality and appropriateness of CD-ROM storybooks for literacy development An evaluation questionnaire to guide teachers in selecting CD-ROM storybooks A sample assessment of a CD-ROM storybook, according to the evaluation questionnaire Recent reports point to the inconsistent potential of CD-ROM storybooks to support childrens literacy development. Given the motivation to incorporate such computer-aided learning in the school, teachers need to become more skilled in evaluating and selecting appropriate e-books for supporting literacy development and educational goals. Much thought is needed in choosing e-books that use specialty electronic and interactive media while supporting childrens understanding of the story and exploration of the text.

Do Hebrew electronic books differ from Dutch electronic books? A replication of a Dutch content analysis

This replication study of Hebrew versus Dutch electronic books for young children was based on De Jong & Buss content analysis, which explored whether e-books are appropriate supports for young childrens literacy development. Our criteria for analysing 43 Hebrew e-books for young children included book processing, multimedia in pictures, multimedia connected to printed or spoken text, interactivity of pictures, interactive legibility, printed text quality, and congruence to story content. Like Dutch e-books, currently available, Hebrew e-books have no uniform components design and are unsatisfactory supports for childrens literacy. Although most Hebrew e-books did not include hidden hot-spots that could be activated, when included, their congruence with the storyline was good. Recommendations for CD e-storybook designers and practical implications for educators are discussed.

How New Technology Influences Parent—child Interaction: The Case of e-book Reading

This article reports on a study focusing on mother—child interactions during e-book reading compared to print book reading. Two different types of e-books were used, commercial and educational. Forty-eight kindergarten children and their mothers were assigned randomly to one of four groups, reading: (1) the printed book Just grandma and me; (2) the electronic commercial book Just grandma and me; (3) the printed book The tractor in the sandbox; and (4) the electronic-educational book The tractor in the sandbox. Compared to the printed book reading, e-book reading yielded more discourse initiated by the child and more responsiveness to maternal initiations. Printed book reading yielded more initiations and responses of mothers. Discourse during printed book reading compared to the digital context showed more expanding talk. Educational e-book reading showed more word meaning than reading the commercial e-book. The study concludes that different reading contexts influence adult—child interactions, and this may in return have different effects on children’s early literacy development.

Direct and Indirect Teaching: Using e-Books for Supporting Vocabulary, Word Reading, and Story Comprehension for Young Children:

We examine the effect of direct and indirect teaching of vocabulary and word reading on pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children following use of an electronic storybook (e-book). The children in each age group were randomly assigned to an intervention group which read the e-book or to a control group which was afforded the regular school program. The e-book included words with meaning support and words with no support. Children who read the e-book exhibited progress in the meaning and reading of the words supported directly by the computer compared to the control group. No such progress was observed for words without direct support. No differences appeared in the progress between the two age groups and no interaction was found between age and type of word support.

The effects of CD-ROM storybook reading on Israeli children's early literacy as a function of age group and repeated reading

The effects of reading a CD-ROM storybook on children’s early literacy were examined as a function of their age group and the number of times they used the software. The investigation was carried out on 214 children: 108 pre-kindergarten children (aged 4:2 to 5:3) and 106 kindergarten children (aged 5:3–6:4). This population included 107 girls and 107 boys. The children in each group were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first intervention group was afforded three CD-ROM storybook reading sessions. The second group was afforded five reading sessions and the third group served as a control and was afforded the regular kindergarten program. Pre- and post-intervention early literacy measures included vocabulary, word recognition and phonological awareness. No age group differences were found between the children’s early literacy progress after using the software and no interaction was found between age group and the number of reading sessions. Children from both age groups exhibited a similar level of story comprehension. Children who used the software five times exhibited greater progress in word meaning than those who used it three times and children in both of these groups did better than the control group. Children who used the software five times exhibited greater progress in word reading and phonological awareness than children in the control group. Implications for future research and education are discussed.

The effect of activity with e-book on vocabulary and story comprehension: a comparison between kindergarteners at risk of learning disabilities and typically developing kindergarteners

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of e-book activity for vocabulary acquisition and story comprehension among kindergarteners at risk for learning disabilities (LD) as opposed to typically developing (TD) children. Participants included 136 children aged between five and seven (M = 71.2; SD = 5.64, in months), 75 LD and 60 typically developing children. The children in each group were then randomly assigned to either the e-book intervention or the control group, which experienced the regular kindergarten program – a total of four groups. The findings indicated significant improvement in vocabulary among both groups exposed to the e-book intervention. Conversely, typically developing children received higher scores for story comprehension than did children at risk for LD following the intervention. These findings and their implications are discussed.

Expanding the Boundaries of Shared Book Reading: E-Books and Printed Books in Parent-Child Reading as Support for Children's Language.

Early shared book reading activities are considered to be a promising context for supporting young children’s language development. Ninety low socioeconomic status preschoolers and their mothers were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) e-book reading; (2) printed book reading; (3) regular kindergarten literacy program (control). Mothers of children in the intervention groups received guidance on how to read to their child, and had five sessions of reading within a period of two weeks. The final session was videotaped and transcribed. Children in both intervention groups showed significant progress in word comprehension and phonological awareness compared to the control group. Children’s initial knowledge in each skill and both interventions contributed to language progress more than maternal education, frequency of shared book reading and computer use. The authors conclude that parents and children may expand their shared book reading experience to include e-books, which may serve as promising contexts for developing young children’s language.

Electronic and Printed Books with and without Adult Support as Sustaining Emergent Literacy.

Emergent literacy (EL) enhancement has been the goal of numerous educational programs for years, especially for children from low socioeconomic statuses (LSES) (Snow, 1994; Whitehurst, Zevebergen, Crone, Schultz, Velting, & Fischel, 1999). During the past decade, technology software, including electronic books (e-books), have become incorporated within this agenda. One of the common activities in childrens education in the Western world in mainstream families is that adults read storybooks to children constantly from a very young age (DeBruin-Parecki, 1999). Studies of the last 4 decades have shown how powerful this activity is, especially for the childs oral language, with less clear results regarding emergent or early literacy (Stahl, 2003; van Kleeck, 2003; Whitehurst et al., 1999). The proposed study examined how e-books compare with traditional printed books in the support of LSES childrens EL with and without adult assistance.

Cultural Pedagogy and Bridges to Literacy: Home and Kindergarten

This paper presents five key aspects of “cultural pedagogy theory”: social interactions, self-identity, externalization of inner thought, educational institutions, and narratives. These are viewed as critical vehicles to fostering the childs literacy development in early childhood, among other things. Within this sociocognitive theoretical frame work great importance has been assigned to the cooperative link between the young childs two primary worlds: the home and the kindergarten.