IMPACTS OF DIALOGICAL STORYBOOK READING ON CHILDREN’S RECEPTIVE VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT AND THEIR PARENTS’ SELF-EFFICACY FOR STORYBOOK READING
Open Access
- Author:
- Kotaman, Huseyin
- Graduate Program:
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- September 13, 2007
- Committee Members:
- Thomas Daniel Yawkey, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Gregory John Kelly, Committee Member
Edgar Paul Yoder, Committee Member
Rayne Audrey Sperling, Committee Member - Keywords:
- storybook reading
receptive vocabulary
early childhood - Abstract:
- Abstract In this study the researcher examined the impacts of dialogical storybook reading on children’s receptive vocabulary development and their parents’ self-efficacy for storybook reading. The study also investigated parents’ concerns about the dialogical storybook reading technique and the technique’s effects on parent-child relationships. Quantitative data were gathered to investigate the impact of the technique on children’s receptive vocabulary development and their parents’ self-efficacy for storybook reading. Qualitative data were collected to examine parents’ concerns about the technique and its impacts on the parent-child relationship. The quantitative part of the study consisted of a pre-test/posttest with control group design. Participants were 40 Turkish parents and their preschool-aged children. Children’s receptive vocabulary was measured using the Turkish version of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). The investigator developed a Parents’ Self-efficacy for Storybook Reading Questionnaire to measure parents’ self-efficacy for storybook reading. After the pre-test, participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received dialogical storybook reading training. Seven weeks after the training, a posttest was administered to the participants. Paired t-tests and analysis of variance (ANCOVA) were used to examine the impacts of the technique on children’s receptive vocabulary development and their parents’ self-efficacy for storybook reading. Findings revealed that after the dialogical storybook reading training, the experimental group parents’ self-efficacy for storybook reading significantly increased. Concurrently, control group parents’ self-efficacy for storybook reading remained the same between the pre- and posttest. There were no significant differences between posttest scores for the control and experimental groups on self-efficacy for storybook reading. The receptive vocabulary of experimental group children significantly increased from pre- to posttest. However, this increase did not occur for children in the control group. A comparison of posttest results for the two groups revealed that the experimental groups’ receptive vocabulary levels were significantly higher than those for the control group. Qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 15 parents from the experimental group to examine their concerns about the dialogical storybook technique and its impact on the parent-child relationship. Data were analyzed according to the principles of grounded theory. After the transcription of the interviews, open codes were derived from the transcription. Open codes grouped under axial codes and analyses of axial codes led to a compilation of final themes. Two major concerns cited by parents about dialogical storybook reading were: change in parental role during storybook reading, and importance of parents’ previous joint storybook reading experiences. Also, parents reported three major impacts of the technique on the parent-child relationship. The three major impacts were: unique activity sharing more time, democracy in family, and need for consistency between parents.