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.

In this study 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.