Reading 7

Teaching Reading in the Early Years
Optimal Instructive Behaviors During Story Time

Whitehurst, G. J., Falco, F. L., Lonigan, C. J., Fischel, J. E., DeBaryshe, B. D., Valdez-Menchaca, M. C., & Caulfield, M.

First appeared: (1988) Developmental Psychology, 24, 552-559.

Abstracted by Online Academy

Background and Research Questions
Do the ways parents talk about picture books during story time make a difference in the language development of their children? Whitehurst et al.'s investigation showed that when parents increased the frequency of expansions and open-ended and attribute/function questions, the expressive language ability of young children also increased.

The Participants
Thirty children, all within the normal range of language development, and their parents participated in the study. The children, ages 21 to 35 months, were from intact, middle-class families living on Long Island, New York, and were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or control group. Pretest measures, including an upper-limit measure of MLU (mean length of utterance), did not vary significantly between groups.

The Protocols
Parents of the children in the experimental group were trained during two 25- to 30-minute sessions to alter the frequency and timing of the ways they talked to their children while reading picture books. Those in the control group were asked to continue reading to their children but were not told to change any behaviors. Both groups audio-taped reading sessions with their children 3 to 4 times per week over a 4-week period. At the end of 4 weeks children in both groups were given the following posttests: the expressive subscale of the ITPA (Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities), the PPVT (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, and the EOWPVT (Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test).

Results
The authors of this study concluded that easily obtained changes in parent behavior during story time can substantially and positively affect their children's language development. After four weeks, the experimental group showed significant increases in scores on the ITPA and the EOWPVT. (While scores on the PPVT favored the experimental group, they were not statistically significant.) In the experimental group child MLU scores and frequency of child phrases also increased over the four-week period. In addition, on a follow-up study nine months later, children in the experimental group still scored higher on the two expressive tests.

Translating Research into Practice
Although this particular study focused on story time with parents and their young children in the home, it is obviously applicable to story time in a school setting; in fact, using these methods in both settings might enhance the overall outcomes. Results of this study showed that the following behaviors increased children's language development:

1. Asking children questions that require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Asking open-ended questions and "wh" questions (who, what, where, why) will elicit more speech.

2. Increasing the frequency of repeating and expanding the children's speech. This will provide children the opportunity to contrast their own speech with their parents' more expansive versions.

3. Providing praise and corrective feedback. This will motivate children and give them relevant information.

EXAMPLES OF PARENT/TEACHER BEHAVIORS TO INCREASE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

The following examples are based on The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss. Included below are 3 open-ended questions. For each question, there is a related correct answer and response and an incorrect answer and response.

open-ended questions

1. What is the Cat in the Hat doing in this picture? (p. 10 & 11)

2. How do you think he will get rid of the rug spots? (p. 24 & 25)

3. Why do Sally and her brother look upset? (p. 30 & 31)

possible correct answers or predictions

1. having cake

2. The Cat in the Hat will do something.

3. They are worried; their mom might be mad.

responses providing praise; repeating and expanding children's speech

1. That's right! That cat is eating a whole cake in the bathtub and having a wonderful time even with the bathtub overflowing!

2. I think you are right - the Cat in the Hat will probably do another trick. He might take the spots off the rug and put them some other place.

3. Yes! I'll bet they are worried about what their mother will say when she returns home and sees all the mess. The house was probably clean when she left for town.

possible incorrect answers or predictions

1. sitting in the rain

2. rug cleaner

3. They don’t know when their mom will come home.

responses providing corrective feedback

1. It does look likes he's sitting in the rain because he is holding an umbrella with his knees, and water is coming from the shower. But look, he is in the bathtub, and because there is so much water in the tub, water is overflowing onto the floor.

2. That's a good idea. That cat may have to spray cleaner all over the rug. We would sure have to get out the spray cleaner if we made those messes, wouldn't we! Maybe he can do one of his tricks to get out those spots - just like he did when he got the spots off the dress.

3. Good idea - they could be wondering when their mom will come back. I'll bet their mother will be back very soon, so they might be worried about what their mother will say when she sees the mess the Cat in the Hat has made. They might be worried about the big pink spot on the bed.

Beg. Word Reading	Reading 7	-