Dialogic reading intervention for children with special educational needs : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: This paper evaluated the strength of evidence for the effectiveness of dialogic reading (DR) intervention on oral language and literacy outcomes for children with special educational needs (SEN). Methods: The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO. Nineteen electronic databases were searched to identify experimental designs that targeted children aged 2;0 to 12;0 with SEN. All included studies were appraised based on the Critical Appraisal of Treatment Evidence (CATE) checklist. Results from valid outcome measures were synthesized qualitatively based on constructs of outcomes. Meta-analyses were performed on constructs with at least two group studies of similar designs. Results: Ten group studies and two SCEDs were included. All studies had methodological flaws that reduced the strength of the evidence. The results indicated that DR might have significant large effects on mean length of utterances and overall expressive oral language outcomes compared to no treatment, and on naming of book vocabulary compared to no treatment or typical reading interventions. For other outcome constructs, it was inconclusive whether DR had true effects. Conclusion: Preliminary evidence suggested that DR might have promising effects on several constructs of expressive oral language outcomes. More high-quality studies with clearly described participants and treatment procedures are needed.