Does interactive book reading promote the learning of word knowledge in four-year-old Cantonese-speaking children? : a single-subject experimental study

Abstract

Evidence from English-speaking preschool children have shown that interactive book reading promotes the learning of new words. This feasibility study examined the outcomes of word learning through interactive book reading (IBR) in four typically-developing Cantonesespeaking preschool children. The study was innovative in that it made use of a modified version of IBR, and three measures representing three different levels of language processing to document word learning outcomes. This version of the IBR was developed after a review of studies from two research laboratories. The study adopted a within-subject multiple baseline design. Thirty-six exposures of each of the 16 new words were provided in six sessions, and there were multiple opportunities for children to hear the words embedded in the stories, and to apply the words in different meaningful contexts. Two children made statistically significant and large gains, while the other two children showed positive improvement. Findings from the study suggested that IBR promoted word learning, especially in terms of vocabulary breadth. An early efficacy study on the modified version of the IBR for Cantonese-speaking preschool children with Developmental Language Disorder is indicated.