Maternal emergent literacy practices during shared-reading interactions with 18-36-month-old toddlers were examined. The investigation of emergent literacy behaviours of both mothers and toddlers investigated included the examination of phonological awareness and written language awareness. Participants included 15 mother-toddler dyads from middle…

Children who start school with strong language skills initiate a trajectory of academic success, while children with weaker skills are likely to struggle. Research has demonstrated that media and parent-child interactions, both characteristics of the home literacy environment, influence children's language skills. Using a national sample of…

Bookreading has proven to be beneficial for children's language and literacy development (e.g. Bus, Van Ijzendoorn and Pellegrini, 1995; Fletcher and Reese, 2005; Mol and Bus, 2011a). Families in Western countries are often advised to read to their young children, and many parents appear to be aware of the positive effects of bookreading.…

Drawing from a four-year critical ethnographic study of young girls and their literacy practices inside and outside school, this article foregrounds a lived pedagogical moment when conflicting discourses about reading instruction collided in a critically focused second-grade classroom. Through my analyses I make the argument that the pervasiveness…

One of the most common types of interaction between parents and their very young children is picture-book reading, with alphabet books being one of the most popular types of book used in these interactions. Here we report two studies examining alphabet letter learning by 30- to 36-month-old children in book-reading interactions with an adult. Each…

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of personalized books on parents' and children's engagement during shared book reading. Seven native English parents and their children aged between 12 and 33 months were observed at home when sharing a book made specifically for the child (i.e. a personalized book), a comparable book…

The effectiveness of dual-language book reading in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms is largely uncontested. Yet there are repeated calls for more research to determine how this resource can be used more broadly and effectively by teachers, especially in emergent-literacy learning contexts. In the present study we analysed…

This article positions a view of student responses with relation to current literacy expectations. Student responses to a single book, "The Egypt Game," are explored. The responses are analysed from a group and individual student perspectives. The responses demonstrate the complex understandings that young students created about this book.…

This study explores the language ideologies of young children in a Spanish/English dual language programme in the USA. Recent studies of language ideologies in education have centred primarily on adults or older students, but this study focuses on young children from varied language backgrounds. By analysing discussions centred on children's…

The nature of parental guidance during book reading is an important influence on developmental outcomes linked to literacy and language. Despite extensive research documenting the importance of gender roles and schemas on young children's participation in the sociocultural environment, little is known about the possible influences of parent and…

A formative experiment investigated how two strategies aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of language interactions could be integrated into a preschool classroom. Strategies for enriching language interactions were introduced during book sharing, semi-structured group activities, and mealtimes. Mixed methods revealed factors that…

In this collective case study of caregiver behaviors with their toddlers, two-minute videotaped reading interactions were analyzed using a constant comparative method. Twenty-four caregiver-toddler dyads from a high-risk sample of children prenatally exposed to cocaine were selected from a larger sample because they represented the extremes of…

The major purpose of this study was to test how preliterate learners use illustrations in storybooks to understand a story. Subjects were 23 five-year-old low-SES children, learning Dutch as a second language. Each child was exposed four times to a digital picture storybook. Five books were used and counterbalanced over children and repetitions.…

The purpose of this study was to examine children's reading engagement and communicative initiations when they were read storybooks in varying media and reading manners, with a focus on understanding the way electronic storybooks (e-storybooks) may affect young children's shared reading experiences. The reading behaviors of 25 preschool-aged…

It is well known that children's language development lays the foundation for their literacy development, though it is difficult for preschool teachers alone to consistently engage in the individual interactions necessary to boost children's language skills. Given that parents are their children's first teachers, it is imperative to consider how…