The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the influence of a book distribution program targeted at enhancing children's exposure to information books. The research examined whether a flood of information books in early childhood settings, placing libraries in a central role, could affect growth in language, content-related…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of digital and non-digital storybooks on low-income preschoolers' oral language comprehension. Employing a within-subject design on 38 four-year-olds from a Head Start program, we compared the effect of medium on preschoolers' target words and comprehension of stories. Four digital…

Developing a large and rich vocabulary is central to learning to read. Children must know the words that make up written texts in order to understand them, especially as the vocabulary demands of content-related materials increase in the upper grades. Studies have documented that the size of a person's vocabulary is strongly related to how…

The goal of the current study is to explore the influence of knowledge on socioeconomic discrepancies in word learning and comprehension. After establishing socioeconomic differences in background knowledge (Study 1), the authors presented children with a storybook that incorporates this knowledge (Study 2). Results indicated that middle-income…

This article make a case for the importance of background knowledge in children's comprehension. It suggests that differences in background knowledge may account for differences in understanding text for low- and middle-income children. It then describes strategies for building background knowledge in the age of common core standards.

This article describes both the benefits and the challenges of using "teachable moments" as a primary strategy for oral vocabulary instruction. It argues that children will need more intentional oral vocabulary instruction, right from the very beginning, if they are to develop the academic and content-rich vocabulary necessary to be successful in…

In this article, the author talks about "Developing Early Literacy," the report of the National Early Literacy Panel. The panel, which consisted of nine experts, was convened by the National Institute for Literacy to synthesize the research on the development of literacy from birth through age 5. Over the eight years of their work, only 190…

Targeted to children as young as 3 months old, there is a growing number of baby media products that claim to teach babies to read. This randomized controlled trial was designed to examine this claim by investigating the effects of a best-selling baby media product on reading development. One hundred and seventeen infants, ages 9 to 18 months,…

Recognizing the importance of starting early, the purpose of our article is to examine if and how vocabulary is taught in commercially prepared early literacy curriculum for pre-K. Ten curriculum programs are reviewed to determine the prevalence of vocabulary instruction and the pedagogical practices used to support the learning of words and their…

Analyzes whether a combination of televised story and/or an illustrated storybook influence children's story comprehension. Finds no significant differences between groups. Suggests that the communication medium alone has little importance for reading comprehension. (RS)

Responds to criticisms raised in another article in this issue concerning a study of incidental word learning among second-language learners viewing captioned television. Suggests that the criticisms fail to "see the forest for the trees." Responds to specific methodological criticisms. (RS)

Analyzes whether comprehensible input via captioned television influences acquisition of science vocabulary and concepts using 129 bilingual seventh and eighth graders. Finds that comprehensible input is a key ingredient in language acquisition and reading development. (MG)