Preschool teachers' read-aloud practices in Chile as predictors of children's vocabulary

Abstract

Book reading is a common practice among teachers in developed countries; yet, little is known about the nature and the role of this activity in the development of children's language skills in Spanish-speaking countries. The present study sought to address this gap by examining teacher (N=31) read-aloud practices in low-income Chilean preschools. We examined whether the use of specific (High/Low-level) read-aloud strategies predicted preschoolers' vocabulary growth over a school year. The results showed substantial variability among teachers. The frequency of strategies that focused on discussing meaningful aspects of the stories predicted children's vocabulary scores at the end of the school year, controlling for their scores at the start of the year. The use of these high-level strategies was associated with teachers' prior participation in professional training. The implications of findings for further research on classroom linguistic environment and for teaching practices are discussed.