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Abstract
Purpose Research has indicated that interactive shared book reading can support a wide range of early language skills and that children who are read to regularly in the early years learn language faster, enter school with a larger vocabulary, and become more successful readers at school. Despite the large volume of research suggesting interactive shared reading is beneficial for language development, two fundamental issues remain outstanding: whether shared book reading interventions are equally effective (a) for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds and (b) for a range of language skills. Method To address these issues, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of two 6-week interactive shared reading interventions on a range of language skills in children across the socioeconomic spectrum. One hundred and fifty children aged between 2;6 and 3;0 (years;months) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a pause reading, a dialogic reading, or an active shared reading control condition. Results The findings indicated that the interventions were effective at changing caregiver reading behaviors. However, the interventions did not boost children's language skills over and above the effect of an active reading control condition. There were also no effects of socioeconomic status. Conclusion This randomized controlled trial showed that caregivers from all socioeconomic backgrounds successfully adopted an interactive shared reading style. However, while the interventions were effective at increasing caregivers' use of interactive shared book reading behaviors, this did not have a significant impact on the children's language skills. The findings are discussed in terms of practical implications and future research. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12420539.
Highlights
R ates of speech and/or language impairment in the United Kingdom are reported to vary between 5% and 10% (Boyle et al, 1996; Norbury et al, 2016)
While there is evidence that interactive shared book reading can support a range of language skills, when the research is synthesized and only the highest quality research is included, the results indicate that the efficacy of such interventions may vary depending on the specific outcome variables measured
With regard to caregiver reading behavior, we found that caregivers in the control and intervention conditions exhibited similar levels of interactive shared book reading behaviors at the pre-intervention session
Summary
R ates of speech and/or language impairment in the United Kingdom are reported to vary between 5% and 10% (Boyle et al, 1996; Norbury et al, 2016). These rates are not distributed across the socioeconomic spectrum, with higher rates for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This social gradient begins early, with children from different socioeconomic
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