To address these desiderata, four studies were conducted. Studies 1 and 2 report the development and validation of recognition tests for the assessment of storybook exposure and adult literature exposure in German-speaking participants. Both studies focus on the question how individual differences in the amount of reading experiences can be assessed in an objective and cost-effective way. Taking advantage of these new assessment methods, studies 3 and 4 investigate the potential of shared storybook reading in the HLE and the CCLE for fostering a broad range of oral language skills. Both studies test whether individual differences in preschoolers moderate the effects of shared reading. Whereas study 3 is based on cross-sectional data, study 4 uses a dialogic reading intervention and longitudinal data to investigate causal effects of shared storybook reading. Together, the studies use new assessment and intervention methods with the aim of obtaining evidence for the advancement of environmental early literacy models and pedagogical practices in early childhood education. The specific aims of the four studies and their connections are described in the following.
Study 1 aims to validate the newly developed German storybook title recognition test (TRT-VS) which measures the storybook exposure of four- to seven- year old children and their caregivers. In addition to a paper and pencil version for caregivers, this study uses an audio version of the TRT-VS in which preschoolers can respond to test items without external support. This study uses structural equation models to investigate the extent to which preschoolers’ storybook exposure is related to their language skills. Study 1 also examines how storybook exposure is
related to more distal measures of shared reading, namely parents’ socioeconomic status and the broader home literacy environment. Finally, this study seeks to determine how proximal and distal predictor variables can be combined to optimally capture connections between environmental variables and language skills.
Study 2 introduces the newly developed German Author Recognition Test (ART) which measures exposure to adult literature in 13- to 80-year-old readers. The ART is often used for assessing relative differences in leisure reading, which is a main contributor to print exposure. Print exposure is a main driver of caregivers’ individual differences in language and reading skills, which in turn predict the language development of their children. Moreover, print exposure is a unique predictor of preschoolers’ oral language skills after controlling for preschoolers’ storybook exposure. The ART aims to measure the cumulative amount of reading experiences. Therefore, average ART scores of older adults should be higher than average ART scores of young adults and adolescents. However, life span studies have reported conflicting results regarding print exposure differences between young and older adults, with some studies reporting no differences between ART scores of young and older adults. Study 2 investigates whether the lack of age differences in ART scores reported in some studies can be explained by the use of ART versions that differed in author variables. This study uses explanatory item response analysis to analyze effects of author variables (author’s mean publication year, book circulation frequency, and literary level) on author recognition probability. An unbiased assessment of print exposure between adolescence and old age is especially important when the age of family members and professional caregivers who communicate with preschoolers varies considerably (e.g., adolescent siblings, parents, child care staff, grand-parents).
Study 3 builds on results from study 1 and uses the TRT-VS as a measure of storybook exposure. It uses hierarchical linear models for analyzing the unique contributions of the HLE and CCLE to preschoolers’ shared storybook reading experiences and language skills. First, this study investigates the relationships between the storybook exposure of preschoolers, parents, and child care staff. In particular, it tests the assumption that parents’ storybook exposure is a close proxy of children’s storybook exposure. In addition, this study investigates to which extent children’s storybook recognition is confounded with their general cognitive
abilities. Second, this study examines the relative contributions of HLE, CCLE, and storybook exposure to different oral language skills. In particular, study 3 aims to clarify whether shared reading activities in the HLE and the CCLE predict both LLL skills (vocabulary, grammar) and HLL skills (comprehension monitoring, narrative comprehension).
Study 4 investigates the effects of a narrative dialogic reading intervention on preschoolers’ vocabulary and narrative skills. This study uses a randomized pre- post between-subjects design with two follow-up measurement points. It investigates the effects of a six-month program that was administered in child care centers and the maintenance of effects until one year after the intervention. Narrative dialogic reading extends the dialogic reading framework by adding scripted narrative comprehension questions to the communicative practices with the aim of evaluating effects on both LLL and HLL skills. Instead of using storybooks with text, it modifies the regular dialogic reading approach by using wordless picture books, which increases the proportion of child talk in relation to caregiver talk, and thereby facilitates language learning. Study 4 compares the development of oral language skills between a dialogic reading intervention group, a music intervention group, and a no treatment group. This study design allows to determine whether dialogic reading intervention effects on oral language skills are the result of specific language-fostering contents or rather the result of providing some high- quality intervention, regardless of the contents. Moreover, this study examines who benefits most from narrative dialogic reading by investigating whether individual differences in children’s cognitive abilities and storybook exposure moderate intervention effects on oral language development. Thereby, it also takes into account increases in oral language skills due to storybook exposure outside the intervention. In sum, study 4 evaluates the potential of narrative dialogic reading for fostering the development of LLL and HLL skills in typically developing, German- speaking preschoolers.
Taken together, studies 1 and 2 aim to develop and validate new recognition tests for German-speaking participants that allow an objective and cost-effective assessment of three key variables in the shared reading triad: preschoolers’ storybook exposure, caregivers’ storybook exposure, and caregivers’ exposure to adult literature. Figure 6.1 summarizes the measures that are used in this dissertation. To capture the amount of shared storybook reading and related
literacy activities and resources in the HLE and the CCLE, this dissertation makes use of several input measures (SES, ART, caregiver storybook TRT, literacy environment questionnaires) and child storybook TRT as outcome measure.
Figure 6.1. Measures for the assessment of literacy environments and shared book
reading used in this dissertation.
Studies 3 and 4 aim to deepen our understanding of the systematic relationships between child, adult caregiver, and book during shared reading, conceptualized as a proximal process that facilitates oral language development. Therefore, they aim to identify key variables of the shared reading triad and their relationships to LLL and HLL skills. Consequently, studies 3 and 4 investigate whether some of the proposed relationships between literacy agents and language outcomes in the modified Home Literacy Model (see chapter 3.3) are supported by evidence from correlational and interventional data. In particular, this dissertation investigates relationships between children’s storybook exposure and diverse language skills (vocabulary breadth and depth, grammar, comprehension monitoring, narrative comprehension and production skills) while taking into account the contributions of parents’ SES, children’s general cognitive abilities, and a range of early literacy activities and resources in the HLE and CCLE. Moreover, it examines the unique contributions of caregivers’ storybook and adult literature exposure versus literacy activities and resources in the HLE and the CCLE to
children’s storybook exposure as well as their relative contributions to LLL and HLL skills. Finally, it investigates the effects of a dialogic reading intervention that targets vocabulary and narrative skills by using scripted inferential and literal comprehension questions. To facilitate preschoolers’ engagement during shared reading and increase language learning, the intervention uses wordless picture books that contain illustrations of low frequency words and clear-cut narrative structures. Figure 6.2 summarizes the key concepts that constitute the frame of the dissertation.
Figure 6.2. Overview of dissertation with person and book characteristics plus
environmental, intervention, and language outcome variables.
Overall, this dissertation investigates the complexity and contributions of literacy environments and shared storybook reading to the development of oral language skills that are important for reading comprehension and successful learning in school. Table 6.1 summarizes the methods that were developed for this dissertation and the data and statistical analyses that were used.
Table 6.1
Overview of Developed Methods, Samples, and Statistical Analyses
Study 1 Study 2 Study 3 Study 4
Developed assessment and intervention methods
Title Recognition Test (TRT) for German-speaking children (4–7 years) and caregivers
Author Recognition Test (ART) for German-speaking readers (13–80 years)
Picture naming task with low frequency words for
preschoolers
Coding schemes for narrative comprehension and production tasks
Narrative dialogic reading intervention with wordless picture books
Samples
Sub study 1: 44 preschoolers and 48 young adults
Sub study 2: 201 preschoolers + parents (MusiCo T1, 2015)
339 readers (13–77 years) from psycholinguistic studies and Frankfurt book fair (2016)
201 preschoolers + parents from 32 child care groups (MusiCo T1, 2015)
Pilot study for narrative
production tasks: 30 university students
Intervention study: 201
preschoolers + parents from 32 child care groups (MusiCo T1 to T4, 2015–2017)
Statistical methods for main analyses
MANUSCRIPTS OF THE STUDIES
7 Der Titelrekognitionstest für das Vorschulalter (TRT-VS)
Erfassung des Lesevolumens von präkonventionellen Lesern und Zusammenhänge mit Vorläuferfertigkeiten des Lesens.
Lorenz Grolig, Caroline Cohrdes, & Sascha Schroeder
Diagnostica, 2017, Volume 63, Pages 309–319.
Copyright by Hogrefe Verlag. All rights reserved. doi:10.1026/0012-1924/a000186
Published online September 5 2017
Diese Artikelfassung ist ein Postprint und entspricht nicht vollständig dem in der Zeitschrift veröffentlichten Artikel. Dies ist nicht die Originalversion des Artikels und kann daher nicht zur Zitierung herangezogen werden. Die Originalversion ist verfügbar unter https://doi.org/10.1026/0012-1924/a000186