The study investigated the frequency with which preschool teachers use various read- aloud strategies to promote emergent literacy skills while reading big books versus typical-sized books. This chapter will include a justification of the methodology used in this study,
information about the participants and materials, and an overview of the procedures of the study. Justification of Methods
This study employed an experimental research design; I manipulated variables during the data collection process, rather than simply observing behaviors. Experimental designs are often chosen for research because they allow for “demonstration of causal relationships” (Wrench, Thomas-Maddox, Richmond, & McCroskey, 2016, p. 262). In this study, the independent variable being manipulated was the book size, since each participant read both a typical-sized book and a big book. This allowed me to examine whether or not the preschool teachers’ reading behaviors varied as a function of picture-book size.
This study was conducted in the field, rather than in a controlled laboratory environment. A benefit to setting research in the field is the fact that participants are expected to act more naturally, compared to how they may act in a clinical environment (Wrench et al., 2016, p. 284). Given that this study took place in the participants’ own preschool classrooms, the results of the study are expected to more accurately represent behaviors of the general population of preschool teachers.
Participants
The participants for this study were eight preschool teachers from five different preschool centers in northeast Ohio. All of the participants were female. The teachers’ level of education ranged from high school diploma or GED to Master’s degree in education. Two teachers had a
high school diploma or GED, two teachers had an Associate’s degree, three teachers had a Bachelor’s degree, and one teacher had a Master’s degree. The participants’ years of experience teaching ranged from 3 to 21 years (M = 12.38, SD = 5.9). On the pre-reading questionnaire, all 8 teachers answered that they do use big books in the classroom. When asked to indicate how frequently they read big books using a Likert scale where 1 represented “never” and 5 represented “very often,” seven teachers selected “sometimes,” and the remaining teacher selected “rarely.”
Materials
Participants in this study read two children’s books. In order to maintain consistency of writing style, I chose two books by the same author, Martin Waddell. The first book, Farmer
Duck (Waddell, 1991) is a Parent’s Choice Award winner. It includes a total of 386 words. The
second book, The Pig in the Pond (Waddell, 1992) includes a total of 376 words.
Each book was obtained in typical and big book format. The smaller version of Farmer
Duck was 9 1/8 in. x 9 7/8 in., while the larger version of Farmer Duck was 14 ¾ in. x 16 in. The
letters in the smaller version of Farmer Duck were about 1 ¼ cm tall; in the larger version, the letters were about 2 cm tall. The smaller version of The Pig in the Pond was 10 ¼ in x 8 ½ in., while the larger version of The Pig in the Pond was 17 7/8 x 14 ¾ in. The letters in the smaller version of The Pig in the Pond were about 1 cm tall; in the larger version, the letters were about 2 cm tall.
Both books contain similar literary elements. Farmer Duck and The Pig in the Pond include the use of familiar farm animal noises such as “quack,” and “moo.” Both include the repetition of a phrase multiple times throughout each story. In Farmer Duck, the phrase, “How Goes the Work?” is repeated, to which the Duck always responds, “quack!” In The Pig in the
Pond, the phrase, “The pig’s in the pond!” is repeated, as well as animal sounds. Although both
books have instances of rhyming, neither story has a consistent rhyming scheme. The Pig in the
Pond utilizes rhyming words more often than Farmer Duck.
Procedure
Prior to initiating data collection, the protocol was approved by The College of Wooster’s Human Subjects Research Committee. The potential participants were identified through an internet search of preschool sites in northeast Ohio, and contacted via a recruitment email (see Appendix A). I visited each classroom once between December and January. After signing a consent form (See Appendix B), each teacher completed a brief questionnaire that included demographics, including their highest degree and years of experience teaching (see Appendix C).
Following the pre-reading paperwork, I filmed each participant reading both stories out loud to their class. Although the students were present, I made every effort not to film the students. The teachers were not given specific instructions regarding the read-aloud process. Each teacher was offered the option of using an easel to stabilize the big book. Three teachers chose to use the easel, and one teacher used her own easel when reading the big book. In seven classrooms, the students were seated on the floor facing the teacher, while the teacher sat in a chair. One teacher sat on the floor with the students seated on the floor facing her. I
counterbalanced the books by size and title across all of the participants. Two teachers read the small Farmer Duck, followed by the big Pig in the Pond; two teachers read the big Farmer
Duck, followed by the small Pig in the Pond; two teachers read the small Pig in the Pond,
followed by the big Farmer Duck; and two teachers read the big Pig in the Pond, followed by the small Farmer Duck. The reading of both books generally took between 15-25 minutes. After reading both of the books, the participants each completed a post-reading questionnaire,
regarding their opinions on the level of engagement and the level of comfort in maneuvering both books (see Appendix D).
I transcribed the videos orthographically (see Appendix E). Each video was then coded for several read-aloud behaviors. The categories for coding included: print-related behaviors, picture-related behaviors, print/book concepts, phonological awareness, vocabulary
comprehension, dialogic reading, and Shared Book Experience. Within each category, I specified several different behavior types. The coding system is described in greater detail in Appendix F.
I debriefed the participants on the purpose and results of the study via email. This email also included a brief overview of read-aloud behaviors teachers can use to help increase their students’ emergent literacy skills (see Appendix G).