Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study is to characterize the natural context of routine storybook reading in an inclusive early learning environment by looking at educator variables and child language status. Early childhood researchers and scholars have well documented the importance of oral language development in young children for future reading and academic success. Evidence-based research literature advocates engaging young children in high quality interactive reading experiences, such as Dialogic Reading (Whitehurst, 2005), as effective means to facilitate young children's oral language development and emergent literacy acquisition. By understanding the features of natural story-time routines, researchers, speech-language pathologists, and early childhood administrators can better isolate the variables and develop models of educating early childhood practitioners in high quality professional learning programs for learning Dialogic Reading strategies. Data are presented for four early childhood educators in an inclusive early learning center and thirty-four young children, ranging in age from three- to five-years, populated naturally across their classrooms. Data were collected through demographic questionnaires, video-recorded observations of routine story-time activities, the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) Stages of Concern Questionnaire (S0CQ) (Hall & Hord, 2019), and language assessment measures. Study results provide a unique description of the participating educators' storybook reading behaviors and their attitudes towards adopting Dialogic Reading as a new instructional practice, along with the quantified oral language needs of the children in their preschool classes. Results from this descriptive study provide an important contribution to researchers and practitioners to inform development of individualized high-quality professional learning programs related to Dialogic Reading (Whitehurst, 2005) as an instructional interactive storybook reading practice.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2020

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Towson, Jacqueline

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Community Innovation and Education

Department

School of Teacher Education

Degree Program

Education; Communication Sciences and Disorders

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008170; DP0023513

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0023513

Language

English

Release Date

August 2021

Length of Campus-only Access

1 year

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

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