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Shared Storybook Reading in Head Start: Impact of Questioning Styles on the Vocabulary of Hispanic Dual Language Learners

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Abstract

This study examined various ways of asking questions about target vocabulary words during shared storybook reading with young Hispanic dual language learners enrolled in Head Start. The study examined the demand level and placement of adults’ questions during shared storybook reading. The research design incorporated five conditions; namely, adults’ (a) low demand and interrupting questions, (b) high demand and interrupting questions, (c) low demand and non-interrupting questions, (d) high demand and non-interrupting questions, and (e) a control. Participants were 57 children with Spanish as the primary language spoken to children in the home with most of their parents identifying as having been born in a Latin American country. The present study suggests that demand level rather than interrupting status accounts for more differences in children’s novel vocabulary expressive scores, with children in the high demand group scoring higher than those in the low demand group.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Melissa Reyes, Jacqueline Gonzales, Ingrid Anaya, and Wendy Ortega for assistance with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    Bridget A. Walsh & Melissa M. Burnham

  2. Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX, USA

    Claudia Sánchez

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  1. Bridget A. Walsh
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Correspondence to Bridget A. Walsh.

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Walsh, B.A., Sánchez, C. & Burnham, M.M. Shared Storybook Reading in Head Start: Impact of Questioning Styles on the Vocabulary of Hispanic Dual Language Learners. Early Childhood Educ J 44, 263–273 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-015-0708-3

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