The effects of adult questioning on children’s novel word acquisition during storybook reading were investigated. Three-year-olds were assigned to one of three conditions: vocabulary eliciting questions, noneliciting questions, and no questions (control). General vocabulary comprehension and novel word knowledge were equivalent across the groups before the storybook reading intervention. Children were read 3 storybooks repeatedly across 4 reading sessions and were tested for production and comprehension of novel words in the final session. Children’s novel word comprehension increased more in both question conditions than in the control condition, suggesting that type of question is not as important to word learning as children’s active engagement in discussion about novel words in general. Novel word production was not strongly affected by any of the reading conditions. However, asking children noneliciting questions did appear to foster production of new words more than not asking questions at all.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Beals D. E., DeTemple J. M., Dickinson D. K. (1994). Talking and listening that support early literacy development of children from low-income families In Dickinson D. K., (Ed.), Bridges to literacy: Children, families, and schools Basil Blackwell Ltd Cambridge, MA (pp.19–40)
Burns M. L., Blewitt P. (2000).Parent’s book reading: Does quantity of quality predict social class differences in children’s vocabulary? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association. Villanova University Villanova, Pennsylvania
DeTemple J., Snow C. E. (2003). Learning words from books In Stahl S. A., van Kleek A. (Eds.), On reading books to children: Parents and teachers Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Mahwah, NJ (pp. 16–36)
Dunn L. M., Dunn L. M. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (PPVT-III) American Guidance Services Circle Pines, MN
Ewers C. A., Brownson S. M. (1999). Kindergartners’ vocabulary acquisition as a function of active vs. passive storybook reading, prior vocabulary, and working memory Journal of Reading Psychology 20: 11–20
Guthridge E. E. (2002). The effect of book reading style on children’s acquisition of new vocabulary words: The impact of a short-term intervention program on two socioeconomic groups Unpublished master’s thesis, Villanova University Pennsylvania
Hodapp A. F., Gerken K. C. (1999). Correlations between scores for Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III Psychological Reports 84: 1139–1142
Justice L. M. (2002). Word exposure conditions and preschoolers’ novel word learning during shared storybook reading Reading Psychology 23: 87–106
Penno J. F., Wilkinson I. A. G., Moore D. W. (2002). Vocabulary acquisition from teacher explanation and repeated listening to stories: Do they overcome the Matthew effect? Journal of Educational Psychology 94: 23–33
Reese E., Cox A. (1999). Quality of adult book reading affects children’s emergent literacy Developmental Psychology 35: 20–28
Robbins C., Ehri L. C. (1994). Reading storybooks to kindergartners helps them learn new vocabulary words Journal of Educational Psychology 86: 54–64
Rump, K. M., Walsh, B. A., Blewitt, P. (2005). Shared book reading: What helps children learn new words. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA
Sénéchal M. (1997). The differential effect of storybook reading on preschoolers’ acquisition of expressive and receptive vocabulary Journal of Child Language 24: 123–138
Taverne A., Sheridan S. M. (1995). Parent training in interactive book reading: An investigation of its effects with families at risk School Psychology Quarterly 10: 41–64
van Kleeck A., Vander Woude J. (2003). Book sharing with preschoolers with language delays In van Kleeck A., Stahl S. A. (Eds.), On reading books to children: Parents and teachers Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Mahwah, NJ (pp.58–92)
Whitehurst G. J., Arnold D. S., Epstein J. N., Angell A. L., Smith M., Fischel J. E. (1994). A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families Developmental Psychology 30: 679–689
Whitehurst G. J., Epstein J. N., Angell A. L., Payne A. C., Crone D. A., Fischel J. E. (1994). Outcomes of emergent literacy intervention in head start Journal of Educational Psychology 86: 542–555
Whitehurst G. J., Falco F. L., Lonigan C. J., Fischel J. E., DeBaryshe B. D., Valdez-Menchaca M. C. et al. (1988). Accelerating language development through picture book reading Development Psychology 24: 552–559
Zevenbergen A. A., Whitehurst G. J., Zevenbergen J. A. (2003). Effects of a shared-reading intervention on the inclusion of evaluative devices in narratives of children from low-income families Applied Developmental Psychology 24: 1–15
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walsh, B., Blewitt, P. The Effect of Questioning Style During Storybook Reading on Novel Vocabulary Acquisition of Preschoolers. Early Childhood Educ J 33, 273–278 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-005-0052-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-005-0052-0