Book Description

"Dialogic Reading" is an interactive shared picture book reading practice designed to enhance young children's language and literacy skills. During the shared reading practice, the adult and the child switch roles so that the child learns to become the storyteller with the assistance of the adult, who functions as an active listener and questioner. Two related practices are reviewed in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) intervention reports on "Interactive Shared Book Reading" and "Shared Book Reading." Eight studies reviewed by the WWC investigated the effects of "Dialogic Reading" in center-based settings. Four studies (Lonigan et al., 1999; Lonigan & Whitehurst, 1998; Wasik & Bond, 2001; Whitehurst, Epstein, et al., 1994) were randomized controlled trials that met WWC evidence standards. Two studies (Crain-Thoreson & Dale, 1999; Whitehurst, Arnold, et al., 1994) were randomized controlled trials with differential attrition that lowered the evidence ratings of the studies to met WWC evidence standards with reservations. The remaining two studies did not meet WWC evidence screens. Lonigan et al. (1999) included 95 two- to five-year-old predominantly low-income children from five child care centers in an urban area in Florida. Lonigan et al. compared two interventions--"Dialogic Reading" and typical shared book reading--to a no-treatment comparison group. This report focuses on the comparison of oral language and phonological processing outcomes between the "Dialogic Reading" group and the no-treatment comparison group with a total of 66 children. Lonigan and Whitehurst (1998) included 91 low-income three- to four-year-old children from four child care centers in Nashville, Tennessee. Lonigan and Whitehurst compared three intervention groups--"Dialogic Reading" at school, "Dialogic Reading" at home, and "Dialogic Reading" both at school and at home-to a no-treatment comparison group. This report focuses on the comparison of oral language outcomes between the combined school and school plus home group and the no-treatment comparison groups with a total of 75 children. Wasik and Bond (2001) included 121 low-income three- to four-year-old children from a Title I early learning center in Baltimore, Maryland. Wasik and Bond compared oral language outcomes for children participating in "Dialogic Reading" plus reinforcement activities with outcomes for children in a comparison condition who were read the same books by teachers with no training in "Dialogic Reading." Whitehurst, Epstein, et al. (1994) included 167 at-risk low-income four-year-old children from four Head Start centers in Suffolk County, New York. Whitehurst, Epstein, et al. compared oral language, phonological processing, print knowledge, and early reading/writing outcomes for children participating in "Dialogic Reading" combined with an adapted Sound Foundations curriculum to outcomes for children participating in a no-treatment comparison group. Based on these six studies, the WWC found positive effects for oral language, potentially positive effects for print knowledge, no discernible effects for phonological processing, and potentially positive effects for early reading/writing. The evidence presented in this report may change as new research emerges. (Contains 16 footnotes.) [This publication was produced by the What Works Clearinghouse. The following six studies are reviewed in this intervention report: (1) Lonigan, C. J., Anthony, J. L., Bloomfield, B. G., Dyer, S. M., & Samwel, C. S. (1999). Effects of Two Shared-Reading Interventions on Emergent Literacy Skills of At-Risk Preschoolers. "Journal of Early Intervention," 22(4), 306-322; (2) Lonigan, C. J., & Whitehurst, G. J. (1998). Relative Efficacy of Parent and Teacher Involvement in a Shared-Reading Intervention for Preschool Children from Low-Income Backgrounds. "Early Childhood Research Quarterly," 13(2), 263-290; (3) Wasik, B. A., & Bond, M. A. (2001). Beyond the Pages of a Book: Interactive Book Reading and Language Development in Preschool Classrooms. "Journal of Educational Psychology," 93(2), 243-250; (4) Whitehurst, G. J., Epstein, J. N., Angell, A. L., Payne, A. C., Crone, D. A., & Fischel, J. E. (1994). Outcomes of an Emergent Literacy Intervention in Head Start. "Journal of Educational Psychology," 86 (4), 542-555; (5) Crain-Thoreson, C., & Dale, P. S. (1999). Enhancing Linguistic Performance: Parents and Teachers as Book Reading Partners for Children with Language Delays. "Topics in Early Childhood Special Education," 19 (1), 28-39; and (6) 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 (5), 679-689.].