Quality of book-reading matters for emergent readers: An experiment with the same book in a regular or electronic format

An adult read to 12 children from a regular paper book. Twenty-four children explored an electronic book similar in illustrations and story content (also called CD-ROM storybook, talking book, interactive book, or computer book). For half of this group the electronic book was available with and for half without restrictions concerning the games. Twelve control children were only pre- and posttested. After 6 sessions the examiner elicited an emergent reading of text and separate words to test to what extent children had internalized story meaning, phrasing, and features of written text. During the book-reading sessions children’s attention to text and iconic modes differed as a function of book format and children’s level of emergent literacy. The regular book format was more supportive of learning about story content and phrasing; both formats supported internalization of features of written words. In the extensive storybook reading literature, there is agreement on the assumption that early book-reading experiences support children’s reading development (Bus, van IJzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Scarborough & Dobrich, 1994; Teale, 1984). Our study focuses on what emergent readers internalize from repeated readings of books that are similar in illustrations and story content but differ in format (regular vs. electronic). The book’s format was expected to affect which aspects of books children focus on within the sessions and what children internalize from repeated readings of the focal book. We also tested how much children at different levels of emergent literacy internalize from various aspects of a book as a consequence of repeated readings of the focal book. It was expected that basic knowledge of reading built up by previous literacy-related experiences facilitate internalization of various aspects of each new book that is read to children (cf. Pappas, 1993). Sulzby’s (1985) description of what children internalize from a repeatedly read book suggests that least experienced children focus on events represented by the illustrations and just label or comment on pictures. As children’s reading experiences increase they begin to represent the story structure, suggesting that story understanding develops in the early stages of emergent literacy. It may also be deduced from Sulzby’s (1985) scale of emergent reading of a favorite book that as children become more experienced in understanding the story structure they begin to focus on the phrasing of the story. They internalize verbal text as a result of repeated readings, resulting in increasingly verbal reproductions of the text in the focal book or refusals to continue reading when attempts to reproduce the verbal text fail (Sulzby & Zecker, 1991). The most experienced children are interested in the written form of the text and begin to use text as a source of information when they reconstruct stories. Sulzby (1996) assumed that, in particular,