The effects of CD-ROM storybook reading on Israeli children’s early literacy as a function of age group and repeated reading

The effects of reading a CD-ROM storybook on children’s early literacy were examined as a function of their age group and the number of times they used the software. The investigation was carried out on 214 children: 108 pre-kindergarten children (aged 4:2 to 5:3) and 106 kindergarten children (aged 5:3–6:4). This population included 107 girls and 107 boys. The children in each group were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The first intervention group was afforded three CD-ROM storybook reading sessions. The second group was afforded five reading sessions and the third group served as a control and was afforded the regular kindergarten program. Pre- and post-intervention early literacy measures included vocabulary, word recognition and phonological awareness. No age group differences were found between the children’s early literacy progress after using the software and no interaction was found between age group and the number of reading sessions. Children from both age groups exhibited a similar level of story comprehension. Children who used the software five times exhibited greater progress in word meaning than those who used it three times and children in both of these groups did better than the control group. Children who used the software five times exhibited greater progress in word reading and phonological awareness than children in the control group. Implications for future research and education are discussed.

[1]  Eliane Segers,et al.  Multimedia support of early literacy learning , 2002, Comput. Educ..

[2]  Clare Wood,et al.  Beginning readers' use of ‘talking books’ software can affect their reading strategies , 2005 .

[3]  Catherine E. Snow,et al.  Preventing reading difficulties in young children , 1998 .

[4]  A. Bus,et al.  The efficacy of electronic books in fostering kindergarten children's emergent story understanding , 2004 .

[5]  Iris Levin,et al.  Mother-Child Joint Writing and Storybook Reading: Relations With Literacy Among Low SES Kindergartners , 2002 .

[6]  Monique Sénéchal,et al.  Testing the Home Literacy Model: Parent Involvement in Kindergarten Is Differentially Related to Grade 4 Reading Comprehension, Fluency, Spelling, and Reading for Pleasure , 2006 .

[7]  Deborah E. Doty,et al.  Interactive CD-ROM Storybooks and Young Readers’ Reading Comprehension , 2001 .

[8]  Cathy J. Pearman,et al.  Early Readers and Electronic Texts: CD‐ROM Storybook Features That Influence Reading Behaviors , 2005 .

[9]  N. S. Johnson,et al.  Remembrance of things parsed: Story structure and recall , 1977, Cognitive Psychology.

[10]  Adina Shamir,et al.  Do Hebrew electronic books differ from Dutch electronic books? A replication of a Dutch content analysis , 2004, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[11]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Physical data , 2021, Orbital Mechanics for Engineering Students.

[12]  D. Share,et al.  Syllable splitting in literate and preliterate Hebrew speakers: onsets and rimes or bodies and codas? , 2005, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[13]  Adriana G. Bus,et al.  Quality of book-reading matters for emergent readers: An experiment with the same book in a regular or electronic format , 2002 .

[14]  D. Reinking,et al.  Negotiating the Multiple Realities of Technology in Literacy Research and Instruction , 1999 .

[15]  Cathy Lewin.  Exploring the effects of talking book software in UK primary classrooms , 2000 .

[16]  J. Brooks-Gunn,et al.  Early warning signs of functional illiteracy: predictors in childhood and adolescence. , 1993, Child development.

[17]  Marion Perlmutter,et al.  Interaction Between Mothers and Preschool Children when Reading a Novel and Familiar Book , 1988 .

[18]  Jean Underwood,et al.  Children's interactions and learning outcomes with interactive talking books , 1998, Comput. Educ..

[19]  A. Pellegrini,et al.  Joint Book Reading Makes for Success in Learning to Read: A Meta-Analysis on Intergenerational Transmission of Literacy , 1995 .

[20]  M. Sénéchal,et al.  The differential effect of storybook reading on preschoolers' acquisition of expressive and receptive vocabulary , 1997, Journal of Child Language.

[21]  Linda D. Labbo,et al.  Weaving Chains of Affect and Cognition: A Young Child's Understanding of CD-ROM Talking Books , 2000 .

[22]  J. LeFevre,et al.  Parental involvement in the development of children's reading skill: a five-year longitudinal study. , 2002, Child development.

[23]  O. Korat,et al.  How to Select CD-ROM Storybooks for Young Children: The Teacher's Role. , 2006 .

[24]  Catherine E. Snow,et al.  Learning Words From Books , 2003 .

[25]  Ofra Korat,et al.  Maternal mediation in book reading, home literacy environment, and children’s emergent literacy: a comparison between two social groups , 2007 .

[26]  Cindy Okolo,et al.  The Impact of Animation in CD-ROM Books on Students' Reading Behaviors and Comprehension , 1996 .

[27]  Adina Shamir,et al.  The educational electronic book as a tool for supporting children's emergent literacy in low versus middle SES groups , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[28]  John Trushell,et al.  Pupils' recall of an interactive storybook on CD-ROM , 2003, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[29]  June L. Wright,et al.  Young Children and Technology: A World of Discovery , 1997 .

[30]  Julia Blackstock,et al.  An exploratory study into the use of CD-ROM storybooks , 1994 .

[31]  A. Bus,et al.  How Well Suited are Electronic Books to Supporting Literacy? , 2003 .

[32]  Jackie Marsh,et al.  Digital beginnings: Young children's use of popular culture, media and new technologies , 2005 .

[33]  Richard K. Olson,et al.  Implementing a long-term computerized remedial reading program with synthetic speech feedback: Hardware, software, and real-world issues , 1989 .

[34]  C. Wood,et al.  Animated Multimedia "Talking Books" Can Promote Phonological Awareness in Children Beginning To Read , 2003 .