1. Impact of storybook reading on second language vocabulary Ana I. Schwartz UTEP

2. Overview n What the research says n What is missing from the research n The pilot study n Future directions

3. Oral storybook exposure and vocabulary acquisition n In general –Storybook exposure => increased vocabulary n How specifically is this link supported? n Is it true for all populations of children? –Low/High SES? –At risk?

4. Unpacking the link n How storybook is delivered –Number of exposures to target word –Type of interaction –Explicit instruction vs. incidental learning

5. How story is delivered n Number of exposures –Repetition is necessary n For completely novel words (e.g., Justice, Meier, Walpole, 2005; Leungy, 1992; Sénéchal, 1997 (e.g., Justice, Meier, Walpole, 2005; Leungy, 1992; Sénéchal, 1997 –At least 2-3 n Biggest gains observed from 2 nd to 3 rd readings (e.g., Eller, Pappas, & Brown, 1988) –Remaining issues n What about familiar words? What if goal is to increase use of word?

6. How story is delivered n Type of interaction –Greater interaction => better learning n Open ended questions n Re-tellings n Re-phrasings n “Dialogic reading”

7. How story is delivered n Type of interaction –Diaologic reading (Grover Whitehurst) n Evocative techniques –What questions –Evoke a response n Feedback –Expansions –Corrective modeling n Progressive change –Adapting to child’s abilities

8. How story is delivered n Explicit instruction vs. incidental learning –Explicit instruction n Beneficial for lower vocabularies –An extra boost (Coyne, Simmons, Kame’enui, & Stoolmiller, 2004: Senechal, Thomas, & Monker, 1995) –Incidental learning n Words can also be acquired w/o explicit direction (e.g, Eller, Pappas, & Brown, 1988; Leung & Pikulski, 1990)

9. Are there benefits for all populations? n Children at risk? –Yes –Children at risk can make greatest gains n Elaborated words in storybook telling (Justice, Meier, & Walpole, 2005) n Explicitly taught words in storybook telling (Coyne, Simmons, Kame’enui, & Stoolmiller, 2004)

10. What about non-native speakers? n Currently NO published research!! –Looking specifically at storybook exposure and vocabulary gains –Exception: n Recent dissertation by Collins (2005)

11. Collins 2005 n Portuguese-English preschoolers n Heard 8 books; three times –Experimental n Rich explanation n Discussion questions –Control

12. Collins 2005 n Results –Target vocabulary accounted by: n Treatment n Home reading practices n L2 receptive skill n Reading comprehension

13. Present pilot study n Impetus –Lack of research –Role of incidental learning? –Possibility of more immediate effects? –Role of type of text? –Look at use of a word as well as acquisition

14. Present pilot study n Design –Independent variable n Text format –Prose –Rhyme n Word familiarity –Familiar –Completely novel

15. Present pilot study n Materials –Two storybooks n One featuring a “moon” n One featuring a “seal” –Invented text n Two versions for each storybook –Prose –Rhyme –Picture arrays

16. Present pilot study n Materials –Invented text n Controlled for –Number of occurrences of target word (n = 4) –Overall number of phrases –Number of phrases in between mention of target word

17. Present pilot study n Materials –Invented text n Rhyme –Target always at end of phrase –Always rhymes with adjacent phrase n Prose –Target never at end of phrase –No rhyming

18. Present pilot study n Materials –Example of rhyme Look Look!// In the water a seal! He swims and swims// with so much zeal! From the crowd// he attracts much appeal. He’s so smart//look at what he can do He’ll jump through hoops// and play with a ball too Throw him some fish/he’ll jump through one hoop, maybe two!

19. Present pilot study n Materials –Example of prose At the zoo Marco saw a seal performing amazing tricks in the water. He balanced on a big beach ball and the trainer gave him a fish. He clapped his big fins together and made loud squeal noises. He also wobbled from side to side as he danced around. Marco laughed out loud when he saw him balance a ball on his nose. Marco laughed out loud when he saw him balance a ball on his nose. Not only could he balance the ball, he could toss it to the trainer!

20. Present pilot study n Materials –Picture arrays n Picture of target word n Picture of word from text, non-target, not repeated n Pictures of 4 other, non-presented words

21. Example picture arrays

22. Present pilot study n Participants –Spanish-English preschoolers (N=43) n Age range: 3 ½ - 5 years of age n All with Spanish spoken in the home –2 participants with low-no proficiency in English (not included in analyses)

23. Present pilot study n Procedure –Two sessions (one month apart) n 1 st : Target word = Moon n 2 nd : Target word = Seal

24. Present pilot study n Session procedure –(1) Storybook read by experimenter –(2) Individual testing sessions n Research assistant meets with one child at a time n Presents child with an array of pictures n “What do you see here?” n Responses audio recorded and written down on paper

25. Present pilot study n Results: Session 1 (Moon) –Data from 18 students (7 prose; 11 rhyme) –Response scoring n Range 9- 1 –9 : says word first and repeats it –8: says word first –7: says word second –Etc…

26. Session 1 results

27. Session 2 –Data from 18 students (13 prose; 17 rhyme)

28. Session 2 results

29. Discussion n Familiar words –Rhyme boosts spontaneous usage n Unfamiliar words –May benefit more from prose –Provides more explicit description of meaning –Need more repetitions