The current study explored the preschool classroom environment as an important context for supporting dual-language learning Latino children’s development of emergent literacy skills. The results of the study showed that teachers in Spanish–English bilingual preschool classrooms varied in the way they shared wordless picture books with the children, with analyses yielding three distinct narrative styles: didactic constructors, didactic providers and conversational sharers. These styles were differentiated in the manner in which teachers engaged the preschoolers in book-sharing interactions. Children whose teachers adopted a didactic constructor style (i.e. teachers elicited most of the narrative information from the children) seemed to have the best outcomes at the end of the preschool year, in terms of their print-related, language and storytelling skills. In addition, teachers’ use of cognitively challenging talk was related to Latino preschoolers’ language and storytelling skills, especially for the youngest children. Results are discussed in relation to the importance of preschool in supporting low-income Latino children’s emergent literacy development.
BarnettWSYaroszDJThomasJ (2007) Two-way and monolingual English immersion in preschool education: An experimental comparison. Early Childhood Research Quarterly22: 277–293.
3.
BermanRASlobinDI (1994) Relating Events in Narrative: A Crosslinguistic Developmental Study, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
4.
Blum-KulkaS (2008) Safa, tikshoret veoryanut: Kavim lehitpatchut hasiach haoryani (Language, communication and literacy: Major steps in the development of literate discourse). In: KleinPYablonY (eds) Me mechkar laasiya bechinuch bagil harach (From Research to Practice in Early Education), Jerusalem: The Israeli Academy of Science, pp. 117–154.
5.
BrackenSSFischelJE (2008) Family reading behavior and early literacy skills in preschool children from low-income backgrounds. Early Education and Development. Special Issue: Parent-Child Interaction and Early Literacy Development19(1): 45–67.
6.
BusAGvan IJzendoornMHPellegriniAD (1995) Joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: A meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. Review of Educational Research65(1): 1–21.
7.
CaspeM (2009) Low-income Latino mothers’ booksharing styles and children’s emergent literacy development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly24: 306–324.
8.
ClayM (1979) Stones, Aukland, New Zealand: Heinemann.
9.
ClayM (1993) An Observational Survey of Early Literacy Achievement, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
10.
ConnorCMMorrisonFJSlominskiL (2006) Preschool instruction and children’s emergent literacy growth. Journal of Educational Psychology98(4): 665–689.
11.
DiamondKEGerdeHKPowellDR (2008) Development in early literacy skills during the pre-kindergarten year in Head Start: Relation between growth in children’s writing and understanding of letters. Early Childhood Research Quarterly23: 467–478.
12.
DickinsonDK (2001) Book reading in preschool classrooms: Is recommended practice common? In: DickinsonDKTaborsPO (eds) Beginning Literacy with Language: Young Children Learning at Home and School, Baltimore: Paul H Brookes, pp. 175–203.
13.
DickinsonDKKloostermanVI (2003) An Examination of Factors that Affect the Capacity of Preschool Programs to Support Children’s Literacy Development, Newton, MA: Education Development Center.
14.
DickinsonDKMcCabeAAnastasopoulosL (2003) A framework for examining book reading in early childhood classrooms. In: van KleeckAStahlSABauerEB (eds) On Reading Books to Children: Parents and Teachers, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 95–113.
15.
DickinsonDHPorcheMV (2011) Relation between language experiences in preschool classrooms and children’s kindergarten and fourth-grade language and reading abilities. Child Development82(3): 870–886.
16.
DickinsonDKSmithMW (1994) Long-term effects of preschool teachers' book readings on low-income children’s vocabulary and story comprehension. Reading Research Quarterly29(2): 104–122.
17.
Dickinson DK and Tabors PO (eds) (2001) Beginning Literacy with Language: Young Children Learning at Home and School. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
EscamillaKAndradeMBasurtoAG (1996) Instrumento de observación de los logros de la lecto-escritura inicial, New York: Heinemann.
20.
Espinosa L, Laffey J and Whittaker T (2006) Language Minority Children Analysis: Focus on Technology Use. Washington, DC: Cooperation in Research and Education in Science and Technology (CREST)/National Center for Education (NCES).
21.
Espinosa L and López M (2007) Assessment Considerations for Young English Language Learners Across Different Levels of Accountability. Philadelphia: Pew Charitable Trusts.
22.
FarverJMXuYEppeS (2006) Home environments and young Latino children’s school readiness. Early Childhood Research Quarterly21: 196–212.
23.
FernándezC (2007) The role of theory of mind and pragmatic language skills in children’s social functioning. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering68(4-B): 2686.
24.
GerdeHKPowellDR (2009) Teacher education, book-reading practices, and children’s language growth across one year of Head Start. Early Education and Development20: 211–237.
GutiérrezKDZepedaMCastroDC (2010) Advancing early literacy learning for all children: Implications of the NELP report for dual-language learners. Educational Researcher39: 334–339.
27.
HadenCAReeseEFivushR (1996) Mothers’ extratextual comments during storybook reading: Stylistic differences over time and across texts. Discourse Processes21(2): 135–169.
28.
HammerCSDavisonMDLawrenceFR (2009) The effect of home language on bilingual children’s vocabulary and emergent literacy development during Head Start and kindergarten. Scientific Studies of Reading13: 99–121.
29.
HammerCSJiaGUchikoshiY (2011) Language and literacy development of dual language learners growing up in the United States: A call for research. Child Development Perspectives5: 4–9.
30.
HammerCSLawrenceFRMiccioAW (2008) Exposure to English before and after entry into Head Start: Bilingual children’s receptive language growth in Spanish and English. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism11: 30–56.
31.
HammerCSMiccioAW (2006) Early language and reading development of bilingual preschoolers from low-income families. Topics in Language Disorders26: 302–317.
32.
HammerCSNimmoDCohenR (2005) Book reading interactions between African American and Puerto Rican head start children and their mothers. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy5(3): 195–227.
33.
HargraveACSénéchalM (2000) A book reading intervention with preschool children who have limited vocabularies: The benefits of regular reading and dialogic reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly15: 75–90.
34.
HindmanAHConnorCMJewkesAM (2008) Untangling the effects of shared book reading: Multiple factors and their associations with preschool literacy outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly23(3): 330–350.
35.
HindmanAHWasikB (2008) Head Start teachers’ beliefs about language and literacy instruction. Early Childhood Research Quarterly23: 479–492.
36.
HuRCommeyrasM (2008) A case study: Emergent biliteracy in English and Chinese of a 5-year-old Chinese child with wordless picture books. Reading Psychology29: 1–30.
37.
JalongoMRDragichDConradNK (2002) Using wordless picture books to support emergent literacy. Early Childhood Education Journal29(3): 167–177.
38.
JusticeLMKaderavekJNFanX (2009) Accelerating preschoolers’ early literacy development through classroom-based teacher-child storybook reading and explicit print referencing. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools40(1): 67–85.
39.
LeeVEBurkhamDT (2002) Inequality at the Starting Gate: Social Background Differences in Achievement as Children Begin School, Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.
40.
MacWhinneyB (2000) The CHILDES project, 3rd ed. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
41.
MayerM (1967) A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, New York: Penguin Books.
42.
MayerMMayerM (1971) A Boy, a Dog, a Frog, and a Friend, New York: Penguin Books.
43.
MeiselsSJMarsdenDBWiskeMS (1997) Early Screening Inventory – Revised: Examiners Manual, Ann Arbor: Rebus.
44.
MelziGCaspeM (2005) Variations in maternal narrative styles during book reading interactions. Narrative Inquiry15(1): 101–125.
45.
MelziGSchickARKennedyJL (2011) Narrative elaboration and participation: Two dimensions of maternal elicitation style. Child Development82(4): 1282–1296.
46.
MolSEBusAGde JongMT (2008) Added value of dialogic parent-child book readings: A meta-analysis. Early Education and Development. Special Issue: Parent-Child Interaction and Early Literacy Development19(1): 7–26.
47.
MolSEBusAGde JongMT (2009) Interactive book reading in early education: A tool to stimulate print knowledge as well as oral language. Review of Educational Research79: 979–1007.
48.
National Institute for Early Education Research (2011) The State of Preschool 2009. Available at: http://nieer.org/yearbook/pdf/yearbook.pdf (accessed on 16 November 2011).
49.
NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2005) Oral language and reading: Reply to Bracken (2005). Developmental Psychology41: 1000–1002.
50.
PáezMTaborsPOLópezLM (2007) Dual language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking preschool children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology28: 85–102.
51.
Pew Hispanic Research Center (2005) Trends 2005. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center.
52.
PowellDRDiamondKEBurchinalMR (2010) Effects of an early literacy professional development intervention on head start teachers and children. Journal of Educational Psychology102(2): 299–312.
53.
PriceLHBradleyBASmithJM (2012) A comparison of preschool teachers’ talk during storybook and information book read-alouds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly27: 426–440.
54.
ReeseC (1996) Story development using wordless picture books. The Reading Teacher50: 172–173.
55.
ReeseECoxA (1999) Quality of adult book reading affects children’s emergent literacy. Developmental Psychology35(1): 20–28.
56.
ReeseELeyvaDSparksA (2010) Maternal elaboration reminiscing increases low-income children’s narrative skills relative to dialogic reading. Early Education and Development21(3): 318–342.
57.
Schick A, Melzi G and Niño S (2010, April) Book Sharing Styles of Teachers in Bilingual Head Start Classrooms. Human Development Conference, New York, NY.
58.
SénéchalMLeFevreJ (2002) Parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skill: A five-year longitudinal study. Child Development73(2): 445–460.
59.
Snow CE, Burns MS and Griffin P (1998) Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Committee on the prevention of reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
60.
SnowCEDickinsonDK (1990) Social sources of narrative skills at home and at school. First Language10(2): 87–103.
61.
StorchSAWhitehurstGJ (2002) Oral language and code-related precursors to reading: Evidence from a longitudinal structural model. Developmental Psychology38(6): 934–947.
62.
TaborsPOSnowCEDickinsonDK (2001) Home and schools together: Supporting language and literacy development. In: DickinsonDKTaborsPO (eds) Beginning Literacy with Language: Young Children Learning at Home and School, Baltimore: Paul H Brookes Publishing, pp. 313–334.
63.
TealeWHSulzbyE (1986) Emergent Literacy: Writing and Reading, Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
WasikBABondMA (2001) Beyond the pages of a book: Interactive book reading and language development in preschool classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology93(2): 243–250.
66.
WasikBABondMAHindmanAH (2006) The effects of a language and literacy intervention on Head Start children and teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology98(1): 63–74.
67.
WhitehurstGJArnoldDSEpsteinJN (1994) A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. Developmental Psychology30(5): 679–689.
68.
WhitehurstGJLoniganCJ (1998) Child development and emergent literacy. Child Development69(3): 848–872.
69.
ZimmermanILSteinerVGPondRE (2004) Preschool Language Scale, 4th edition, English & Spanish, San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Assessment, Inc.
Zucker TA, Cabell SQ, Justice LM, et al. (2012) The role of frequent, interactive pre-kindergarten shared reading in the longitudinal development of language and literacy skills. Developmental Psychology 48: 1425–1439.
72.
ZuckerTAJusticeLMPiastaSB (2010) Preschool teachers’ literal and inferential questions and children’s responses during whole-class shared reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly25: 65–83.
