Effects of a Family Literacy Program for Latino Parents: Evidence from a Single Subject Design

abstract: ABSTRACT This study investigated the effects of a family literacy program for Latino parents' language practices at home and their children's oral language skills. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which: (a) the program called Family Reading Intervention for Language and Literacy in Spanish (FRILLS) was effective at teaching low-education, low-income Latino parents three language strategies (i.e., comments, high-level questions and recasts) as measured by parent implementation, (b) parents maintained implementation of the three language strategies two weeks following the program, and (c) parent implementation of such practices positively impacted children's oral language skills as measured by number of inferences, conversational turns, number of different words, and the Mean Length of Utterance in words (MLU-w). Five Latino mothers and their Spanish-speaking preschool children participated in a multiple baseline single-subject design across participants. After stable baseline data, each mother was randomly selected to initiate the intervention. Program initiation was staggered across the five mothers. The mothers engaged in seven individual intervention sessions. Data on parent and child outcomes were collected across three experimental conditions: baseline, intervention, and follow-up. This study employed visual analysis of the data to determine the program effects on parent and child outcome variables. Results indicated that the program was effective in increasing the mothers' use of comments and high-level questions, but not recasts, when reading to their children. The program had a positive effect on the children's number of inferences, different words, and conversational turns, but not on the mean length of utterances. Findings indicate that FRILLS may be effective at extending and enriching the language environment that low-income children who are culturally and linguistically diverse experience at home. Three results with important implications for those who implement, develop, or examine family literacy programs are discussed.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Speech and Hearing Science 201

Talking Down to Toddlers: Comparing Maternal Language to Adults, Maternal Language Input to Toddlers, and Toddler Vocabulary Growth

This study considers how differences between adult-directed-speech (ADS) and child-directed speech (CDS) at 11 and 24 months affect child vocabulary development. The effects on child vocabulary development of 1) the size and stability of simplification in MLU and VOCD between ADS and CDS, 2) proportions of rare words, 3) one-word utterances and 4) nouns in CDS on toddler vocabularies are considered. Mothers' MLU and VOCD in CDS were stable, but did not relate to children's vocabulary growth, while other input factors were related to child outcomes, but were not stable. Results provide no evidence of an upper limit to beneficial complexity in CDS and do not support replacing time-lagged with concurrent measures in research

Development and evaluation of a free-field voice test for potential use as a community screening tool for hearing impairment in children

Early identification of hearing impairment in children is essential to avoid potentially disabling effects of hearing loss or deafness. This necessitates effective screening measures appropriate to the community in question. Current methods used in South Africa, especially for pre-school and school going children have resulted in poor coverage as they are designed for the more developed countries. There is thus a need to devise a screening method that is appropriate to our local conditions. In this study, a free-field live voice test was developed based on three levels: whisper, conversational and loud. This was evaluated against pure tone audiometry for sensitivity, specificity, cost and ease of application in two studies: hospital and school- based. A total of 394 children were tested; 189 in hospital-based study and 205 in school based study. 378 of the total were eligible for analysis. In the hospital-based study, the results of 177 children were analysed. The age range was 3 - 12 years with a mean of 5.8 years. The sensitivity (ability of the test to detect hearing impairment) was 80.0%; and the specificity (ability to identify children with normal hearing) was 95.0%. In the school-based study, done after modification and standardisation of the test set, the sensitivity and specificity were 83.3% and 97.8% respectively. Age range was 3 - 8 years with 79% being 4- 6 years. In both studies, the voice test was simpler to perform, easily understood and acceptable to the children and the testers; and considerably cheaper as the only equipment required was picture/toy set. The main limitation was non-standardisation of the test set. This was rectified in the school-based study. The drawbacks noted were the inability of the voice test to detect unilateral hearing loss/deafness and high frequency hearing loss. The voice test generally correlated well with pure tone audiometry and could be used as alternative for screening for hearing impairment in the community especially for pre-school and school going children. However, it is recommended to repeat the study in actual community settings using Community Health Care Workers as the testers. This would also determine the reliability of the voice test, as this cannot be reliably established at this stage

Das gemeinsame Lesen von Kinderbüchern und die Entwicklung frühkindlicher Sprachfähigkeiten

Storybooks and talk centered around shared reading contain more rare words, complex syntax, and narrative structures than the language that caregivers usually use when talking to children. Therefore, interactive storybook reading has the potential to facilitate children’s acquisition of lower level language (LLL) skills (e.g., vocabulary, grammar) and higher level language (HLL) skills (e.g., comprehension monitoring, narrative comprehension). This dissertation addresses gaps in shared storybook reading research pertaining to questions of assessment, intervention, and early literacy models. It investigates from a developmental and educational perspective how shared reading in the home literacy environment (HLE) and the child care literacy environment (CCLE) is related to children’s oral language skills. The first aim is to validate two recognition tests for German-speaking participants. This allows an objective and economic assessment of storybook exposure and adult literature exposure, both of which are related to children’s language development. The second aim is to clarify (a) the relation between parent and child as literacy agents in a home literacy model of shared reading, and (b) whether shared reading is related to children’s HLL skills besides being related to their LLL skills. The third aim is to test the effectiveness of a narrative dialogic reading intervention targeting LLL and HLL skills. To this end, four studies were conducted. Study 1 validated a storybook title recognition test (TRT) for German-speaking preschoolers and caregivers. The TRT captures relative differences in the amount of shared reading. In structural equation models, the TRT was a unique predictor of preschoolers’ language skills, explaining about 50% of variance in language skills. By contrast, questionnaire measures of socioeconomic status and home literacy environment did not explain additional variance in language skills. Study 2 validated an author recognition test (ART) for 13 to 80-year-old German-speaking readers. The ART is a measure of leisure reading that explains a substantial amount of variance in caregivers’ language skills, which is in turn related to children’s language development. Even though print exposure accumulates with time, several life span studies did not find a positive relation between reader age and ART scores. Study 2 used a sample of 13- to 77-year-old readers. The recognition probability of classic authors increased between ages 15 and 65. By contrast, the recognition probability of recent authors only increased between ages 15 and 45. The author mean publication year turned out to be a key variable for estimating print exposure in age-diverse samples. This author variable should be taken into account when modelling relationships between literacy environments and children’s language skills, especially if the age of caregivers varies (e.g., adolescent siblings, parents, grand-parents). Study 3 examined how HLE and CCLE are related to preschoolers’ storybook exposure and how the storybook exposure of preschoolers, parents, and child care workers is related to LLL and HLL skills. Parents’ exposure to storybooks was a unique predictor of children’s vocabulary and grammar skills. Parents’ storybook exposure was also moderately related to children’s storybook exposure, which in turn explained unique variance in vocabulary, grammar, comprehension monitoring, and narrative comprehension. Therefore, the storybook exposure of children and parents should be conceptualized as related, but separate variables in models of the home literacy environment. Moreover, models should differentiate between LLL and HLL skills as correlates and outcomes of shared reading. Study 4 developed a narrative dialogic reading intervention with wordless picture books that targeted preschoolers’ LLL and HLL skills. The intervention had small short-term effects on narrative comprehension and vocabulary skills. Comparisons with an alternative treatment and a no treatment group showed that the effects were due to the specific intervention contents. Individual differences in storybook exposure and general cognitive abilities did not moderate intervention gains. Children in control groups caught up after five months, with the exception of inferential narrative comprehension, where intervention effects were maintained at first follow-up. This indicates that narrative dialogic reading provided a unique opportunity to preschoolers for learning inferential narrative comprehension skills. In sum, this dissertation provides new methods and insights for the assessment of print exposure and shows that narrative dialogic reading fosters a broad range of oral language skills. Regarding the refinement of early literacy models, additional analyses showed that, above children’s and parents’ storybook exposure, the ART was a unique predictor of LLL skills. Parental leisure reading and shared storybook reading were connected to children’s oral language skills through multiple pathways that should be represented in early literacy models.Bilderbücher und Gespräche während dem Vorlesen enthalten mehr seltene Wörter, komplexe Syntax und narrative Strukturen als die gewöhnliche kindgerichtete Sprache von Eltern. Folglich kann das interaktive Vorlesen von Bilderbüchern zur Entwicklung von niedrigen Sprachfähigkeiten (z. B. Wortschatz, Grammatik) und höheren Sprachfähigkeiten (z. B. Überwachen von Verstehen, narratives Verstehen) beitragen. Diese Dissertation adressiert Lücken in der Vorlese-Forschung welche Fragen der Messung, Intervention und Modelle des frühen Schriftspracherwerbs betreffen. Aus entwicklungs- und pädagogisch-psychologischer Perspektive wird untersucht wie das Bilderbuchlesen in der häuslichen Leseumwelt und der Kita-Leseumwelt mit den Sprachfähigkeiten von Vorschulkindern zusammenhängt. Erstens sollen zwei Rekognitionstests für deutschsprachige Kinder und Vorlesende validiert werden. Hierdurch können Unterschiede im Lesevolumen hinsichtlich Bilderbüchern sowie Erwachsenenliteratur objektiv und ökonomisch erfasst werden. Beide stehen im Zusammenhang mit der kindlichen Sprachentwicklung. Zweitens soll geklärt werden, wie (a) Eltern und Kind als Handelnde im Vorleseprozess in der häuslichen Leseumwelt zueinander in Relation stehen und (b) ob das gemeinsame Lesen von Bilderbüchern neben niedrigen Sprachfähigkeiten auch mit höheren Sprachfähigkeiten zusammenhängt. Drittens soll überprüft werden, ob eine Sprachintervention zum narrativen dialogischen Lesen positive Effekte auf niedrige und höhere Sprachfähigkeiten hat. Zu diesem Zweck wurden vier Studien durchgeführt. Studie 1 validierte einen Bilderbuch-Titelrekognitionstest (TRT) für deutschsprachige Vorschulkinder und Vorlesende. Der TRT erfasst relative Unterschiede im Vorlesevolumen. In Strukturgleichungsmodellen klärte der TRT etwa 50% der Varianz in Sprachfähigkeiten auf, der sozioökonomische Status und die häusliche Leseumwelt klärten hier hingegen keine zusätzliche Varianz auf. Studie 2 validierte einen Autorenrekognitionstest (ART) für 13- bis 80-Jährige. Der ART misst das Leseverhalten in der Freizeit. Hierdurch kann ein substanzieller Anteil der Varianz in den Sprachfähigkeiten von Vorlesenden aufgeklärt werden. Die Sprachfähigkeiten von Vorlesenden hängen wiederum zusammen mit der kindlichen Sprachentwicklung. Das kumulative Lesevolumen wächst mit zunehmendem Alter. Mehrere Lebensspanne-Studien haben allerdings keinen positiven Zusammenhang zwischen Alter und ART-Score gefunden. Studie 2 untersuchte deshalb in einer Stichprobe von 13- bis 77-Jährigen wie das Lesevolumen zunimmt. Für bereits kanonisierte Autorinnen und Autoren stieg die Rekognitionswahrscheinlichkeit zwischen 15 und 65 Jahren an. Hingegen stieg die Rekognitionswahrscheinlichkeit für Gegenwartsautorinnen und -autoren nur zwischen 15 und 45 Jahren. Folglich ist das mittlere Publikationsjahr von Autorinnen und Autoren bedeutsam für die Schätzung des Lesevolumens in altersdiversen Stichproben. Diese Variable sollte bei der Modellierung von Leseumwelt-Einflüssen auf die kindliche Sprachentwicklung einbezogen werden – insbesondere dann, wenn unterschiedliche Generationen regelmäßig mit Kindern kommunizieren (z. B. Geschwister im Jugendalter, Eltern, Großeltern). Studie 3 untersuchte wie häusliche und Kita-Leseumwelt mit dem Vorlesevolumen von Vorschulkindern zusammenhängen und wie das Vorlesevolumen von Kindern, Eltern und Kita-Mitarbeitern zu niedrigen und höheren Sprachfähigkeiten beiträgt. Das Vorlesevolumen der Eltern erklärte einen uniquen Varianzanteil in Wortschatz und Grammatik der Kinder. Auch bestand zwischen Vorlesevolumen der Eltern und Vorlesevolumen der Kinder eine mittelstarke Korrelation. Das Vorlesevolumen der Kinder wiederum erklärte einen uniquen Varianzanteil in Wortschatz, Grammatik, Verstehensüberwachung und narrativem Verstehen. Folglich sollten die Vorlesevolumina von Kindern und Eltern in Modellen der häuslichen Leseumwelt als getrennte, aber in Verbindung stehende Variablen konzeptualisiert werden. Diese Modellen sollten zudem zwischen niedrigen und höheren Sprachfähigkeiten differenzieren. Studie 4 überprüfte die Effektivität einer neu entwickelten Intervention zum narrativen dialogischen Lesen in der Bilderbücher ohne Worte verwendet wurden. Die Intervention hatte kurzfristig kleine positive Effekte auf das narrative Verstehen und Wortschatzfähigkeiten. Die Interventionseffekte konnten durch Vergleiche mit der aktiven sowie der passiven Vergleichsgruppe auf die spezifischen Inhalte der Intervention zurückgeführt werden. Interindividuelle Unterschiede im Vorlesevolumen vor Interventionsbeginn sowie Unterschiede in den allgemeinen kognitiven Fähigkeiten hatten keinen Einfluss auf die Interventionseffekte. Die Kinder in den Vergleichsgruppen holten nach fünf Monaten in allen Sprachfähigkeiten auf. Nur hinsichtlich des inferenziellen narrativen Verstehens bestanden bei der ersten Folgeuntersuchung noch Gruppenunterschiede zugunsten der Intervention. Dies weist darauf hin, dass das dialogische Lesen spezielle Lerngelegenheiten für das inferenzielle narrative Verstehen bereit stellte. Insgesamt liefert diese Dissertation wichtige Erkenntnisse für die Erfassung des (Vor-)Lesevolumens und zur Effektivität des narrativen dialogischen Lesens. Hinsichtlich der Präzisierung eines Modells zum Einfluss des Vorlesens auf die Sprachentwicklung zeigten zusätzliche Analysen, dass der ART über den TRT hinaus zusätzlich Varianz in niedrigen Sprachfähigkeiten aufklärt. Offensichtlich bestehen mehrere Pfade von elterlichem Freizeitlesen und interaktivem Vorlesen zu den Sprachfähigkeiten von Kindern, welche entsprechend in Modellen zum Sprachenlernen durch Umwelteinflüsse repräsentiert sein sollten