Teenage mothers’ language use during shared reading: An examination of quantity and quality

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of an emergent literacy intervention on the language quality and quantity used during shared reading interactions of 14 teenage mothers (M = 19;9, SD = 1;3) and their young children (M = 2;1, SD = 0;8). Mothers participated in a seven-week emergent literacy intervention focused on a range of behaviours they could use to enhance shared reading interactions with their children. A pre-post single group (no control/comparison group) research design was used to evaluate intervention effects on language use. Results demonstrated a significant intervention effect on most aspects of language quality and quantity measured. Number of total words, total utterances and number of different words demonstrated a statistically significant increase for both mothers and children; mothers used more rare-sophisticated words; and children used more different types of word classes. Context of talk for mothers also showed significant growth in areas of description and prediction/explanation. Results provide considerations for designing parent-focused interventions to effectively target both literacy and language development in children from at-risk populations.