Parental explanations of vocabulary during shared book reading: A missed opportunity

Abstract

Two studies investigated discussions of the meaning of unusual vocabulary encountered during shared book reading. In Study 1 parent–child dyads were observed longitudinally in senior kindergarten through grade 2 reading short storybooks below, at and just above the child’s reading level. Here children did most of the reading. In Study 2 a second sample of parents of children in grade 1 all read the same book to their child. This book had numerous unfamiliar words, allowing an investigation of the characteristics of the words themselves that might influence whether parents and children discuss their meaning. In both studies a striking percentage of novel words encountered were not explained. Unusual words appearing last on a page’s text were more likely to be discussed than were words appearing earlier on the page.