Dialogic Book Reading 101: Concepts,

Strategies, Practices and Possible InnovationsKOTESOL International Conference 2013

Dr. Maria Teodora Ping

Mulawarman University

Indonesia

Structure of the Presentation

• Basic Concepts

• Strategies

• Practices & Possible Innovations

What is Dialogic Book Reading?

• A particular form of shared book reading

• Adult and child switch roles: the child = the storyteller; the adult = an active listener and questioner

• Adult and child have a conversation about a book

(Whitehurst, 1992; Zevenbergen & Whitehurst, 2003)

Why Dialogic Book Reading?

• Basic premise: “children learn most from books

when they are actively involved” (Whitehurst,

1992)

• “Reading interventions that more actively involve

children are likely to give more positive benefits”

(Trivette & Dunst, 2007)

Why Dialogic Book Reading?

• “Dialogic reading increased children’s vocabulary

gain and expressive language skills”

(Zevenbergen & Whitehurst, 2003)

• “Dialogic reading activity provides potential

opportunities for learning vocabulary and

sentence structure” (Ping, 2011)

Dialogic Reading Strategies

• “PEER”

- Prompting: prompt the child to label objects in the book and talk about the story

- Evaluating: evaluate the child’s responses

- Expanding: expand the child’s utterances by repeating what the child has said and adding

information to it

- Repeating: encourage the child to repeat the expanded utterances

Dialogic Reading Strategies

• “CROWD”

- Completion prompt: fill-in-the-blank questions

- Recall prompt: remember aspects of the book

- Open- Ended prompt: respond to the book in

own words

- Wh- prompt: what, where, why questions

- Distancing prompt: relate the content of the

book to aspects of life outside of the book

Dialogic Reading Strategies &

Practices

• Recommended Tips for Practices with Early

Language Learners (2-3 Years Old)

1) Ask “WHAT” questions;

2) Follow answers with questions;

3) Repeat what the child says;

4) Help the child as needed;

Dialogic Reading Strategies &

Practices

5) Praise and encourage;

6) Follow the child’s interests;

7) Ask open-ended questions;

8) Expand what the child says, and

9) Have fun.

Dialogic Reading Practice

• Materials:

- appropriate for the children’s age level: in terms

of length, language and basic concepts/ themes

- appealing to young children: simple narrative

plots, numerous illustrations, and limited words

per page.

(see further: http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connect-modules/learners/module-6/step-3/b-

definition/selecting)

Dialogic Reading Practice

Courtesy of:

http://soe.lmu.edu/centers/ceel/earlychildhoodandenglishlearnersresources/

Dialogic Reading Practices &

Possible Innovations

• Creating “Dialogic Reading Corner”

• Doing Extensive Dialogic Reading

• Integrating Technology

References

• Cutspec, P. A. (2006). Effects of Dialogic Reading on the Language Development of 4- and 5-Year-Old Children. Bridges, 4(3), 1-15.

• Hargrave, A. C., & Senechal, M. (2000). A book reading intervention with preschool children who have limited vocabularies: the benefits of regular reading and dialogic reading. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 15(1), 75-90

• Lonigan, C., & Whitehurst, G. J. (1998).Relative efficacy of parent and teacher involvement in a shared-reading intervention for preschool children from low-income backgrounds. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 13(2), 263-290

• Ping, Maria Teodora. (2012). Dialogic Oriented Shared Book Reading Practices for Immigrant Children in German Kindergartens. Florida: Universal- Publishers.com

References

• Trivette, C. M., & Dunst, C. J. (2007).Relative Effectiveness of Dialogic, Interactive, and Shared Reading Interventions. Learning, 1(2), 1-12.

• Whitehurst, G. J. (1992). Dialogic Reading: An Effective Way to Read to Preschoolers. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/400

• Whitehurst, G. J., Arnold, D. S., Epstein, J. N., Angell, A. L., Smith, M., & Fischel, J. (1994). A picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. Developmental Psychology, 30, 679 - 689.

• Zevenbergen, A. A., & Whitehurst, G. J. (2003). Dialogic Reading: A Shared Picture Book Reading Intervention for Preschoolers. On Reading to Children: Parents and Teachers (pp. 177-200)