title: Dialogic reading and morphology training in Chinese children: effects on language and literacy.
abstract: This study investigates the effects of parent-child shared book reading and metalinguistic training on the language and literacy skills of 148 kindergartners in Hong Kong. Children were pretested on Chinese character recognition, vocabulary, morphological awareness, and reading interest and then assigned randomly to 1 of 4 conditions: the dialogic reading with morphology training (DR + MT), dialogic reading (DR), typical reading, or control condition. After a 12-week intervention period, the DR intervention yielded greater gains in vocabulary, and the DR + MT intervention yielded greater improvement in character recognition and morphological awareness. Both interventions enhanced children's reading interest. Results confirm that different home literacy approaches influence children's oral and written language skills differently: Shared book reading promotes language development, whereas parents' explicit metalinguistic training within a shared book reading context better prepares children for learning to read.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: Bonnie Wing-Yin
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McBride-Chang
authors.forename: Him
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Celia Sze-Lok
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chow
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology*; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002657:Child Development; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008037:Linguistics / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011932:Reading; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary; D014956:Writing