Children with problems in the development of early literacy are at risk for reading difficulties in later life. Weak executive functioning might contribute to this. Therefore, fostering early...Show moreChildren with problems in the development of early literacy are at risk for reading difficulties in later life. Weak executive functioning might contribute to this. Therefore, fostering early literacy skills is of great importance. Digital books and interactive reading may support this development. The current study examines the impact of reading digital storybooks in a classroom setting using the interactive reading program e-Prent&ABC. This program involves reading techniques such as semantic consolidation and print referencing to stimulate early literacy skills, including vocabulary and print knowledge. The relationship between these components of early literacy and executive functions such as working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control is also explored. Based on previous research, it is hypothesized that reading using print referencing would result in more growth in vocabulary and print knowledge than reading through semantic consolidation. Additionally, it is hypothesized that working memory and cognitive flexibility would mainly contribute to growth in vocabulary, while inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility would contribute to growth in print knowledge. This within-subject design study used a sample of 85 children (41 girls, M = 63 months, SD = 6.1 months). Various questionnaires were employed to measure book-related vocabulary, print knowledge, visual working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. The results show that print referencing does not lead to more growth in vocabulary than semantic consolidation, but it does in print knowledge, which implies that interactive reading is beneficial for the development of early literacy. Furthermore, it appears that visual working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control are not significant predictors of vocabulary and print knowledge, meaning e-Prent&ABC might compensate for the negative effects of lower levels of executive functioning. This study contributes to the advancement of inclusive education for children with diverse learning needs, levels of literacy and executive functioning.Show less
In previous studies, digital storybooks with dynamic illustrations have been found to be beneficial for expressive language acquisition of second language learners with limited vocabularies ...Show moreIn previous studies, digital storybooks with dynamic illustrations have been found to be beneficial for expressive language acquisition of second language learners with limited vocabularies (Verhallen, Bus & de Jong, 2006; Verhallen & Bus, 2010). In this experiment, we examined the effects of digital storybooks with dynamic and static illustrations on the expressive vocabulary of 39 native Dutch speakers from 4 to 6 years of age. We investigated the role of visual attention at the illustrations in children’s vocabulary acquisition. Eye movements were recorded using eye-tracking methodology and showed that moving parts of the illustrations attract children’s attention. Furthermore, static illustrations were more facilitative than their dynamic counterparts for learning words expressively. In the dynamic condition longer fixation time at the depiction of targeted words was associated with lower word learning. In the static condition there was no relationship between looking behavior and word learning.Show less
