The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the interactive digital reading program ePrent&ABC on the development of vocabulary depth and phonological awareness during the early...Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the interactive digital reading program ePrent&ABC on the development of vocabulary depth and phonological awareness during the early literacy development period. The program ePrent&ABC combines digital living storybooks with theory-based instruction methods for learning new vocabulary to enhance the development of early literacy. A total of 90 Dutch kindergarten students aged between 53 and 70 months (M = 62,22 months, SD = 4,825) participated in this study. Over the course of five weeks, teachers read five different Dutch storybooks four times each during group reading. During each reading, new words and phonemes were taught to the kindergartners using different forms of consolidation, except for in the last condition (condition A) in which no new words were taught. During the other conditions (B: semantics; C: print knowledge; D: phonological awareness), eight new words per storybook were taught and measured the next week to investigate the growth in vocabulary depth and phonological awareness. Results show that the use of ePrent&ABC causes more growth in phonological awareness than regular storybooks. There is a significant result when comparing children with a high receptive vocabulary and children with a low receptive vocabulary (p<.001, ηp2= .205). Children with a high vocabulary have a statistically significant higher mean on phonological awareness than children with a low vocabulary. When looking at vocabulary depth, no statistically significant results were found. This result can be attributed to faults in the instructional methods and measuring materials of vocabulary depth. Even though ePrent&ABC has shown no effect on vocabulary depth, certain working aspects like phonological awareness instruction can be used to aid children with literacy difficulties during primary school years. Keywords: early literacy development, phonological awareness, vocabulary depth, digital storybooks, ePrent&ABC, vocabulary consolidationShow less
Introduction. Many children in the Netherlands fail to achieve adequate reading levels by the end of primary school, posing concerns for their academic and later societal success. Effective...Show moreIntroduction. Many children in the Netherlands fail to achieve adequate reading levels by the end of primary school, posing concerns for their academic and later societal success. Effective stimulation of early literacy skills in kindergarten, including vocabulary, print knowledge, and phonological awareness, can reduce differences among students and reduce the risk of reading difficulties later on. While storybooks are effective in stimulating these early literacy skills, traditional storybook reading is not enough to provide a steady foundation for later reading success. Additionally, children with a smaller vocabulary do not benefit as much from storybook reading as their larger vocabularied peers, which increases early literacy skill level gaps between children. In this study, several effective methods in enhancing these skills are combined into the e-Prent&ABC method, which aims to enhance these skills simultaneously. Methods. 85 kindergarteners (41 boys, 44 girls) aged 4;2 to 6;3 years participated. Interactive digital reading sessions were conducted over five weeks, utilizing six picture books and varied reading methods. The first condition utilized non-interactive video books. Successive conditions used variations of the e-Prent&ABC reading method, focusing on either semantics, print knowledge, or phonological awareness. Participants underwent assessment of productive vocabulary, print knowledge, and phonological awareness before and after the reading conditions, along with a receptive vocabulary test before the conditions. Data were analysed using Mixed ANOVA and Repeated Measures ANOVA. Results. Kindergarteners, especially those with lower receptive vocabularies, experienced great vocabulary growth with the e-Prent&ABC method. The simultaneous stimulation of either print knowledge or phonological awareness proved effective, but not at the expense of vocabulary growth. Discussion. The e-Prent&ABC method proves effective in stimulating all three early literacy skills in the kindergarten setting, especially benefitting children with smaller vocabularies and thereby reducing skills gaps between individuals. These findings hold promise for improving children’s literacy outcomes.Show less
Teachers in kindergarten are confronted with many differences between emergent literacy skills children have developed before going to primary school. Since these skills are the foundation of the...Show moreTeachers in kindergarten are confronted with many differences between emergent literacy skills children have developed before going to primary school. Since these skills are the foundation of the development of reading skills, it is important to promote emergent literacy in kindergarten. E- Prent&ABC is a method to improve emergent literacy that combines animated e-books with print referencing and the 4-cycle-model for word development during classroom book reading. A previous study has demonstrated that e-Prent&ABC enhances vocabulary and phonological awareness of kindergartners. However, kindergartners with problematic learning behavior do not benefit from these positive effects. Therefore, the current study adds behavior regulating elements to e-Prent&ABC to improve the learning behavior of kindergartners with problematic learning behavior and to help them benefit more from classroom book reading. This quasi-experimental study explores how whole-class reading with the expanded method e-Prent&ABC+ can enhance learning behavior, vocabulary, and phonological awareness of kindergartners with problematic learning behavior. 60 kindergartners (30 with and 30 without problematic learning behavior) from nine kindergarten groups participated in three conditions (control condition, e-Prent&ABC, and e-Prent&ABC+). Ultimately, the results demonstrate that both kindergartners with and without problematic learning behavior showed the most positive learning behavior during the control condition instead of during reading with e-Prent&ABC+ or e-Prent&ABC . Furthermore, the results confirm previous findings by showing that e-Prent&ABC effectively promotes both vocabulary and phonological awareness of kindergartners. The added elements in e-Prent&ABC+ did not better improve learning behavior and emergent literacy than e- Prent&ABC does. Compared to e-Prent&ABC, the vocabulary of the kindergartners was even smaller after reading with e-Prent&ABC+ . In spite of several limitations, this research has shown that animated e-books can be used in combination with the 4-cycle-model during whole-class book reading to create a rich literacy environment in which emergent literacy skills can be promoted simultaneously.Show less
Current research has looked into the effects of ePrent&ABC, an intervention for stimulating early literacy of kindergarteners. The current study had two goals: 1) to investigate the reciprocal...Show moreCurrent research has looked into the effects of ePrent&ABC, an intervention for stimulating early literacy of kindergarteners. The current study had two goals: 1) to investigate the reciprocal relationship of phonological awareness (PA) and vocabulary; 2) to profile children who develop vocabulary slower than their peers (low achievers). Participants were 81 kindergarteners from six different groups (Mage = 5.26 years, SD = 0.62). Pre-tests were administered for story-based vocabulary, general vocabulary, PA and executive functioning (EF) and observations were performed for children’s active participation in class. The intervention consisted of a control condition and three conditions in which digital storybooks were read to the children. During all conditions teachers read storybooks of which the prints and an animated version were shown on digiboards. In condition A storybooks were read in a non-dialogic manner; in condition B dialogic reading and semantic consolidation of target words were added; and in condition C phonological consolidation was added to dialogic reading with semantic consolidation. After each condition, story-based vocabulary was post tested. A within-subjects design was implemented, meaning that all participants took part in each condition. Low achievers were selected after condition A and during condition B and C they received individual differentiation. Results indicated that ePrent&ABC effectively improved vocabulary compared to pre-tests, especially during condition B. The story-based vocabulary of low achievers improved significantly after individual differentiation; afterwards, their results were not significantly different from their peers’. A better developed PA influenced the growth in vocabulary. Reversed, there appeared to be no effect of vocabulary on PA, indicating that explicit instruction may be necessary for developing PA. Lastly, a model with predictors EF and active participation, significantly predicted growth in story-based vocabulary. Separately, both EF and participation were non-significant predictors. Schools are recommended to incorporate ePrent&ABC into their curriculum.Show less
