ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: THE EFFECTS OF PARENT-LED READ-ALOUDS OF NONFICTION BOOKS ON FIRST-GRADERS’ VOCABULARY ACQUISITION AND MOTIVATION

This study investigated the effects of parent-led interactive read-alouds of nonfiction books on first-graders. Evidence suggests that nonfiction read-alouds in the classroom can improve children’s vocabulary and motivation to read. This study used a pre/post experimental design to investigate whether parent-led read-alouds can lead to similar gains. Parents of first-grade students were invited to participate in the study. Half of the pool of interested parents was randomly assigned to the intervention group. The intervention group parents attended a training session on how to engage their children in interactive read-alouds. Children of consenting parents then had access to a lending library of 500+ nonfiction books, containing 10 target books with selected target vocabulary (32 words). First-graders whose parents were not randomly assigned to the intervention group, became the control group. Control group parents and children had access to an identical intervention after data were collected. Treatment fidelity measures included Parent and Child Title Recognition Tests. Statistically significant Time X Treatment Interaction effects were found for both the Parent and Child Title Recognition Tests. These findings indicate that intervention grou