The Impacts of Dialogic Reading on 2-4 Year Olds and Their Awareness to Print

Purpose: In this study, we questioned whether dialogic reading would improve preschool children’s print awareness. Method: Participants were 10 parents with preschool children who were interested in learning how to better engage their children in reading and teach them about print (letters). The experimenter demonstrated how to read to the parents and how to engage a preschool child in reading by having them talk about what was happening in the book (dialogic reading). The experimenter also demonstrated how to make references to print by pointing out letters in their child’s name or letters in familiar words. Once the parents indicate that they understand how to use dialogic reading with references to print, they will be asked to read a different book to their child. After reading to their child, they will be asked to answer a few questions about their views of this different way of reading to children. Results and Conclusions: Preliminary results indicated that parents appreciated learning how to facilitate print awareness when reading to their children. Future studies should explore how to provide more preschool teachers and parents information to use dialogic reading to improve print awareness in preschool children