Browsing by Author "Van der Hoven, Victoria"

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    The effect of an e-delivered dialogic reading programme, for middleclass caregiver-preschooler dyads, on the vocabulary and narrative skills of the pre-schoolers
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Van der Hoven, Victoria; Southwood, Frenette; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Literacy rates in South Africa (SA) are low, with the cycle of poverty being continued by these rates (Spaull, 2015). Language abilities during the preschool years have been shown to correlate with later literacy skills and academic achievement (Hoff, 2013). If one promotes children’s language development, literacy skills will in turn increase. Literacy interventions (such as dialogic reading (DR) programmes) can benefit language development in children of mid and high socioeconomic status (SES) (Zevenbergen and Whitehurst, 2003). The delivery and effect of DR interventions on language development of children from low SES communities are yet to be thoroughly researched, especially in SA. DR is one low cost literacy intervention (Vallyet al., 2014), as training of parents and the implementation requires no equipment other than the book being read. The aim of this study was to ascertain if an electronically delivered DR programme could be successfully implemented in a mid-SES community in SA. The DR and control group each consisted of 10 parent-child dyads. Child participants were between 2;8 and 5;6 years old. Using books from Bookdash, a SA organisation that create culturally appropriate storybooks (Book Dash | New, African storybooks by volunteer creatives, 2020), I delivered a 4-week programme with weekly instructional videos to parents in the DR group on the Whitehurst’s (2002) CROWD techniques (Completion, Recall, Open ended questions, WH-questions, Distancing). The control (traditional reading) group received the same four books, read to the children with little to no interaction with the book, over the same period. Directly before and after the four weeks, the children’s vocabulary and narrative skills were assessed for change, with a self-made vocabulary comprehension and production assessment and the LITMUS-MAIN: English, respectively. Two focus groups were conducted post-intervention with parents from the DR group and were thematically analysed to establish if the parents found the content, delivery and duration of the programme appropriate. The results show the DR programme improved vocabulary comprehension and production, and story structure, but not the structural complexity of the children’s narratives, more so than the “traditional reading”. Four case studies illustrate the findings of the study, featuring participants representative of the group, in terms of age and improvement . The focus groups indicated the content and e-delivery to be appropriate for the mid-SES community; however, it might not be appropriate for low-SES communities. The implications of the findings are that an e-delivered DR programme can be successfully delivered improving the vocabulary comprehension and production and story structure of mid-SES pre-schoolers. Future studies should investigate the appropriateness and effect of ane-delivered DR programme and the content and delivery method for pre-schoolers with low SES.