How new technology influences parent-child interaction: The case of e-book reading

Ofra Korat, Tal Or

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

70 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article reports on a study focusing on mother-child interactions during e-book reading compared to print book reading. Two different types of e-books were used, commercial and educational. Forty-eight kindergarten children and their mothers were assigned randomly to one of four groups, reading: (1) the printed book Just grandma and me; (2) the electronic commercial book Just grandma and me; (3) the printed book The tractor in the sandbox; and (4) the electronic-educational book The tractor in the sandbox. Compared to the printed book reading, e-book reading yielded more discourse initiated by the child and more responsiveness to maternal initiations. Printed book reading yielded more initiations and responses of mothers. Discourse during printed book reading compared to the digital context showed more expanding talk. Educational e-book reading showed more word meaning than reading the commercial e-book. The study concludes that different reading contexts influence adult-child interactions, and this may in return have different effects on children's early literacy development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)139-154
Number of pages16
JournalFirst Language
Volume30
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2010

Keywords

  • Book reading
  • E-book
  • Parent-child
  • Young children

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