Maternal Elaborative Reminiscing Increases Low-Income Children ' s Narrative Skills Relative to Dialogic Reading Maternal Elaborative Reminiscing Increases Low-Income Children ’ s Narrative Skills Relative to Dialogic Reading
- ISSN: 10409289
- DOI: 10.1080/104092892010481552
Abstract
This study compared the unique effects of training low-income mothers in dialogic reading versus elaborative reminiscing on childrens oral lan- guage and emergent literacy. Thirty-three low-income parents of 4-year-old children attending Head Start were randomly assigned to either dialogic reading, elaborative reminiscing, or a control condition. Parents in the intervention conditions were trained to implement specific and prescribed conversational techniques. Childrens vocabulary, narrative, and print skills were assessed at the beginning (pretest) and at the end (posttest) of the school year. Elaborative reminiscing boosted the quality ofchildrens narratives in comparison to dialogic reading. Elaborative reminiscing was also effective in supporting childrens story comprehension. These training effects were present regardless of the childrens ethnic background and whether they were bilingual. Practice: Training parents in elaborative reminiscing is a promising alter- native to training in shared book reading for enhancing childrens narrative develop- ment in non-mainstream populations. Parent training programs in elaborative remi- niscing may also complement dialogic reading programs that take place in preschool classrooms.
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